Will GT tyres suit a Bandit 1250S?

Q. I’m about to replace the Bridgestone 023s on my 59-reg Bandit 1250S with another set of 023s as they suit me fine.

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I do 5-6000 miles a year and I wondered whether I should use the GT versions or not?
Charles Rastan, Twickenham
 
A. The standard versions are best on this bike. The GT versions are for big heavy bikes like the R1200RT etc.

Bridgestone have been conducting mileage testing with standards and GTs here in the UK on a couple of bikes – a 1050 Tiger on standards and a R1200RT on GTs.

The Tiger has completed 5500 miles so far and there is still 3mm left on the rear so they anticipate around 8 to 9000 miles from this rubber.

The 1200RT has also completed 5500 miles so far and there is 2mm left on this. However, this bike has been loaded to the max for most of these miles so the durability is very good and they’re looking at around 6500 to 7000 on this bike.

Both fronts should go on for much longer than the rears.