BRIDGESTONE BATTL AX T31
PRODUCT TEST
P114
Taking the best points of the T30
Evo, the T31 aims to give more
feedback to the rider in cold and
wet conditions, more grip under
heavy braking loads and full lean,
an increase in camber thrust so
you can take corners faster with
more grip, better straight-line
and high-speed stability and no
increase in tire wear. I guess if
you get all those points spot on,
you've hit the holy grail.
"In terms of tire development,
it's complicated," says Fabian
Francois, head of Field and
Product Planning Engineering
for Bridgestone Motorcycle
tires. "In this category, we have
to fit a large range of bikes—
everything from bikes with 60
horsepower through to heavy
naked bikes like the S 1000 R
and Super Duke GT—these
bikes must all have one tire.
"The T31 is a complete-
ly new tire for us. The
pattern design is com-
pletely new, same with
the compound. The
construction is similar,
but revised compared
to the T30 Evo."
The front T31 uses Bridges-
tone's mono-compound con-
struction, with much develop-
ment attention devoted to the
rubber silica molecules and
how they conform to the road
surface.
"The front T31 tire has much
more flexibility compared to
the T30," says Francois. "We
achieved that by increasing the
silica dispersion. Silica is one of
the components we are using in
our rubber for working in lower
temperatures and wet condi-
tions, to generate good, repeat-
able performance. With the
higher flexibility comes better
feeling on the road, and more
feedback to the rider."
Using the company's Ultimate
Eye technology that was first
Selective Breeding
(Above) More water dispersion is one of
the main aims with the new tread.
(Below) Bridgestone's Monospiral Belt Construction
sits beneath an all-new tread design.
