Bridgestone S20 Evo tyres

I think I've done enough miles to have a decent review and perspective of these tyres so here you go. 

Sizes 
 I run a 110/70/17 front and a 140/70/17 rear as they are the closest to stock as you can get. 

Cost
They're also cheaper than the bt45's too at £120-130 a pair rather than £150. 

Tyre profile 
The profile is much more "aggressive" so they'll tip into corners much more easily too, but they're much more stable on the edge of the tyre than the bt45's 

Mileage 
Due to the nature of the tyre profile you tend to use different areas of the tyre more than the bt45 due to the curvature of it. The bt45 is very flat in regards to this so it very quickly squares off even at the higher recommended pressure of 38 cold. I found I get a good few thousand miles out of a rear where as the bt45 i could eat through in just about 3k miles. 

I'm sure I'm missing a lot of points but if anyone has any questions about them I'll reply when I can.

How many times have they thrown you off?

sullivj wrote:How many times have they thrown you off?

None, it was always my own error and never had an issue with the tyre themselves.

Interesting, might go for those once my BT45s are toasted.

Otherwise, I've noticed tiny cracks appearing on the BT45s after just a few month (especially on the front), which is something I wouldn't expect from a less than a year old tyre (I did check the manufacturing date, they were new). Do you see this as well on S20s?

Various tyre related threads on here comparing their attributes. Imo it all depends on how you ride and the roads you ride on. Bt 45's are the choice for most folks, most of the time but if you ride quickly and use the handling then the evo's are worth a look for spring/summer.

S20 evo's were the control tyre in the Thundersport/New Era series a couple of years ago, the sizes in the original post are the ones used iirc. They are a sports tyre not a dual compound road one.

You'll find the tyres steeper profiled than the bt45's, great in the dry, ok in the wet, marginal in the winter and relatively quick to replace.

ZekeVal wrote:Interesting, might go for those once my BT45s are toasted.

Otherwise, I've noticed tiny cracks appearing on the BT45s after just a few month (especially on the front), which is something I wouldn't expect from a less than a year old tyre (I did check the manufacturing date, they were new). Do you see this as well on S20s?

I also had the same issues with bt45's with both the front and rear tyre getting cracks in the tread. 

Various tyre related threads on here comparing their attributes. Imo it all depends on how you ride and the roads you ride on. Bt 45's are the choice for most folks, most of the time but if you ride quickly and use the handling then the evo's are worth a look for spring/summer.

S20 evo's were the control tyre in the Thundersport/New Era series a couple of years ago, the sizes in the original post are the ones used iirc. They are a sports tyre not a dual compound road one.

You'll find the tyres steeper profiled than the bt45's, great in the dry, ok in the wet, marginal in the winter and relatively quick to replace.

If milage in a concern it depends how you ride, in the 4 days I rode in scotland the tyre lasted maybe 1300 miles on the rear, which is the shortest I've ever had out of a rear, but I usually get a good few thousand even when commuting and the sides of the tyre can wear very quickly. Now so far in europe of just motorway running and a little bit of town riding I've just worked out that so far I've done 878 miles and the tyre has hardly worn but is starting to square off slightly though this is only visible. 

I want a tyre that works brilliantly on dry smoothe tarmac, loose gravel, mud, leaf slime, diesel, ice, wet concrete and dust - and which lasts for ever of course.  

not sure if they're any good on mud, I'll try to go green laning for you  

Well after my Europe trip of about 4000 miles in total including the ones I did after I got home, I can say that the front and rear wore really relatively evenly. In the end I ended up with the left,centre and right sides of the tyre each down to their wear bars which it pretty respectable. I got to Vienna before I started to notice the tyre squaring off which isn't too bad as I was about halfway around the trip at this point. In the end I was really happy with the way the tyres lasted.

My new Bridgestone has just managed to reach 4K and is on the tread wear indicators in the centre, the edges have a little to go still. Will have to fit the "as new" tyre from James (thanks for this by the way) soon which has already been scrubbed in, way to go.

A couple questions for you James, regarding the front tyre dimensions:

Isn't a 120/70 closer to the original 110/80 compared to the 110/70 you're using (eg: less error on the speedometer)?

What about the feel, any difference between 110/70 and 120/70?

In theory yes but it will vary with the tyre's rolling circumference.
I used a 110/70/17 for a single reason, 120/70/17 tyres are designed for 3.5" wide wheels which and I believe our front wheel is only a 2.5". This (120/70/17) would distort the tyre profile massively making it very steep. This means that it would reduce the amount of surface/contact area with the road making it a much more dangerous tyre to use.

OK, thanks for the info, I was planning on trying some radial tyres in the near future, I might start with those S20 evo, and I'll go for a 110/70 then.

I'm going to be going back to the stock cb500 wheels soon (which I never thought I would).

I'm currently running bt023's front and rear. 110/70/17 front and 150/70/17 rear (on a 4" rim the standard cb is 3.5"). The outer diameter where the bead is on the 150 is 4" (off the wheel) so fitting it to a 3.5" shouldn't pinch it too much. The profile isn't massively aggressive on the 023 so pinching it a little should improve the handling slightly.

I got the bt023 with 5.1mm of tread on it (part worn) in 5k miles the tread depth is now at 2mm. Which I consider good going especially with the way my bike gets used, usually full throttle coming out of corners, pissing about in town popping the front up ect. I've also done a lot of motorway miles too.

Interesting. You'll go back to S20 evos then?

Another alternative I'm contemplating, for more touring oriented riding, is the Pilot Street Radial from Michelin. Probably not the knee-dragging ability of the S20, but quite long lasting and allright in the wet.

I'll be sticking with the 023's as I'll need them for touring but I'll run them on the standard wheels as I'm getting seriously good mileage out of them - this is the longest I've had a tyre last so far. Front warms up nicely and the rear doesn't give me too much shit. Just don't give the s20's too much shit in the wet of they will give you a little trouble.

Bt45s are good tyres but like everyone who knows that has  them they they crack like mad...ive simular cracks in both sets on cb 500v&cb 500sy... and rear squares off quick... be interested in using a different tyre next time there due a change

I recently bought a cb500 pc32 with old bt45. I put s20 evo front and rear and the bike is a lot more fun. I'm running 2,3bar front 2,8bar rear and feel the bike very planted. Never tried other number's.
what kind of pressures are you using (cold) ?
sometimes in portugal it can be very hot and dont know the bike or the tires long enought, would like your opinion.

I also have had S20 EVO, very good tyres with a lot of grip!
I used to ride with 2,3 front and 2,7 rear cold

Now I've mounted Continental SM attack, those tires are even more awesome!
Those are Supermoto tires and have more of a fun factor
And they last 1,5 times longer then the S20 EVO

MY BT45 tyres never crack, but the rear does square off quickly. I do go through two rear tyres and one front in a season which runs from the first good few days in April until the last day of November. I do 880 miles per week to and from work excluding the (very) occasional ride out with my mate or my daughters. Which reminds me - I need to order a new rear tyre as the old is on the wear limit.....They are good tyres in the dry and wet and I generally rag the bike to and from work. My friend followed me the other day with his VFR800Fi (my other bike is the same so I know how these can shift) on the road home from work and I left him standing.

My Cb500f (2018) came with Dunlop Speedmax 120/17 front and 160/17 rear and have found them good in all types of weather so far, heat up quick as well. Seem to be wearing well so far.