If you’ve got an older sport bike with 16-inch rims, your tire choices nowadays are rather limited. Yet the right tire can make all the difference in your bike’s handling and safety — in fact, your tires are one of the most important parts of your motorcycle. For that reason, if I’m going to splurge, tires are one place I do it.
Not that these high-quality hoops from Bridgestone are expensive — in fact, they can be found online for around $80-90 for the front and about $100 for the rear. But they offer proven performance from one of the top tire manufacturers in the world.
My 1985 Honda Nighthawk 700S project bike had a set of Kendas on it when I got it, but they were date-stamped 2016 and I wasn’t terribly happy with their performance when I was sport riding in the canyons. So I ordered up a set of Bridgestone Battlax BT-45s.
These bias-ply tires are described by Bridgestone as being designed for mid-sized sport-touring bikes and older sport bikes, so they offer a good balance of tread longevity, grip in a wide range of conditions and sticky sport riding capability. Once scrubbed in, I found them to be very quiet, with a nice rounded profile that offered a neutral feel and easy turn-in, and grip for days. They complement my Nighthawk’s raked out geometry nicely, giving it a sporting feel that the original designers in the ’80s probably wished they could achieve with the tires of that era.
Bridgestone offers the BT-45s in a wide range of sizes from 16 to 21 inches in the front, and 16 to 18 inches in the rear, to fit just about any small-to-midsize sport tourer or older sport bike like mine.
The best part is, it’s not forgetting those of us with older bikes. In the works for release soon is an updated Battlax BT-46 tire, and we can’t wait to try it out next!
For fitment details and to find a dealer near you, visit bridgestonemotorcycletires.com.
I have been using BT 45’s on my 1993 CB 750 Nighthawk for over 20 years and it’s only been totaled once.
Not the fault of the tires.
A sample of one rider of course, and without trying others, how can I compare?
That being said, they work for me!
Ride safe.
I had an ’84 Nighthawk S as my first bike. I absolutely loved it! And I still love they styling. It was maybe not the most appropriate choice for a first ride given the rated 80 hp. but it all worked out.
There is a successor to the BT-45; the BT-46! This I let just mounted on my 1984 Honda VF 750 F.
I am looking forward to a sporty ride on the old motorcycle with a tire technology from the year 2020. 🙂