Tyre choice for adventure riding? (Mixing road and off-road)

[Horney1]

I'm just getting to the end of a set of

SCORPION MT 90 A/T, 150/70R18 M/CTL 70V Rear
and a
SCORPION MT 90 A/T, 90/90-21M/CTL 54V Front

on my KTM990.

I squared off the rear big time loaded up on a return trip from Melbourne to Perth (8000km). Most of the trip was on the seal and I had absolutely no worries with them. But I did also clock up 200km of a sandy dirt highway along the way and wished I had a more grip in the front during those relatively high speed deep sand sections! But they saw me through without a spill.

I'm still commuting about 90km a day at speed through heavy traffic on them. They're startin to get a bit slippery though! I've powerslid them and pulled stoppies no worries (ABS has helped in the dry in a couple of traffic "situations"). They've got a bit of bite in the gravel but it's a heavy and tall bike so I'm always a bit cautious in the tight loose stuff. Again, the front is the worry (quite nice in a good radius cornered slid though - hehe). Being v-rated is handy to, I don't have too much choice in the sizing for my bike so I'll be inteested to have a good read of what everyones had to say here. I just had a quick scan through the thread and jotted down a few notes before heading off home....

Cheers from Aus.

[Wolf]

Cheers, Horney1, I am running Scorpion MT90 A/Ts front and rear and it's nice to read what to expect after putting them through a decent run or two.

[Horney1]

Cheers, Horney1, I am running Scorpion MT90 A/Ts front and rear and it's nice to read what to expect after putting them through a decent run or two.

No worries Wolf. Have fun out there... What's the dry weight of your bike? It'd be fairly similar to mine I guess - 200kg?? I was running about 40-42 /36psi loaded on that long run. Normally 38/36, & drop 'em to around the 28 - 32 mark for the dirt. Problem around here is pumping them up again when you're a hundred ks from a compressor - it's hard work in this heat with a hand pump! (I must get a CO2 setup, haha). So I sometimes just leave them at sealed road pressures and take it a bit easier but it's probably worth taking a bit out of at least the front on gravel, I reckon.

Cheers

[NordieBoy]

Local Cycletreads has a new e07 rear ($144) and a part worn front ($free).
Going on on Wed

I like them so far.
Took them (Or they took me) through the Maungatapu today.
Definatly more stable in the gravel.
Will see how it does seal tomorrow over to Takakakaka.

[Wolf]

What's the dry weight of your bike? It'd be fairly similar to mine I guess - 200kg??

Try 238lb - around 108kg. Tis only a little thing - which makes it great around town, racing up hills and off road despite the 223cc engine.

[NordieBoy]

Well I am amazed about the levels of grip the E-07's give on the seal.

25psi front.
30psi rear.

The side knobs squash together under hard cornering but thinking about it and looking at the tyres now with the size of the knobs and the gaps, they shouldn't hold on so well

I didn't think I was leaning all that far over.

[oldrider]

Well I am amazed about the levels of grip the E-07's give on the seal.

25psi front.
30psi rear.

The side knobs squash together under hard cornering but thinking about it and looking at the tyres now with the size of the knobs and the gaps, they shouldn't hold on so well

I didn't think I was leaning all that far over.

Got the same result out of my EO7's too, I did not think I was over as far and was surprised when I checked them just after leaving the dusty road and onto the seal for a few twisties.

I was really surprised at the way they hung on but I wonder what it's going to be like when they actually let go!!!!..........

I was very pleased with their tracking on the dry loose thick gravel and my front tyre is still on back to front!

Wet gravel is always a breeze by comparison.(IMO) Cheers John.

[oldrider]

Front tyre on the right way round now, can't feel any difference yet but don't think it would really matter until you are in mud or slippery clay type terrain.

I made a wee error of judgement coming home today and had to push them as far as I dare (and some).....life threatening stuff too....... and.....great result!!!!!

I must say that I am impressed with these Mitas EO7 tyres so far! Cheers John.

[clint640]

Mmmm... I might have to try one on the back, I'll need to convince the importer to bring in the 130/18" though as it isn't listed here.

Cheers
Clint

[dmc]

I had Mitas E-07's on my bike when I got it and I was pretty impressed, have just swapped them out with E-09's tho and gota say they are great,

[Transalper]

Agreed, i went from E07 to E09 on the Transalp and have a lot more confidence in the E09 in all conditions especially when the going gets rough. The only drawback is the E09 doesn't last as long. The E09 is even pretty good on wet blacktop... for a knobbly.

[warewolf]

Went shopping for another rear tyre in a 140/80-18, what fun...not.

Wanted to try the Dunlop D606 130/90-18, as it is highly rated on advrider, but it's not brought into the country. The 120/90-18 is available but too small.

OK, try a cheap option, Maxxis M6006 140/80-18. Not brought into the country. The 130/80-18 is listed but no stock in the country, and it's too small.

Not much else about in a 140/80-18 or 130/90-18. The Mitas either aren't made or aren't available in that size. Most of the cheap lines don't do them, there are a couple of highly-rated Michelins made (Baja and Desert) but I haven't inquired about availability as their price is typically high... maybe next time. There is the TKC80 140/80-18, but they're expensive rubbish.

So I have a choice of a Pirelli MT21 Rallycross 140/80-18, or a Pirelli MT21 Rallycross 140/80-18... any tyre you want, as long as it is a Pirelli MT21 Rallycross!!! Lucky I rate them as at least 'acceptable' in terms of performance/longevity/dollars.

[oldrider]

Well I realise that a lot of tyres are very bike specific but I really do like the Mitas EO7's on my TransAlp, I really am starting to get confidence in them.

Every test so far they surprise me and now I go and sell the T/A for a bike I can't get them for so here we go again doing the learn and search for the perfect tyres, damn!

Transalper says he has had good distance out of the EO7's, I was keen to see how mine would have lasted but won't get that now.

The new Tiger is equipped with Michelin Anakeis,(sp) I think from memory they look a bit like a Tourance or the Mitas EO8 so they should be OK on the seal.

Oh well, here we go again. John.

[topher]

I've just replaced my Tiger with a R1100GS. Not sure yet if that was a good move. On the Tiger I ran all of Pirelli Scorpians, MetzlerTourance and Michelin Anakee. Having ridden each from new to well worn I found the Pirelli best on both wet and dry seal, the tourances gave best mileage (2.5 times!) and good handling. The Anakees were great on dry seal but not so positive wet. None were much good on gravel but with the 90%(+) road oriented pattern weren't expected to be. If you ride hard, and the Tiger loves that, the Pirellis are the go. Metzlers give the best $ value. Something nice about the Michies? They look best! Of course the same tyres may work differently on other bikes with different dynamics...

[Horney1]

I've just replaced my Tiger with a R1100GS. Not sure yet if that was a good move. On the Tiger I ran all of Pirelli Scorpians, MetzlerTourance and Michelin Anakee. Having ridden each from new to well worn I found the Pirelli best on both wet and dry seal, the tourances gave best mileage (2.5 times!) and good handling. The Anakees were great on dry seal but not so positive wet. None were much good on gravel but with the 90%(+) road oriented pattern weren't expected to be. If you ride hard, and the Tiger loves that, the Pirellis are the go. Metzlers give the best $ value. Something nice about the Michies? They look best! Of course the same tyres may work differently on other bikes with different dynamics...

I took a few pics of my Scorpions for another reason but this front has about 10,000 - 11,000 ks on it (reason not sure is I swapped it to go to Perth over Christmas then put it back on afterwards). They've done mostly road work with some dirt.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...1/DSCF1735.jpg

Does anything from this:

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...1/DSCF1579.jpg

to this:

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...1/DSCF1661.jpg
and this
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...1/DSCF1561.jpg
(another near overshoot - must watch that trigger!)

with a little poo thrown in on this overshoot!!
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...orney1/002.jpg
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...orney1/003.jpg
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...orney1/006.jpg
Admittedly, I was going a mite quickish and was distracted by a car I had just passed & I think I was more watching the treeline for road direction clues instead of the signs! Well cheap lesson for me (& quite a few others by the look of the marks on the road)!

Anyway, the Pirellis work! I thought I'd throw in these Aussie pics to show there are corners over here.

C