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

[dutchman49]

2500km only from a TKC 130
What pressures were you running?
I did a 5500km trip to the sth isld on a fat Scrambler loaded, 50/50 seal n gravel at 30-36psi and it was 1/2 worn.
Took it off to put a E-09 on for the CCA, but gunna slip it back on for clints MMMM ride.

The lack of ks is something to do with my affinity for coming out of gravel road corners sideways with full throttle on. My mate on his KTM 950 cleaned his TKC 80 out in under 2000ks. In fact, ripped a few of the knobs off. Pressures were 34 rear, 30 front no matter what the terrain. Great tyre on the seal tough. Never slipped out once. I guess if I just road the bike instead of always trying to catch the KTM i would probably have got a few more ks. But thats not my style.

[NordieBoy]

Thanks for that info. I'll check those Pirelli and Bridgestone's out. Maybe I should have bought a Versys after all !!! lol

Wash yer mouf out boy!

[NordieBoy]

The lack of ks is something to do with my affinity for coming out of gravel road corners sideways with full throttle on. My mate on his KTM 950 cleaned his TKC 80 out in under 2000ks. In fact, ripped a few of the knobs off. Pressures were 34 rear, 30 front no matter what the terrain. Great tyre on the seal tough. Never slipped out once. I guess if I just road the bike instead of always trying to catch the KTM i would probably have got a few more ks. But thats not my style.

Yep.
KM's is to a very large extent dictated by your riding style (or lack of).
If you're a tyre spinner you'll chew most any tyre out in no time and you'll probably prefer tyres at the knobbier end of the spectrum.
If you're like me and prefer to grunt up hills at 2500rpm riding the torque then something closer to the E07 end of the spectrum is more suited as you're using the tyre compound for grip rather than the knob edges.

The TKC 80 is a good compromise and I would advise at least trying a set as the knobs are nice and big so you can see which style of riding suits you and fine tune your tyre choice from there.

[warewolf]

Have been looking at tyre options to replace my now tired Pirelli MT90 S/T, have been looking at the TKC and the MT90 A/T.

Very different tyres, but here's my logic:

Would love to do more learning off road, and to be honest the S/T is just too dody on a 200kg machine in the sloppy mud (Surprised?), so was looking to the TKC's - But, they seem expensive for a relatively short mileage tyre, particularly given that most of my riding is on-road at present.

So, looking for alterantives. Very pleased with the wear, grip and general comfort of the Pirelli, but what about something more aggressive? the MT90 A/T perhaps?

Am seriously looking at the A/T tyre, as I am not sure that I really need anything as knobbly as the MT21, or confident that I'd be happy with them on-road either.

Hmm, interesting choices.

TKC80 = most expen$$$ive tyre and worst value
MT90 A/T = best value, beating even the Kenda K270

You'd probably be better off forgetting about the mud then.

What he said. The MT90 A/T might be "more aggressive" than the MT90 S/T, but it's still basically a road tyre. It's the most road-oriented thing that will correctly fit my 640A. On gravel roads, they felt worse than the Metzeler ME33/ME55A road tyre combo on my DR-Z250, likely because the 640A is heavier and more powerful.

You will need chunky knobs for mud, no two ways about it.

Knobbies grip far better on the road than road tyres do off-road.

[Gizzit]

Wash yer mouf out boy!

lol.

[Oscar]

Hmm, interesting choices.

TKC80 = most expen$$$ive tyre and worst value
MT90 A/T = best value, beating even the Kenda K270

What he said. The MT90 A/T might be "more aggressive" than the MT90 S/T, but it's still basically a road tyre. It's the most road-oriented thing that will correctly fit my 640A. On gravel roads, they felt worse than the Metzeler ME33/ME55A road tyre combo on my DR-Z250, likely because the 640A is heavier and more powerful.

You will need chunky knobs for mud, no two ways about it.

Knobbies grip far better on the road than road tyres do off-road.

Surely you mean "most expensive"?
Very difficult to quantify safety - I'm sure I'd rather pay the extra and keep my arse upright...

[clint640]

Have been looking at tyre options to replace my now tired Pirelli MT90 S/T, have been looking at the TKC and the MT90 A/T.

.

A mate of mine runs a TKC80 front & an MT90AT rear on his Dakar & likes the combo. I think the MT90 he's got might be 140 wide.

Cheers
Clint

[warewolf]

Very difficult to quantify safety - I'm sure I'd rather pay the extra and keep my arse upright...

Yep, agree with you there.

If TKC80s worked for me, I'd consider paying the extra... if there weren't other tyres that worked the same or better for less money.

[Oscar]

Yep, agree with you there.

If TKC80s worked for me, I'd consider paying the extra... if there weren't other tyres that worked the same or better for less money.

I've got a TKC on the front of my LC4, and a Pirelli MT21 on the back. I actually managed to slide the front corning on seal, racing Brucee Marshall over the Whanga Saddle.

[OV Lander]

I've also got one of their Trelleborg ones which is good on the Transalp...

Mr Transalp - can you tell us more about the Trelleborg please? Have been looking at the T-644 Army Special as an alternative to the Conti?

How have you found it on/off road> Civilised or wayward?

Keen also to learn how well they last with the heavy Transalp on the seal? The blocks look a bit small so wondering if they squirm and wear un-neccessarily...

Cheers

[Transalper]

The Trelleborg I have is the T434 front tyre in size 80/100-21.
I had it on my old Transalp for a short time and now it's on the DR650.
From what I remember the Transalp road slightly better on the T434 than the DR does.
It appears to be lasting longer than the D606 Dunlops but does not handle as nicely on the sealed road as the D606.
In shingle I still prefer the Dunlop and off road in Mud they are possibly about the same, or maybe the T434 could be better.
I find the D606 Dunlop to be very civilised on the road in all conditions and very civilised off seal and off road.
No idea what you ride like on the seal so can't really say how I think you'd find them. I do not consider myself to be slow but there are a lot of people out there who seem to like pushing their bikes a lot harder than me in the corners.
In case you haven't picked up on it I will proberbly stick to the D606 fronts in future for my more serious choice. Am currently trying the Mitas C-02 on rear.

My summer choice remains the Mitas E07 for both wheels.

Attached is a pic of the T434.

[hondav2]

How much are you guys paying for your tyres, I am importing a trial shipment from overseas for my self . I can get Metz, tourance, Karoos, karoo t, sahara, michilin desert and anakee , dunlop 606, 607, rally raid 908, TKC 80, kenda k761, pirelli scorpian at,st, mt60r corsa, mt21. As for milage the tourance beats the lot, i got 10,000 miles out of a rear TKC 80 and anakee, i do like the Karoo t on the front better than a tkc80 . Cheers Toddy

[NordieBoy]

15000km out of an E-07 rear.
Favorite front so far is the IRC GP21F.

[XF650]

Local supplier informed me today that the BF Goodrich Crossengo tyres are no longer imported. So it looks like remaining shop stocks are all that's available.
This is sad news because they are an excellent road legal knobbly trail tyre that are DOT, hard wearing, hook up well in soft going & under $100.

[Transalper]

How much are you guys paying for your tyres.........

I payed $140 for my Mitas C02 rear and same for the E07 rear about two months ago.
The front Mitas E07 and front Dunlop D606 were both about $120 or $130 when I last bought them (early this year).
I fit my tyres myself.