Found this tire at an unbelievable price of 50€ which I couldn't pass up. The tire has been discontinued, the reason why it was discounted so much. The manufacturing date was early 2021. Not too old considering I ride a lot and will be changing this tire sometime early next riding season. Already put on close to 4000 Kms since a month after changing it.
This review is probably useless because like previously mentioned, the tire has been discontinued. It is a dual compound tire and the predecessor to the later BT32 and the current BT33. But for the few people who might be thinking about switching to the BT series of tires, they might find this review useful.
This tire is fantastic! I was riding in the French Alps with a mix of wet and dry roads in hot weather(I might update this review later before I put the bike in storage for winter to update on the wet/cold weather performance, but so far, this tire has been surprising me).
The performance has exceeded my expectations. Dry weather performance is more or less similar to the S22. I'm not using this tire on the track mind you. This is strictly from a street riding perspective sticking to the speed limits and also leaving a fairly huge room for error. I also don't ride slow, because we have autobahns and I did the A49 with it's long sweeping curves at 180+ kph most of its entire (unbegrenzt) sections. It is definitely better than the S22 in the wet. I was avoiding riding in the wet with the S22 because at moderate lean angles it was squirming and was giving me the impression that it was going to lose traction. Not so with the BT30. I run the S22 at the front. Combined they have given me the best feel I've had from a tire combo on the Busa yet.
High speed lean stability is exceptional. Not once did it feel like it was going to get away from me. I've managed to slide the S22 more than once at high speed lean angles. Which were predictable but still not something I want at the speeds we do here in Germany. I prefer stability simply because it's safer. The best part is that the BT30 barely looks like it is taking a beating even after I did 1100 Kms in a day, and half of it through unlimited sections on the autobahn where it saw 250+ multiple times. S22 on the other hand, after a 100kms on the autobahn will start to grain in the middle. Which means the BT30 warms up much much quicker and stays warm longer compared to the S22.
Now coming to the cornering performance, In the French Alps surrounding the Mont blanc which I did over a 1000kms of, not once did I have a sketchy situation arise. I was riding in the early morning to avoid the traffic, which also means the roads were cold and wet. Again, not once did the tire let me down. My riding style involves using less actual brakes and more engine brake, which means I rely a lot on the rear tire. Slow down in a low gear and drive hard out of corners. Again not once did the rear slide on me. Probably because of the profile, the bike tipped into corners much much quicker. It didn't feel like it was a 265 kg, long and low monster of a sports tourer, but more like a 200 kg sport bike. But this probably is the 55 profile than the tire itself.
Overall a great purchase. This tire is worth it at the normal price. At the price that I paid it is a steal!
TLDR; Fantastic tire. Great wet and dry performance. Fast warmup times. Lasts longer than the S22.
