Bridgestone BT-003 vs BT-090

18600 Views 32 Replies 12 Participants Last post by Beer Baron, Apr 3, 2012

alex92

Discussion Starter · Jul 4, 2010

Hey guys,
Going to get new tyres from Craig White tomorrow and he only has the BT-003 front tyres but just wondering what you guys think I should get for the rear. They are both the same price and the 003 is the newer version but to me it looks like more of a track tyre which may offer more grip but maybe won't last as long. I'm thinking the 003 wouldn't be as good in the rain because it doesn't have as many 'cuts' in it (isnt the purpose of these to help with wet surfaces?) but I never ride in the rain so it doesn't bother me..

What do you guys think I should get for the rear?

EDIT: Just found this.. If it is the BT-003RS (Racing-Street) version he has then I'll get them. If it is the pure race version then I'll just go for the BT-090's..

Bridgestone Tyre Comparison

BT-003

BT-090

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Cerberus

· #2 · Jul 4, 2010

unless its for the track... dont get them.. race tyres in the cold are slippery.. wet or dry

i should add.. BT-090 were designed for small bikes only so they warmed up faster and worked ok at lower temps.. 003's were designed for big bikes so need to be worked harder to come up to temps and grip.. hence for road riding they wont be as good as 090's were... on days like today when its sub 10deg weather they will be very very slippery

Sneddy

· #3 · Jul 4, 2010

Cerberus said:
unless its for the track... dont get them.. race tyres in the cold are slippery.. wet or dry

i should add.. BT-090 were designed for small bikes only so they warmed up faster and worked ok at lower temps.. 003's were designed for big bikes so need to be worked harder to come up to temps and grip.. hence for road riding they wont be as good as 090's were... on days like today when its sub 10deg weather they will be very very slippery

That's everything I said in the other thread...

I wouldn't be mixing them up either. Having mixed profile from front to rear can have an adverse affect handling also.

Drew

· #4 · Jul 4, 2010

I had 090's on my old VTR250, they were good stuff. Good in the cold, good out of the box, excellent cold grip apart from anything else.

I've never had the 003's but as cerby said, from the blurb on the box they appear to be track oriented, which would imply that they're bad in the cold or the wet etc.

King Kenny

· #5 · Jul 4, 2010

I dunno Cerby - 090 have to be a 10 year old tyre & alot has happened since then. The say 'Racing-Street' too so there has to be some consideration for the road riding too so they should have acceptable (if not amazing) cold & wet weather grip. All the latest tyres have had massively improved temperature ranges from the previous generation of tyres - thank you MotoGP!

Also if the tyre comes it CBR250 sizes then no doubt they'll be suited to lighter, less powerful bikes by that fact alone. I'd imagine that they are a high performance street tyre that can also do a trackday. Cant be that different an ethos of what the 090 was when it 1st came out aeons ago...

Am afraid if they're a new tyre mate then you have to just give them a crack yourself as there'll be no feedback on the net yet. Personally if it was me I'd give them a shot if they were similarly priced & try them out. Build up you speed gradually to see if they're up to the job especially in the cold/wet.

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Cerberus

· #6 · Jul 4, 2010

King Kenny said:
I dunno Cerby - 090 have to be a 10 year old tyre & alot has happened since then. The say 'Racing-Street' too so there has to be some consideration for the road riding too so they should have acceptable (if not amazing) cold & wet weather grip. All the latest tyres have had massively improved temperature ranges from the previous generation of tyres - thank you MotoGP!

Also if the tyre comes it CBR250 sizes then no doubt they'll be suited to lighter, less powerful bikes by that fact alone. I'd imagine that they are a high performance street tyre that can also do a trackday. Cant be that different an ethos of what the 090 was when it 1st came out aeons ago...

Am afraid if they're a new tyre mate then you have to just give them a crack yourself as there'll be no feedback on the net yet. Personally if it was me I'd give them a shot if they were similarly priced & try them out. Build up you speed gradually to see if they're up to the job especially in the cold/wet.

well i do kenny

haha nah not really.. but i have used BT090's on my cbr250 and i have used the 003's for a long time (including the street compound) so i would say i have kind of an idea about both tyres. i can also tell you how fast the 003's let go when cold on an r1 so argument for fast warm ups is still relative to a proper road tyre.

my argument is that 090's were purely designed for smaller bikes (couldnt get them for anything over a 400).. 003's were designed for big bikes (600cc+) and they just made them to fit a smaller bike to save having to introduce a diff small bike tyre. same argument a lot of mags and reviewers made about Pilot powers.. and them being a road tyre, i would expect to be more tolerant of temp range.

alex92

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jul 5, 2010

OK fine i'll go for the 090 on the rear

Unfortunately he doesnt have any 090's for the front though, only 003's...

CammyGTIR

· #8 · Jul 5, 2010

I'll let you know what the better combo is in a week or two Alex, I had 090's on and am now going to try the 003's

Cerberus

· #9 · Jul 5, 2010

alex92 said:
OK fine i'll go for the 090 on the rear Unfortunately he doesnt have any 090's for the front though, only 003's...

mix and match isnt the best option either... is there a reason why you're so keen on race rubber? is it for track days or road riding?

richo

· #10 · Jul 5, 2010

Cerberus said:
alex92 said:

OK fine i'll go for the 090 on the rear Unfortunately he doesnt have any 090's for the front though, only 003's...

Click to expand...

mix and match isnt the best option either... is there a reason why you're so keen on race rubber? is it for track days or road riding?

Because wace wubber is foooooly siiiiiik?

Drew

· #11 · Jul 5, 2010

alex92 said:
OK fine i'll go for the 090 on the rear Unfortunately he doesnt have any 090's for the front though, only 003's...

DO NOT mix these two tyres, you'll end up with things going very badly for you.

From what cerby has said and what the bridgestone website says the 003 needs to warm up before it produces much grip at all, the 090 is not like that, in fact it has excellent cold grip. So you'll have the bike pushing like nothing else if you haven't gotten heat into the front, and then, odds on, if you get heat into the front without dying you'll end up with it oversteering on the limit which isn't good either. On top of that the profiles won't be matched, so you'll end up with issues with the bike switching from oversteer to understeer and back again depending on which profile has more rubber on the ground at that particular moment.

Its a good way to fuck up your bikes handling and put yourself in danger for no benefit. Not much else.

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Sneddy

· #12 · Jul 5, 2010

Cerberus said:
alex92 said:

OK fine i'll go for the 090 on the rear Unfortunately he doesnt have any 090's for the front though, only 003's...

Click to expand...

mix and match isnt the best option either... is there a reason why you're so keen on race rubber? is it for track days or road riding?

It's cause there is a group buy on (in the 250 thread) and the guy selling doesn't do BT090 front's any more - only BT003s. And won't sell BT003 rears till the BT090's are all gone.

Alex, as much as I love the BT090s and raved about them in the other thread, I wouldn't get them if I had to mix and match my tyres front to back - it's too unpredictable what it will do to the handling, not to mention they'll warm up at different rates. Very unsafe. If you're that keen to get into that group buy, maybe just go for BT45s. They're still a great tyre, and unless you'll be taking your 250 to the track they're all you will need.

Grippy enough with a nice smooth tip in. Great commuting tyre.

If he had both front and rear of the BT090, I'd get them, other wise don't mix your profiles and go for the BT45.

If you are going to the track or just desperately want that tyre, maybe get the BT090 rear off him and try and find a front somewhere else... might be an option and might still end up saving you some coin - alternatively, you could just forgo the group buy and get some Dunlop GPR-10a tyres which are meant to be even better than BT090s.

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Drew

· #13 · Jul 5, 2010

Or just go to a place which will sell you tyres you're looking for.

koiom

· #14 · Jul 5, 2010

Cerberus said:
unless its for the track... dont get them.. race tyres in the cold are slippery.. wet or dry

i should add.. BT-090 were designed for small bikes only so they warmed up faster and worked ok at lower temps.. 003's were designed for big bikes so need to be worked harder to come up to temps and grip.. hence for road riding they wont be as good as 090's were... on days like today when its sub 10deg weather they will be very very slippery

BT-003RS are a very polular tyre with motard riders.
most street tards will use either a 150 or 160 rear (not exactly big bike material).
the guys over at SMA.com seem to love them

AndyJ

· #15 · Mar 22, 2012

Cerberus said:
unless its for the track... dont get them.. race tyres in the cold are slippery.. wet or dry

i should add.. BT-090 were designed for small bikes only so they warmed up faster and worked ok at lower temps.. 003's were designed for big bikes so need to be worked harder to come up to temps and grip.. hence for road riding they wont be as good as 090's were... on days like today when its sub 10deg weather they will be very very slippery

Update.
According to Craig White the 110/140/150 sizes are available in both a z-rated and now a BT003ST H-rated version of the BT003RS street/track tire which is perfect for the 250s and will heat up better than the z-rated.

See the Bridgestone BT003ST web page

So the Dunlop Alpha-12 or BT003ST seem to be the go for the 250s
Craig White is also going to start stocking Sava MC50 tyres in the near future which he says will be even softer for track use.

Dr Dealgood

· #16 · Mar 22, 2012

Helloooooooo 003's are like this thread soooooo 2010

Ask Craig for R10's

Merudo

· #17 · Mar 22, 2012

According to the bridgestone site R10's don't come in a size to fit the 250.

Dr Dealgood

· #18 · Mar 22, 2012

Well that's rude, isn't it.

Beer Baron

· #19 · Mar 28, 2012

yeah what's with the 2 year old thread mine?

Cerberus

· #20 · Mar 28, 2012

Dr Dealgood said:
Ask Craig for R10's

have you used r10's? just curious on the feedback on them. meant to be pretty good

1 - 20 of 33 Posts

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