REVIEW of the Bridgestone T32 GT's
I took them off at about 5500 miles. There was a little bit left, but there was a week of warm weather approaching and I had a fresh set waiting in the garage.
In all I found theses skins to be excellent, maybe except for the "limited wear".. (as I know some of you guys can get higher mileage on some other brands). Personally I don't see 5500-6000 miles as being short-lived for Sporty tires.
I found them to be superb in all conditions. They were sticky in the corners, "rolled over" beautifully and tracked straight on the highways. Very stable and predictable in the rain.
The wear pattern was far superior to the Dunlop Roadsmarts I had previously been fond of; the T32's had a very predictable and "traditional" sort of decline... the RS's get really "lumpy" and squiggly-feeling as they wear down.
At around 5000 miles the tires had gotten fairly squared, as I'd done three 800-mile trips plus assorted, other, long highway day trips. So as an experiment, I took a power drill with a stiff wire wheel and buffed-down the squared edges. There was still some meat in the centers, and I wanted to round things off a bit. I'd done this before once, in Houston, during a cross-country run on my Bandit a few years back to good effect; it does change the profile some (flatter), but it improved the roll-in handling significantly... eliminating that ledge.
Before and After buffing on the front..
This worked well, and significantly improved the End Times handling. Of course it meant that the tires were on their way out, but it really did make a difference at the end of the tires' life span.
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Here's the pair at the 5500 miles when I finally pulled them. The handling had gotten a bit squirmy; still respectable for this level of wear, but I got to feeling industrious and what the hell, yanked 'em.
Overall I think these are the best tires I've found for the FJR, personally. I've tried the Pilot Road 4's... Roadsmart III's and IV's... Shino 009 Ravens; the T32 GT currently gets my vote and I'll probably stick with them for a while. They're not as cheap as the Roadsmarts... a fresh set of the Bridgestones ran me $370 all-in, from Chaparral, I think it was (about 100 bucks more than the Dunlops)... the cheapest price I could find, (on Fleabay).
But the handling is superb for my use.
Nothing like fresh rubbers!