[Bryan]

My daughter's boyfriend, possibly in an effort to get in good with his girlfriend's dad - who knows?, gave me a set of Spitfire's for Christmas. Had them mounted and balanced today and wow - what a difference. Smooth, sure footed and of a far softer compound than the Chinese tires they replaced. Rode them about 40 miles today and froze my rear off, but wanted to scrub them in a bit and enjoy the ride. Highly recommended. And I do like the kid too.

 

[xlr8r]

Good to know, looking forward to putting those same tires on my bike. What size did you get?

 

[Ohm]

They are good, I think that's why half of us are riding them

The size is 130/90x16" for the back and 100/100x19" for the front if I remember correctly.

 

[kingston73]

They are good, I think that's why half of us are riding them

The size is 130/90x16" for the back and 100/100x19" for the front if I remember correctly.

I'll second that, very good tires especially for the price. As for sizing, the rear is correct but the front was originally a 100/90/19. Some people have put a 110/90 on but I'd personally stick with OEM sizing.

 

[Blindstitch]

Used mine today too. I should really buy a spare rear for when the time comes. And when that comes it will be my 3rd spitfire on the rear.

 

[jayhanig]

Used mine today too. I should really buy a spare rear for when the time comes. And when that comes it will be my 3rd spitfire on the rear.

I've been waiting for my cheap Chinese tires to show some sign of wear so I can replace them with either Spitfires or Metzler ME880s but they still look like new. I just can't justify buying anything better until these give me an excuse to upgrade. I hope I don't get that excuse explosively.

 

[CXPHREAK]

I must confess to a fondness for the Bridgestone BT45s. I have one fitted to the front of my custom currently and a Spitfire that is rapidly running out of tread on the back which is soon to be replaced with another BT45.



The Spitfire is a good tyre, I just prefer the BT45.

 

[marshallf3]

Both excellent, matter of budget. Are the BT45s even still available?

 

[Bryan]

Good to know, looking forward to putting those same tires on my bike. What size did you get?

Sorry for the late reply...mine are 100/90 19 on the front and 130/90 16 rear.

 

[Panther]

Both excellent, matter of budget. Are the BT45s even still available?

Yep!



Just got a set mailed to my buddy for his K75s.



The BT45's are a good tire. more traction then the S11 spitfires, but they don't last quite as long.



I am thinking about running the S11 on the rear and the BT45 on the front in the future.

The front lasts longer anyway and I would like the extra security of the stickier tire up there.

 

[TXDrummer]

I've been waiting for my cheap Chinese tires to show some sign of wear so I can replace them with either Spitfires or Metzler ME880s but they still look like new. I just can't justify buying anything better until these give me an excuse to upgrade. I hope I don't get that excuse explosively.

Jay, you clearly aren't riding enough. They've got to go down the road to wear them down!

Blow outs are not allowed!



I will try the Spitfires when my tires come to the end of their life (same deal, NO BLOW OUTS!). Right now Dunlop 404s are on the pavement and have about 500 miles on them.

 

[Bryan]

Jay, you clearly aren't riding enough. They've got to go down the road to wear them down!

Blow outs are not allowed!



I will try the Spitfires when my tires come to the end of their life (same deal, NO BLOW OUTS!). Right now Dunlop 404s are on the pavement and have about 500 miles on them.

I dunno...the Chinese tires I had were so hard that I really wonder if they ever would have worn enough to justify their replacement. I had close to 12,000 miles on them and they still were fine treadwise. One of the benefits of the Bridgestone's is that I can now fully appreciate the benefits of switching over to the 20W fork oil last fall. The bike just feels better all the way around.

 

[SteveinPA]

I really like my S11 Spitfires too. Good traction wet or dry, not too bad on the gritty mess covering our roads right now. I even had to ride over some sheet ice this winter and didn't fall down.

 

[DavidfromWisconsin]

I've been waiting for my cheap Chinese tires to show some sign of wear so I can replace them with either Spitfires or Metzler ME880s but they still look like new. I just can't justify buying anything better until these give me an excuse to upgrade. I hope I don't get that excuse explosively.

If you go Metzler 880-H rear put the Metzler Lasertech-V on the front and they will wear out together and the Lasertech is much better on rain grooves and cheese grater bridges than the 880 front.



That combo should wear out at 16-18K.



Otherwise, I do think the BT45s are indeed a good sticky tire.



But, I do have to say that no one beats Metzler's warranty. They guarantee their tires with trailers & sidecar rigs and almost any other way you can dream up. Try and find anyone else that does that.

 

[50gary]

My daughter's boyfriend, possibly in an effort to get in good with his girlfriend's dad - who knows?, gave me a set of Spitfire's for Christmas. Had them mounted and balanced today and wow - what a difference. Smooth, sure footed and of a far softer compound than the Chinese tires they replaced. Rode them about 40 miles today and froze my rear off, but wanted to scrub them in a bit and enjoy the ride. Highly recommended. And I do like the kid too.

Just for the record the Spitfire is the Cruiser Bias tire, the Battlax BT-45 is the Bias Sport Touring tire (in the Bridgestone line up) I haven't ridden either tire just read the various tire descriptions.

Cheers, 50gary

 

[Panther]

7 years ago, the S11 spitfire was the Dual compound Sport touring "mileage" tire, and the BT45 was the "sticky" Dual compound sport touring tire.



Now only the BT45 actually Says it is a dual compound tire, but my lasts set of S11's ride, feel, corner, and Last the same as the ones I was using 5-10 years ago.



Yeah, the S11 is no longer considered a Sport touring tire, but it still works the same as it always did. Just the bikes in the sport touring class have changed.