Let’s do a bike check with world-famous sport bike stunt rider and RedBull action sports athlete Aaron Colton. He’ll tell you all about the front and rear tyres on his stunt bike in the videos below. His current favorites? The Battlax Racing Street RS11 for the front, and the Battlax Adventurecross Scrambler AX41S for the rear.
Front tyre: RS11
Front grip on a freestyle motorcycle is absolutely crucial to almost everything you do. With its low heat-up temperature compared to most track tyres and multiple attributes which Aaron enjoys, the Battlax Racing Street RS11 is currently his favorite front tyre.
“It’s not just when you pick the bike up on the front wheel, it’s also having the confidence to apply the brakes while turning with the front tyre on the ground. So the RS11 is the street version of the R11 race tyre. It has a little bit lower warm-up temperature to operate than the race tyre and that works perfectly. I run it at 30 PSI. It’s a well rounded tyre for almost everything I do, and that stays the same always”, says Aaron. “A lot of times when I pick up the motorcycle on the front wheel, I have great traction, on concrete or fresh asphalt. It’s not something you really have to focus on, because the grip amount that these tyres have is just second to none – that’s why it has become my favorite front tyre to run exclusively across all of my freestyle builds.”
No wonder Aaron feels that way: the RS11 is directly derived from Bridgestone’s developments in the highest racing categories, which has been tuned for street riding. It’s the flagship tyre of the BATTLAX street application line-up, with a 3LC compound configuration on the front as well as on the rear. On the rear it has an additional cap and base compound to match the required tread stiffness and stability – bringing a harder center compound together with a softer shoulder compound creating the right combination for stability and grip feel without compromising feedback. The RS11 takes riding into a higher level, with significant improvements in aspects of sports riding, including grip, cornering stability, handling, and contact feel.
Rear tyre: AX41S
For the rear tyre, Aaron is in need of a high-performance tyre that can offer plenty of side grip. His current favorite? The Battlax Adventurecross Scrambler AX41S.
“I change the rear tyre periodically, depending on the riding conditions that I’m in. Lately, the tyres that I’ve been running for almost all of my demo’s and projects are either the Bridgestone T32 or the AX41S. Both of these tyres are very similar in compound and use, but they have some aesthetic differences between them. I think the thing that drew me to these tyres is – although I need as much grip as possible on the front end – out of the rear I need something in between. I need a high-performance tyre that can offer plenty of side grip for when I really need to back the motorcycle in or change directions, or do a wheelie and take a hard-angle turn. So I can’t just have a full-on touring tyre.” The AX41S is a perfect compromise for Aaron: “This tyre offers the best of both worlds. Previously I was running most dominantly sports tyres – S21, S22 – but now the technology has come so far in these Sport-Touring tyres. They offer me all the side grip I need, as well as the benefit of a bit longer life, and the feeling that I like to break the tyres loose at a certain RPM with the rear. This tyre has now become my favorite as a rear tyre. So it’s a AX41S rear, and a RS11 front.”
It might seem a bit odd that Aaron chose a tyre with scrambler looks as his favorite, but don’t forget they come with Bridgestone performance and capability. The AX41S tyre is truly where form meets function. Underneath the attractive tread pattern lies a durable and reliable touring compound for optimum performance in both wet and dry conditions. The rear tyre also utilizes Bridgestone’s 3LC dual compound technology, which places a high-mileage compound in the center of the tyre for long life and softer rubber at the shoulders for excellent grip once you lean the bike over. And doing so, it’s a perfect match for a stunt rider.
