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

[MXNUT]

Your week is up

Don't tell me it's crap now though cos I just ordered a Motoz Tractionator HT 140/80-18. On special $139 delivered from Moto one, no brainer to give one a go at that. Got it delivered to my sister's place at Stavely for a pit stop on the way to the DB.

If it works well I think I'll keep it quiet though, I've been singing the praises of E0-7's for a while & have seen the price go from $140 to $220 while the $ vs euro has improved hugely

Cheers
Clint

Dont tell everyone about them Clint, they will all want 1. Then the price will go up.
Thats exactly what i have sitting in the shed ready for the Dusty Butt.
I read a write up in an aussie dirt bike magazine where they did a big ride across the austrailan outback ( somewhere ) on trail bikes and they got 2800 kms out of them .
They werent taking it easy either, so i figure it could be just the tyre for that hard and unforgiving otago rock.

I know a few guys on XR650`S used them on the Dusty last year.

[Transalper]

ha ha, just done the same, sick of waiting for Mitas, will still get the Mitas when they arrive but decided to go with the MotoZ HT Tractionator on both wheels for this Dusty.
Seen several people using them and they seem to think they were ok but haven't heard any really good definitive opinions on how they compare with others and no one actually raving about them here. Maybe I havent looked hard enough.
I've been running the IT rear for 1500km now and as expected it is showing signs of about 50% wear but preformed ok enough on single track and riverbed for the price and not to bad on the wet road to Karamea on the WR250R, couple of slight warning slips coming out of corners though a more torquey bike would be sliding all over the place on wet tar I suspect. Am thinking the HT would preform better on wet tar.
Thought about the HT rear/IT front combo but decided stuff it, try the HT set.
Thankfully the WR uses smaller sizes so even cheaper for me at $120 rear 110/100-18 and $99 90/100-21 picked up from one of my locals, no waiting involved though they had been out of HT fronts recently, from Dirt Zone. Their website doesn't appear to have the full range listed.
The IT range is $10 cheaper each.

[Waipukbiker]

Very interested on how the 700 goes for you Pete, Ive got one on a KL250 and its never given me any cause for regret for putting it on.
I just dont know how well it will go on a bigger bike so I wait for your verdict with interest.

[pete-blen]

Very interested on how the 700 goes for you Pete, Ive got one on a KL250 and its never given me any cause for regret for putting it on.
I just dont know how well it will go on a bigger bike so I wait for your verdict with interest.

They get quite a good rap on ADV... Some say they are the old Kings KT996 ADV
tyre mold bought by Shinko who use a softer rubber compound..

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=366264



..........................

[Waipukbiker]

Had a look right through that thread, very interesting, some good comments in there from riders on the 650cc bikes. I know tyres are very much a personal thing but Ive been impressed with the 700 on my little kwaka ( I did the "long way round" on it with no dramas whatsoever)
Will give the 700 some serious consideration when its tyre change time again.

[brp]

Did 460km of a mix of seal, shingle, rocky tracks -mailing and edwards pass on new set of HT Tractionators - running 110/100-18 and 90/100-21 - rear looks half gone - guy at firestone said to run them at 30 PSI if doing seal, waiting to hear back from chris from Auckland who had 1800 km chalked up on his rear and the wear looked just bit less than mine now, as to what pressure he is running, could be down to that he is running a 130 or 140 too. (XR tyre eater on a good day)

Awesome set of tyre's - felt real sure footed after quick break in time. Glad went back to the XR factory spec of 110 with the tractionator knobs coming round on the sidewall, slight marking on muffler with the 110 - looked to be round same width as the T63 130 I took off.

To fit the heavy duty tubes the guy at firestone who use to fit loads of bike tires when out in rangiora said he always removes the inside valve stem nut or the valve stem ends up being way to short - everything held up well on the run and there was some pretty big hits to the tyres on both passes - deep ruts.

From the group quote I emailed to suppliers - found Mr Motorcycles the best by far on price and service !

[Transalper]

If you going to spin your wheels at every opportunity then nothing will last long... but then I assume you didn't get a BRP to be nursing it places.
Chris indicated to me that the day he played up they showed noticeably more wear than the rest of his trip to date.
Thankfully again slower tyre wear should be another bonus of the small size/weight/power of the WR250R relative to your bike.

[brp]

Cheers, interesting what chris said - All an all was not a day of overly spinning, more constant motion as opposed to lots of stop starts. Think any 110 tyre with better hook up will wear quick. The carcass strong but the blocks seem soft with being able to ride at 30 psi all day and still feel planted off road.
Going upto hanmer on the tar they made a hell of a noise, wished I had ear plugs - the big tall blocks were not liking the tar. On way back was relieved of the vibration coming through the throttle grip when we turned off the tar and hit the shingle to come through harwarden. With rim lock and big meaty knobs prob be a good idea to get wheels balanced - think emoto have fancy balancer ?

Got another rear on its way - hopefully be able to score another rear rim in the future and keep the rear knob for trail rides and single track - and have
other rim shod with an E07 for adventure rides and a tractionator etc front .....

[Transalper]

Running MT21 front and Tractionator IT rear at the moment, first time I've been able to hear tyres over wind.
Wonder if the slightly more vibes I'm feeling are partly tyres, was/am thinking it's just the small single reving a bit and the fact I've only just started taking it on bigger trips. Got a tingle in my hands first day of the Mackley/Rainbow ride. Didn't notice it so much rest of trip, first day was all tar to Karamea from ChCh.

Worn MT21 fronts suck in these conditions, don't know what I was thinking, oh that's right, thought it would be a bit dryer and was trying not to change tyres until closer to the DB1k.
Had the back sorted with decent trail tyre but it ended up pushing the MT21 front about every time I tried to clear it. Lots of front end washouts.

[brp]

Tyres over the wind

Cheerz for the vid - good point about strong rear pushing poor font, yeah with the M21 having the knobs spaced well out no doubt a shocker when worn. I'll prob be looking at motoz's great range of MX tyres for doing trail rides ....

[JATZ]

I've just taken the Fullbore MT40 off the GS after 9000k. It had about .5mm tread left.
Would I buy another....? Probably not, scary as hell on wet seal, otherwise it was adequate but I didn't trust it.
I also need to replace the TKC on the front, any recommendations ? for a similar style tyre

[.chris]

I've just taken the Fullbore MT40 off the GS after 9000k. It had about .5mm tread left.
Would I buy another....? Probably not, scary as hell on wet seal, otherwise it was adequate but I didn't trust it.
I also need to replace the TKC on the front, any recommendations ? for a similar style tyre

I like my Metzlers Karoo2 or Karoo(t). Bit dearer than the MT21's but worth it I reckon.

My report on the Motoz H/T, I am at about 3000km so far, I reckon it is a bit over half worn, I ran it at 30psi on the 690 (fully loaded with gear), it seemed to be wearing very slowly to start, then I had a couple of days where I got a little excited on the tarmac and that took its toll. I would guess I will get 5000km out of it total which for a $150 dollar tire is pretty good.
I have tried to order another one, hopefully it will arrive in time for the db1k, as it might be pretty slick by then.

[_Shrek_]

I've just taken the Fullbore MT40 off the GS after 9000k. It had about .5mm tread left.
Would I buy another....? Probably not, scary as hell on wet seal, otherwise it was adequate but I didn't trust it.
I also need to replace the TKC on the front, any recommendations ? for a similar style tyre

mitias E10 works well Jatz for both on & off & they are tubeless

[brp]

Cheers for the pressures you are running chris

Jatz Tractionator HT could serve you well


Ordered a Tractionator rear on thursday from Mr Motorcycles and they were expecting it from the
supplier the next day so looks to be plenty in stock - well of 110's anyway - if you mention brp off
kiwibiker recommended them - you too may end up with the unbelievable deal I was given

[R650R]

Brand new Shinko SR244 after going to wanganui via Napier-Taihape rd then forgotten highway to bach near turangi. I don't think it appreciated supermotard style over the gentle annie, it was already looking ripped up when i got to taihape. Tried to treat it a bit nicer for rest of trip Plenty grippy, unsure of lifespan though...


20121228_4016 by DR650NZ, on Flickr