Brigestone Bt-023

Brigestone BT-023

Testing sport-touring tires in Japan

MY TRIP TO JAPAN THIS PAST SPRING was originally scheduled to be a two-pronged affair: 1) visit Bridgestone's Nasu tire-manufacturing plant and proving grounds (with its 50-degree banking!) to learn about the new BT-023 sport-touring tire; and 2) ride Open-class naked bikes and sport-tourers shod with said radial rubber through the cherry-blossomcovered countryside to Honda-owned Twin Ring Motegi for the second round of the MotoGP world championship.

Unfortunately, eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland and its resulting ash cloud brought air travel throughout much of Europe to a halt, result being postponement of the Japanese Grand Prix until October 3. Bummer!

I flew with three other American moto-journalists to Tokyo, anyway. For our effort, we were treated to an opportunity that no other keyboard jockey

had ever experienced: the chance to lap the Nasu proving grounds—both the high-speed and handling sections—on motorcycles.

Actually, we got quite a few laps during the dozen 10-minute sessions. An evolution of the BT-021, the dualcompound BT-023 is said to offer 30 percent longer life, reduced road noise, enhanced stability and greater feedback. In addition to the standard

model, a second "GT' spec available in 120/70ZR17 front and 180/55ZR17 rear sizes was developed specifically for the Yamaha FJR1300, and BMW K1300GT and R1200RT.

While a conclusive statement

-Matthew Miles