Another tire thread

[erik_26 31]

Alright my fellow SDAR heads.... time to add some weights to your bats and prepare to beat the dead horse once again.....

 

2012 Yamaha Super Tenere.... sadly, I am just not confident enough with my heavy bike to spend a lot of time in the dirt, especially riding alone. I do hit fire roads and have been up part of the Otay Mountain Truck Trail on it. I avoid sand and deep gravel. I mainly stick to hard packed dirt roads.

 

I am looking for a sound 80/20 front and rear tire combo. I have my eye on the Shinko 705, but I am very open to persuasion on other tires to consider. I do ride a lot on the street and want to have confidence cornering on the road. When I decided to hop off the pavement I would like just as much confidence going down roads similar to Proctor Valley Road and Otay Mountain Truck Trail.

[Mr.JAJA 380]

MOTOZ TRACTIONATOR GPS is what I run for the last 3 years and with getting 8K from the rear, I am more than impressed. I am riding, not racing all long distance and byway, no highway. BMW 1150GSA

 

[tntmo 887]

I have run the Shinko 705, Heidenau K60, Continental TKC70, Mitas E07 on my Ténéré.  I don’t think any of them were too confidence inspiring off road.

All of them are more street oriented in my opinion, and since I ride the big bike 95% on pavement it’s kind of difficult for me to justify buying more aggressive tires.  

All that said, I posted a deal on some Mitas E09 and E10 tires a few weeks ago and picked up a set of each.  They were cheap enough for me to give them a try.  Hopefully I get off road after I mount them up.

[erik_26 31]

29 minutes ago, tntmo said:

I have run the Shinko 705, Heidenau K60, Continental TKC70, Mitas E07 on my Ténéré.  I don’t think any of them were too confidence inspiring off road.

All of them are more street oriented in my opinion, and since I ride the big bike 95% on pavement it’s kind of difficult for me to justify buying more aggressive tires.  

All that said, I posted a deal on some Mitas E09 and E10 tires a few weeks ago and picked up a set of each.  They were cheap enough for me to give them a try.  Hopefully I get off road after I mount them up.

Tom, of the tires you listed, did any standout above the rest? I know you are always of the budget mind, but, if money wasn't an issue..... what would you pick?

 

Is there anything that you would avoid like the Coronavirus?

 

Final question for you, would you mix or match, meaning, did one tire perform exceptional on the front but disappointed you in the rear or vice versa and in your opinion, the best combo would be brand/model X in the front and brand/model Z in the rear or would you always run the same brand/model front and back?

[Oracle 195]

I'm running the 705's on my big bike right now. For the price, they are an excellent tire. I can scrape pegs all day in the twisties without loosing any confidence whatsoever from the tires. I wouldn't waste time, money, energy trying to figure out if mixing up tires on a big bike makes sense. Almost nobody out rides their tires on a Tenere on the street (assuming good road surface conditions).

[Mikey777 44]

I have road set of wheels and a dirt set of wheels for the big bike.  The road set is wrapped front and rear with Pirelli MT 90 A/T's which is a 80/20 tire, maybe 60/40 if you push your luck.  The tread pattern is very similar to the Shinko 705.  You can carve up the twisties like a hooligan street bike with these.

They are usually in stock at Cycle Gear in Claremont.

[tntmo 887]

I was pretty happy with the Mitas E07 tires, but I have heard they changed the compound.  
 

I have often had different front and rear tires.  No noticeable difference for me.
 

Hard to say what I would run otherwise, never tried all of them to compare! 

[Zubb 1061]

I ride my 1200 GSA pretty hard.  Commute daily, tour, off road, if ever a guy needed a magic tire....

List of tires I've put through 3 GS's:

Mitas EO7: one of the better all around 80/20 tires for the sensible rider. Would buy again.

Kenda Big Blocks: fine off road.  would not buy them again.

K60 Scouts: poor on road, decent 50/50 tire off road.

K60 rear / TKC 80 front: This highly acclaimed combo worked very well for me... until I lost the rear (2 separate times) on slow turns on city pavement.  I will never buy a K60 again. I don't need the added risk.

Anakee 3: Have run through 3 sets on the GS.  They are glue on the pavement.  Carve to the edge of tread.  Predictable. No surprises.  Deflate them to 25 lbs and they do much better than people give them credit for off road.  However,  I spend too much time off road to run these anymore.

If you want an 80/20 tire I strongly recommend my current favorite.  Karoo Streets.  The front is a little noisy but I wear earplugs so who cares. I've run them hard to the edge on hot and cold pavement.  Never had a slip on our rainy days in SD county. Very predictable.  When the rear wants to drift out a little bit, she gives a little feedback instead of just letting go.  Always felt rock dam solid up to 130 with the boxes.  Now for the surprise . . . off road these things are the best 80/20 tire I've ever ridden.  Excellent traction on all of big bike truck trails.  I even have fun on them in drifty 8" or so sand.  Mud? who cares.  We don't have no stinking mud.

Mileage? I'm at 6,000 on the rear and it's almost at the wear bar.  It's done. The front is about half worn at most.

I'd buy them again in a heartbeat.  Best 80/20 tire I've ever ridden.

I am however putting TKC80's on this week since I have them in the garage and I also plan to hit the desert particularly hard in the next 2 months.

Hope this helps.

[Ken S 164]

My 1090 came with TKC 80’s. Good on the street. Ok dirt. Still have the front. I spun the rear away quickly. 
MotoZ Tractionator Desert on the rear now. 90/10. Loud on the street but works well. 
Amazing in the dirt and sand. 
Probably won’t last more than 2500 but I’m Throttle happy. 
I’ll be putting a Golden Tire GT 216 on the front next. 
I ride my 1090 primarily as a dirt bike. Use the street to get there. 

[Zubb 1061]

Just saw I called the E07 and 80/20.  As you know, it is not.  It's a classic 50/50, but you knew that.  Hand me another beer, would ya?

[KTMrad 508]

Spend more time in the dirt so you can ride that big boy all over the place.

80/20 tires. I ran quite a few different brands, always liked Pirelli Skorpions, but there are more to choose from nowadays.

I rode the entire Desert Dash on my 950 one year with TKC-80 on the front and Pirelli Skorpion on the rear,  worked just fine.

[erik_26 31]

13 hours ago, Zubb said:

I ride my 1200 GSA pretty hard.  Commute daily, tour, off road, if ever a guy needed a magic tire....

List of tires I've put through 3 GS's:

Mitas EO7: one of the better all around 80/20 tires for the sensible rider. Would buy again.

Kenda Big Blocks: fine off road.  would not buy them again.

K60 Scouts: poor on road, decent 50/50 tire off road.

K60 rear / TKC 80 front: This highly acclaimed combo worked very well for me... until I lost the rear (2 separate times) on slow turns on city pavement.  I will never buy a K60 again. I don't need the added risk.

Anakee 3: Have run through 3 sets on the GS.  They are glue on the pavement.  Carve to the edge of tread.  Predictable. No surprises.  Deflate them to 25 lbs and they do much better than people give them credit for off road.  However,  I spend too much time off road to run these anymore.

If you want an 80/20 tire I strongly recommend my current favorite.  Karoo Streets.  The front is a little noisy but I wear earplugs so who cares. I've run them hard to the edge on hot and cold pavement.  Never had a slip on our rainy days in SD county. Very predictable.  When the rear wants to drift out a little bit, she gives a little feedback instead of just letting go.  Always felt rock dam solid up to 130 with the boxes.  Now for the surprise . . . off road these things are the best 80/20 tire I've ever ridden.  Excellent traction on all of big bike truck trails.  I even have fun on them in drifty 8" or so sand.  Mud? who cares.  We don't have no stinking mud.

Mileage? I'm at 6,000 on the rear and it's almost at the wear bar.  It's done. The front is about half worn at most.

I'd buy them again in a heartbeat.  Best 80/20 tire I've ever ridden.

I am however putting TKC80's on this week since I have them in the garage and I also plan to hit the desert particularly hard in the next 2 months.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for the detailed write up! That really helps a lot. 

[erik_26 31]

5 hours ago, KTMrad said:

Spend more time in the dirt so you can ride that big boy all over the place.

80/20 tires. I ran quite a few different brands, always liked Pirelli Skorpions, but there are more to choose from nowadays.

I rode the entire Desert Dash on my 950 one year with TKC-80 on the front and Pirelli Skorpion on the rear,  worked just fine.

I want too. I watch a lot of videos of folks tearing up single track, sand, mud, dirt, rocks, logs.... you name it, all on their big bikes. It gives me a lot of hope and motivation. 

 

I have a couple small bikes in my garage too, and those are the ones I take out for the rougher terrain. My little XT250 is a blast to ride on the trails. It wont win any races or style point, but, it is all smiles when I am bombing down the trail with that little bike and it feels rewarding to make it to the top of a mesa to enjoy the beautiful views of our county. Where the smile fades quickly is when I turn off the trail and back onto the pavement.

 

I am strongly considering a T700 when they come out this year. That might be the balance I am looking for in comfort on the road, yet, nimble-ish on the trail.

 

I am going to look into the Karoo Streets, Zubbs recommended. Since most of my riding is on pavement with my Super Tenere, that is my focus for safety and performance. The bonus will be ripping down the fire roads or up the truck trails.

 

Also thinking more what Mickey said, maybe two sets of wheels is in my future when I gain proficiency on the big bike off road.