19” and 17” dual sport tyre reviews

[Gremlin]

My BMW R1200GS Adventure takes a 110/80/19 front and a 150/70/17 rear. Common sizes for the segment, used by the GS, V-Strom, older Tiger and other dual sport big bikes. I clock up a bit of mileage so figured it’s probably best to collate my thoughts of each set of tyres as I work my way through them.

In the following posts I’ll put a review of each set. I won’t offer ratings, just a detailed review if I can. Rating is a bit hard, and as I tell everyone, tyres are extremely subjective, so what one loves, another can hate. Instead, it’s easier to mention if I would use it again.

My riding style isn’t the slowest around, but I don’t speed much either, usually only when overtaking. The mix of sealed and unsealed roads varies from month to month, depending on what rides are on, and the unsealed stuff can be simple gravel roads through to adventure riding and river crossings.

Unless otherwise mentioned, I stay with the stock sizes, so without further ado, I’ll dip into the first set. Others can feel free to review the same or different models of tyres, perhaps in time this will become a good reference… If you're posting other sizes specify so, so people know.

Discuss reviews in this thread here: http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...yre-discussion

Index:
Bridgestone Battlewing: [1] [2]
Continental TKC-80: [1]
Continental Trail Attack: [1] [2]
Heidenau K60 Scout: [1]
Heidenau K76: [1] [2]
Metzeler MCE Karoo 2: [1]
Michelin Anakee 2: [1]
Michelin Anakee 3: [1]
Michelin Pilot Road 1/2: [1] [2]
Michelin Pilot Road 3 Trail: [1] [2]
Pirelli Scorpion Trail: [1] [2]

[Gremlin]

Installed: on bike at purchase, 4000km.
Removed: approx. 10,000km
Remaining life: negligible, tyres thrown out

Stock fitment on the GSA as far as I know, I have no idea if they’d been replaced in the first 4000km but they lasted through to the 10,000km service interval. Most travel was one up, not much luggage. It’s hard to give the tyres a proper review as I was still trying to get to grips with the different handling of the GSA compared to bikes with normal suspension.

Suffice to say, I never noticed them particularly. I guess it means they were neither good nor bad, simply they did their job. Any gravel (of which there was a little) was treated carefully, and it performed much like a regular road tyre, slightly skitterish. They were on the bike Jan-Feb so wet weather performance was never really tested.

I had a trip coming up, so they were pulled off early, but there wasn’t much life remaining in them and I sort of stretched them out a bit towards the end.

Would I use it again: I guess it’s hard to get a truly bad tyre nowadays, but the tyre didn’t impress me enough to use it again, with so many other options available. No.

[Gremlin]

Installed: approx. 10,000km
Removed: 15,400km
Remaining life: flat through middle with little remaining tread, tyres thrown out

I’d run Pirelli Scorpion Syncs on my KTM in 120/70/17 and 180/55/17 for about 7 sets and loved them. Soft, rather expensive but gripped dry or wet. The Scorpion Trail was the successor and also available in the 110 and 150 sizing, so it was natural I would try.

They were fitted shortly before a trip to the South Island and I did the 2011 TT2000, wracking up most of the 5400km in basically 2 weeks. South Island roads chew tyres and the bike was loaded for the trip. Grip was excellent on road, predictably a bit skitterish on gravel due to being road orientated. Not tested too much in the wet as it was mostly dry, I had no cause for complaint and the bike gave me no issues.

However, they were the typical Pirelli longevity, namely, not enough. Returning to Auckland the tyre was already squaring off and when removed had very little life in the middle left. I can’t say I was overly surprised, knowing Pirelli and knowing how heavy the bike was, but I still wanted more life out of a tyre as it meant longer trips became an issue.

Again I had a big trip coming up so the tyres were pulled off early but they were very squared off through the middle with little life remaining in them.

Would I use again: Knowing after speaking to other people with GS’s that the likes of Tourances can do 10,000+ km, this tyre life was so short, it was inconvenient. No.

[Gremlin]

Installed: 15,400km
Removed: 22,500km
Remaining life: Tyres were squaring off, but could have gone further.

These tyres were installed before shipping the bike to the USA for a 6 week tour. The Road 2 was never released in a 19” front, so a Road was installed on the front. I’ve used the Road 2 on the Hornet a lot and is probably my favourite tyre for it so this was a safe choice for a lot of sealed road I would be doing in the USA.

Performance was good in the dry and wet as you’d expect with the Road and very little gravel was done. I still found some gravel to explore and wasn’t much worse than the Scorpion Trail or Battlewing while having better road performance.

Mileage was the biggest difference. The tyres had to be pulled off mid trip as they clearly wouldn’t last the full 15,000km but I could definitely have travelled several thousand kilometres more and the bike was loaded with gear for all the mileage. Temperatures had ranged from 30’s down to single digits and no problems throughout.

Would I use again: Very road focussed perhaps top 3 most road focussed tyres available in this size, but if I was doing a lot of road, yes, I would use again.

[Gremlin]

Installed: 22,500km
Removed: 31,000km
Remaining life: As much as 50% remained, lots of life left

The Michelin Road 3 was my planned set of tyres mid-way through the tour, stopping in South Dakota for tyres and a service, but their release was delayed and they wouldn’t arrive in time. The shop had another couple of options available, and with the Trail Attacks being talked about a lot I chose them.

For high loads I ran pressures of 36 front, 40 rear. It didn’t help that the dealer put 40psi in the front tyre, making it rock hard and handling rather uncomfortable. Once I’d dealt with it after a day or so and corrected the pressure, the front still had a shimmy at any speed and during acceleration and deceleration.

I’d read up about this and seemingly some suffered on some bikes and others loved the tyre and had no shimmy. Unfortunately, I was in the shimmy camp and it was so irritating that any advantage of the tyre was lost. Imagine doing any speed and your bike is gyrating from side to side no matter what you do, almost as if you’re rolling the bars from side to side.

On the plus side, it seemed it was immune to wearing. Death Valley was 50+ degrees, the tyre was not phased. It rained, and no sliding, just grip. I began to curse the tyre, as clearly it looked like it was giving me the fingers and refusing to die. In the end, it was the only set of tyres I’ve removed early to never re-fit, and sold them on to a guy that loved them. They still had at least half their life left.

Would I use again: Definitely not, due to the shimmy.

[Gremlin]

Installed: 31,000km
Removed: 37,470km
Remaining life: A few thousand kilometres, kept, will be used again

The Road 3 had been out a while, but the variant for dual sports, the “Trail” was released right towards the end of the USA trip with no time to obtain before we flew out, so I ordered some and had them shipped to NZ the usual way.

I was doing some 6000km, mostly road within a month, right after the bike returned from the USA so I wanted some good rubber to counter the winter conditions of October/November. They were unsurpassed in the wet, always offering up grip.

They handled well in the dry and had the usual performance on gravel as you’d expected with road biased tyres, being a bit skitterish. Most of the 6000km were either with a medium load of luggage or full luggage, but I had to pull them off for some gravel exploring, and I didn’t want their road compound, especially the sipes being cut to ribbons. They were beginning to square off, so it was likely they would not last as long as the Road 2 rear, but this report is an interim, as I haven’t finished off the tyre yet.

Would I use again: If I wanted a road biased set, I think it most likely I would use a Road 3 front and Road 2 rear.

Pic 1: front after 5-6k, looking reasonably good
Pic 2: rear after 5-6, it's losing it's profile, showing signs of squaring off

[Gremlin]

Installed: 37,470km
Front Removed: 37,650km
Rear Removed: 41,450km
Remaining Life: Plenty of life in rear, more than 50% remaining, will be used again

I had to head to Wellington for some work, so figured that since I was there, I should hop over to the South Island and explore the Marlborough Sounds. A lot of gravel would be involved and I didn’t want to cut up the Road 3’s. I’d read a lot on the Heidenaus and they seemed to go well. I figured I may as well be a guinea pig in NZ, so ordered a set of the road biased K76 from the importer in New Plymouth.

Unfortunately, being a guinea pig isn’t always a pile of fun. Fitted on Tuesday, I headed south on Thursday late morning after some work, got 40km south, just onto SH2, when rounding the bend the pressure monitoring was alerting me to a low pressure on the front wheel. Reporting 24psi, I found it hard to believe since I’d just checked the pressures that morning in preparation. A hand prod of the tyre made me think the system was lying, but for safety I passed the air gauge over it… sure enough… 24psi.

I pumped it back up, rather puzzled, and continued south, now keeping an eye on the pressures. It stayed rock solid until I passed a truck on the outskirts of Patetonga and the tyre suddenly deflated again as I watched. Pressure dropped to mid-teens by the time I had safely pulled over, but it was clear there was a major problem. I warned the shop I was returning to Auckland and to expect my arrival. Once again the tyre held pressure until passing, where again it dropped and this time was reading 1psi by the time I wobbled into a driveway, avoiding the truck breathing down on me.

Long story short, inspection of the tyre revealed nothing, but upon removing it, the mechanic commented the bead broke too easily, so it could explain why it deflated under high load, either from cornering or higher speed… neither was desirable. RideLife (KB member) was excellent to deal with and took the tyre back, providing a replacement and the cost of fitting plus freight to return the faulty one. Take 2 on the front will be in a future review, and the emergency replacement to get me going will be in the next review.

The rear, for a road biased tyre, hooked up very well on gravel, spinning initially, then kicking me forward as it bit into the gravel roads as I explored through French Pass and beyond Portage over 2 days. Wear was Ok on the rear, refusing to flat through the middle and worked fine in atrocious weather returning to Auckland.

Would I use again: Judgement is reserved until a fairer test of the set as one can be tested.

Pic: Brand new, deep grooves

[Gremlin]

Installed: 37,650km
Removed: 41,450km
Remaining Life: Not enough to justify the cost of another install

After the extremely premature end to the front K76, it was now late afternoon and I had to be in Wellington for work the following morning. Luckily, Botany Honda had a tyre in the correct size, although it was a Karoo 2. Still, beggars can’t be choosers and while rougher than I needed, at least it would hold air (well, I hoped so).

I’d never ridden with a knobbly before, and it’s the competitor to the TKC80s, basically the most knobbly tyres you can buy for such big bikes. I left Auckland through peak hour traffic, but even suburban cornering was horrible and continued for the first 200km of the tyre’s life. The bike almost dived into corners with the Karoo profile but would then wander all over the place refusing to hold a line.

Needless to say, it was treated with a lot of caution but tyres are always a compromise, especially trying to ride road and gravel on the same tyres. The other thing that was immediately apparent was the howl. Anything over 50kph was audible over custom moulded ear plugs and only got louder as you went faster. I was certainly glad of the music to keep me sane for the drag down to Wellington. As you might expect, the handling improved as the tyre was scrubbed in but the howl remained.

Gravel wise, well, it was simply excellent. Never had I had such cornering grip, the tyre went where I wanted it to and I wasn’t sliding around. The gravel also did double duty, further scrubbing the tyre, resulting in much better road manners and towards the end of the weekend I could lean the bike over to almost regular lean angles without complaint from the tyre.

Returning to Auckland in atrocious weather I took it a bit easier than normal, wary of the front, but took only 15min longer to make the return journey than I would normally budget. The trade off was obvious… these knobbly tyres don’t last long when run hard on the road. Too much block movement generates heat which wears the tyre down.

Would I use again: Yes, if doing a lot of adventure riding or similar. Obviously avoid if you want extended road mileage.

Pic: brand new

[Gremlin]

Installed: 41,450km
Removed: 48,800km
Remaining Life: Mostly worn, but just worth keeping for another install

Another trip down to the TT2000 early this year resulted in another tyre choice. I was still searching for the perfect tyre for both adventure riding and road, and the choice was all important, as this trip down would see anything from hot seal to soaking wet seal to crossing rivers when adventuring after the main TT event.

I chose Michelin, being somewhat of a fan and the Anakee 2 was supposed to out-perform the Tourance. The wide grooves in the tyre showed some sort of nod towards gravel while still having good road manners.

I demanded a lot from this tyre, from hard road running in excellent summer weather up tight winding roads, to crossing passes like Hakataramea in the middle of the night, to fording rivers in Lees Valley the following week. Road manners were impeccable in the dry, I couldn’t have asked for more, but I did have one scary incident in the wet. Rounded a corner in the pouring rain, early evening, to find black shiny tar, while doing just under the speed limit. Hit the tar, rear spun up, traction control kicked in and then the front started sliding. I’d managed to stand the bike up first, so slithered over it and back onto better tar OK. The guy in front was running the same tyres, had the same problem, guy behind reported no problems, but I’m doubtful any tyre would have gripped in those circumstances.

The tyre wasn’t perfect for adventuring, not having enough bite, but was suitable for the casual adventuring we were doing. A mate on Road 3s had to quit first, down a particularly rough section, while the Anakee 2’s kept gripping, so they’re definitely better than a normal road tyre. I found that the tyres were going down when not riding, but after Cycletreads investigated, it was a loose nut around the valve.

In a little over a month they clocked up 7300km and still have some life left, so the mileage will be updated once I know the finally tally.

Would I use again: Yes. Probably my preferred choice for a lot of road work, as they will still be OK for the odd gravel road without sacrificing road performance.

Pictures after 7300km.

[Gremlin]

Installed: 48,800km
Removed: 50,100km
Remaining Life: Plenty of life, looks barely worn

Story of my life, some ride required a change of tyres before they were finished… The fitting costs will add up, but pricing up another set of rims made me laugh so hard, the fitting costs are cheap enough to continue doing it.

The TKC80 needs no introduction, it’s been very popular around the world, and listed as a 50/50 tyre, but I’d argue with that, saying it’s more 20/80 road/dirt, as (bar few exceptions) the tyre is not long lasting because of the block construction, but has excellent traction on gravel and off road. I’m still searching for the ideal mix of 50/50 tyre, but that’s for a future review (I have something in mind).

An adventure ride on private land near Taupo prompted a recommendation of knobblies, and it can be the difference between having a great time and having a nightmare, so on with knobblies. Predictably, the handling was horrible all the way to Taupo. The morning after fitting the tyres I even had a quick lesson in the difference between road tyres and knobblies. Powered through an intersection, turning into a side road, to find the rear spinning up and powersliding my way out the corner… Perfect road and conditions, regardless, they definitely don’t have the full traction on roads.

It actually took gravel roads before the tyres finally felt settled on sealed roads. Performance on gravel was excellent of course, digging through the loose stuff to give good traction and sliding when you passed the limits of grip was predictable. The front tracked well, but be warned the TKC’s have soft side walls, so don’t air them down too much, otherwise you’ll be risking your rims. I left my TKCs at road pressure as I wasn’t going that far bush.

After the gravel scrub I was happy to lean the bike over on the TKCs, still keeping some in reserve, but also able to nudge them along at a respectable pace. Fuel economy was heavily affected, by some 0.5L-1L/100km because of the higher rolling resistance. Wet roads weren’t too bad, but since they could spin up on dry seal, I was cautious on wet seal. At slower speeds you can feel the bike rolling from tread block to tread block, but at higher speeds there is only a slight increase in vibration.

Life isn’t known yet, as I put them on for the ride, and when returning to Auckland removed them again, and I’ll put them on for the next ride in Taupo in September.

Would I use again: Absolutely yes, for adventure riding. I would recommend an alternate rear unless you want the additional traction, as the big powerful and heavy bikes eat the rears like nobody’s business.

[Jantar]

Installed: on bike at purchase, 4000km.
Removed: approx. 10,000km
Remaining life: negligible, tyres thrown out

....

Would I use it again: I guess it’s hard to get a truly bad tyre nowadays, but the tyre didn’t impress me enough to use it again, with so many other options available. No.

Bridgestone Battlewing

I have had one set of Battlewings, and two sets of the Trailwings (OE on VStroms). The Battlewings were better on sealed roads than the Trailwings and similar in gravel. I found them generally OK, untill they were just over have worn. Once more than half worn they stopped giving the feeling of confidence. I only managed about 7500 km before tossing them out. Also they were quite expensive.

I wouldn't buy them again as a first option, but would consider them if they were priced right.

[Jantar]

Installed: approx. 10,000km
Removed: 15,400km
Remaining life: flat through middle with little remaining tread, tyres thrown out.....


Would I use again: Knowing after speaking to other people with GS’s that the likes of Tourances can do 10,000+ km, this tyre life was so short, it was inconvenient. No.

Pirelli Scorpion Trail

I have used these many times, and just recently fitted one to the front. Like Gremlin, I find they have a short life, but ideal down here for winter riding. Good grip on seal and Ok on gravel.

Yes, I do still buy them for winter, but I don't fit them for the longer summer rides.

[Jantar]

Installed: 15,400km
Removed: 22,500km
Remaining life: Tyres were squaring off, but could have gone further......

Would I use again: Very road focussed perhaps top 3 most road focussed tyres available in this size, but if I was doing a lot of road, yes, I would use again.

Michelin Pilot Road 1

I have used them once, and would certainly pick them again for mainly road use, but like the Bridgestones they would have to be priced right. I found them to be OK, but nothing to rave about. They gave me less than 6000 km.

[Jantar]

Installed: 22,500km
Removed: 31,000km
Remaining life: As much as 50% remained, lots of life left.....


Would I use again: Definitely not, due to the shimmy.

Continental Trail Attack

These are currently my favourite summer tyre. They have good feel and grip. There is a caution though; they are a multi compound tyre and must be kept up to temperature to perform correctly. That means that on wet roads there is not as much grip as you would expect when in a straight line and its easy to spin up the rear wheel. I have had 4 sets of these now and they do give long life. Only once have I experienced the front wheel shimmy that Gremlin mentioned, so I know it does exist, but I don't think its general. Maybe there is an imperfection in some batches, or maybe its in the fitting. The down side is the cost at almost 50% dearer than the Pirrelli, however they do last twice as long.

Yes, I'll be fitting them again in October.

[Gremlin]

Installed: 50,100km
Removed: 55,750km
Remaining life: Front has plenty of life, rear is gone

After the dramas with the previous front, RideLife had sent me a replacement tyre so this was finally fitted with the existing rear. The front has done 5650km and the rear has lasted 9670km. The rear has done quite well, lots of gravel work and also long sealed trips with luggage.

I mentioned previously I was quite impressed with the gravel performance of the K76. While it will never come close to the TKC or K60, I think it’s a better performer on gravel than the likes of Tourance or Anakee. Due to the tread layout the blocks wear at different levels throughout its life and this did become more noticeable towards the end, with a rougher ride being felt through the bars.

There were no more rapid deflation issues with the front (thankfully) so it was just an odd ball tyre. Near the end of the rear’s life cracking did start appearing on some of the tread blocks, unsure why, but it didn’t seem to have any detrimental effect.

Would I use again: I’m not sure. This sector of the market, for an 80/20 – 90/10 tyre is very crowded with a lot of good tyres. I never hated the tyre, but then I didn’t really love the tyre either. I wouldn’t avoid it, but it wouldn’t be my first choice either.