Michelin T-63 tires

[Trauts]

While I usually run street-oriented dualsport tires on my 2006 DR650, an off-road camping trip a few weeks back meant that I needed some more dirtable tires.  My trip was a few hundred miles on pavement from central Texas to camp in the hills of southeast Oklahoma.  The last 20 miles are dirt roads, that are rocky, sandy, and very slippery when wet.  I choose the Michelin T-63's.

 

They felt a little wobbly when I first mounted them, but after a little wear, they were easy to ride on the street, giving good grip, and without any significant buzzing or vibration.  They worked very well in the dirt.  The bike just plain hooked up and got me up some gnarly hills.  This was a solo trip, and I was carrying all of my gear, food, and 5 gallons of water.  The bike and tires handled all of the dirt roads, and exploring with apolmb.  The T-63's worked very well both off road and on.  If you are going on a real dual sport adventure, I strongly recommend these tires.

 

Is there a downside?  Yes, quick wear.  I have about 2,000 miles on the tires, and the center knobs are about 1/2 worn.  My trip was about 800 miles of pavement, much with the bike fully loaded.

 

On the other hand, the T-63's are some of the least expensive 50/50 tires that I found. 

[lowercasee]

I ran these on my DRZ400 and they were great off-road an surprisingly good on road.  I was actually shocked at how far I could lean the bike over with them.  They do wear quickly, but that's to be expected.  The only time I had any issues was on really sloppy, muddy, rocky and root filled trails.

[54321]

Thanks for the good reviews guys! I have a set of T63's sitting here ... haven't mounted them yet ... so good to hear they perform well ON  and OFF road!!

I've heard some mixed reviews but in all, mostly pretty good comments on these tires.

 

Dissapointing to hear about the fast wear. I'm assuming you refer mostly to the REAR tire? How does the front last when lots of pavement in the mix (like 75/25 street vs. off road).

I'm thinking of bringing a T63 rear tire along as a spare ... but if it's so short lived, maybe not. (Mexico, Cent. America ride)

[kezzajohnson]

The T-63 has been my tyre of choice on the rear of my DR for a few years now. I run a Michelin Desert on the front cause I didn't like the lack of feel I was getting from the T-63 front tyre.

Recently I replaced my rear with another T-63 and it appears to be wearing a lot quicker than normal. I read the sidewall and found the words 'Made in Thailand'. It appears that Michelin has shifted it's production of these tyres and have gone cheap ass on them. Shame but I won't be buying another one. 

[Trauts]

I should have mentioned that I ran stock pressures on road, and 20lbs off road.

 

I would say that you could probably squeeze two rears for every front.  Dirt tires are tricky because once the blocks get rounded and worn down their off road performance drops significantly.

[Eazy-E]

Thats not fast wear at all! You should get 4500-5000 miles if it's half worn at 2000 which is pretty normal wear on a dual sport tire or I'm doing something wrong. I've never done better, even on the trailwings. Might give the t-63's a try when my mitas wear out. thanks for sharing

[pr8_headed]

My DR350SE had a T-63 on the rear (about 40% tread) and a Shinko 244 front when I bought it. By looking at it I thought it would be a rough riding tire but not so true. Low speeds up to 20 mph it was kinda rough but not bad. I put some Shinko 705 on front and rear to replace the worn tires. The T-63 even at 40% tread kills the Shinko off road and is pretty close on road for such an aggressive knobbie. I have a tire fetish and plan to try many different tires but the T-63 did everything I asked of it.