Tires? Tires?

[maddogg10mm]

What is the best tire out there for mileage? 10-20% off road & 80-90% on road

I commute mostly back & fourth to work, 50 miles round trip. Sometimes more if I ride to go get lunch or to run some errands.

2008 Suzuki DR650SE bone stock for now. Already has 2725 miles. Please advise

[Josh_TN]

If you are not wanting to go fast off road the stock trailwings are good. They grip the road good and wear good. Their main drawback is offroad you can'tkeep traction at speed. THe Kenda k270 is a great and cheap DS tire, but right now are a little hard to come by. I have the trailwings on mine at the momemt but have a set of D606 knobbies on the way. I want to go faster than the TW's will let me!

[j-rad]

Tha't why they put trailwings on the 650 stock. It is actually not a bad street tire and most people that are going to ride off road are going to do suspension work on the stock soft set up and chuck the trailwings for a dirt tire anyway, so the trailwing is actually a good stock tire choice. It just happens to be a scary tire if you want to go any speed of any kind off road. Check out the TKC80 Continentals. May be the best compromise tire out there for mostly street riders.

[DR in VT]

My bike came with Avon Distanzas. Pretty good road tire and will handle a bit of fire road action too. I took them on some trails and they did fine as long as it was pretty dry.

[boatxr]

the rear always wears fastest:

mefo explorer rear

www.klr650.com

or bridgestone tw22 rear

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/29/393/14759/ITEM/Bridgestone-TW22-Trail-Wing-Dual-Sport-Rear-Tire.aspx

avon gripster

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/29/393/5299/ITEM/Avon-AM24-Gripster-Rear-Tire.aspx

http://www.americanmototire.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=200&osCsid=0c08a00cc3d5de9e9ea1dc974a2859bf

[maddogg10mm]

Does anybody know anything about these tires?

http://www.americanmototire.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=200_260_264

[ken3773]

Does anybody know anything about these tires?

http://www.americanmototire.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=200_260_264

I had these on my Ducati Multistrada. A nice road tire. Sorry I can't comment about off road performance. They do fine on dirt/gravel back roads.

Ken

[boatxr]

Does anybody know anything about these tires?

http://www.americanmototire.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=200_260_264

metzler own pirelli.

those are built just like tourances. essentially the same tire w/ changes in rubber compund.

http://www.americanmototire.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=200_248_252

scorpions rubber is designed for hot & dry enviro (think italy)

tourance rubber is designed for colder & wetter enviro (think germany)

[bmwdan42]

I've used the Metzler Tourances on my BMW R100GSPD for several years. Last summer My boys and I did 9000 in 14 days out West to the Moto-GP then up the coast into BC then back to Virginia. The following month, one son and I went for a 3500 mile loop to Nova Scotia and back. I replaced the rear with a little over 12,000 miles on it. The front still has 3 or 4 thousand left on it. They are pricier than the MT90's. The BMW with full camping gear is probably close to 200 lbs heavier than the DR, so I would guess they should last forever on the lighter bike. They work fine on dry fire trails but suck on anything wet.

[maddogg10mm]

I've used the Metzler Tourances on my BMW R100GSPD for several years. Last summer My boys and I did 9000 in 14 days out West to the Moto-GP then up the coast into BC then back to Virginia. The following month, one son and I went for a 3500 mile loop to Nova Scotia and back. I replaced the rear with a little over 12,000 miles on it. The front still has 3 or 4 thousand left on it. They are pricier than the MT90's. The BMW with full camping gear is probably close to 200 lbs heavier than the DR, so I would guess they should last forever on the lighter bike. They work fine on dry fire trails but suck on anything wet.

Would 12,000 miles be the most you could get out of any good tire or are there tires out there you could get higher mileage on?

[J_T]

I've used the Metzler Tourances on my BMW R100GSPD for several years. Last summer My boys and I did 9000 in 14 days out West to the Moto-GP then up the coast into BC then back to Virginia. The following month, one son and I went for a 3500 mile loop to Nova Scotia and back. I replaced the rear with a little over 12,000 miles on it. The front still has 3 or 4 thousand left on it. They are pricier than the MT90's. The BMW with full camping gear is probably close to 200 lbs heavier than the DR, so I would guess they should last forever on the lighter bike. They work fine on dry fire trails but suck on anything wet.

I Have NOT used the Metzler Tourances but I am very uneasy about expecting the same mileage for my bike as the BMW...I don't know the deal but the tires I have run on my 650 Dual sport...I didn't see half of what the beemer guys were quoting for the same tire??????? I have yet to figure out why...they are heavier But all I can think of (and I havent' ridden one) maybe more constant miles run on the BMW...(less wear with straight and constant riding) BUT I believe its because I ride my bike more agressively than I would or even could a BMW? Therefore...I just laugh and write off any comments from mileage on tires and I see it all the time on ADVrider.com and I don't even hear of people coming close to those sorts of miles on a TRUE DUAL SPORT TIRE.

Would 12,000 miles be the most you could get out of any good tire or are there tires out there you could get higher mileage on?

Based on my above comment i'm laughing, but I guess if you had the sprockets set for ONLY highway use, and were only on street, and Used Pure Street Tires, And rode like a.....(how do say this without coming across as a jacka$$...) an extremely conservative person of advancing age then you MIGHT get 12K...but be happy if you do...and don't waste your time looking, you could be riding instead.

You didn't ask but my advice...put aside $20 a month and just ride the wheels off of it...and plan on buying a rear tire every 6 months if you ride regularly.

[Murman NT]

+1 for the D606. Not that bad on the road (unless you try to chase crotch rockets) and the HOOK UP of road. I have them on my XRL, and first trip into a field, I slid up the tank and grabbed a handful, expecting a nice big roost. Instead the PIG stood straight up instantly and gave me my unexpected thrill for the day... mmmm sudden adrenaline rush mmmmmm

[decerebrate]

what do you guys think about Continental tkc80's?

[Ga-thump]

Don't overlook the IRC GP-1. It is a great tire on and off road.

[waxclan]

Can anyone tell me the brand new tread depth on freshly mounted trailwings? I mounted knobbies for a season and went back to a new set of trailwings on the front and back early in the spring 2008. I'm used to the rear lasting 1 season but I'm suprised the front may need replacing. I've made sure the inflation was kept correct. Perhaps the dirt roads I travel on wear the tire more.

2000 DR650SE

[j-rad]

what do you guys think about Continental tkc80's?

These are the tires I went with. I do almost all on road riding, but there are some nice offroad places within a few miles and I wanted the best 50/50 tire out there. The stock tires are really weak off road and I didn't want something as agressive as the D606s that would make a lot of noise on pavement and are iffy when wet. The TKCs are good when wet and hook up decent off road. They have a premium rubber compound that is not cheap and I am curious how many miles I will get out of them. But I wanted to try a premium tire, so I bought the TKCs. They are pricey though. If you shop around, you can get front and rears for about $180 shipped.

[Mojave]

I used TKC's on my Dakar, worked good on and off but wore fast (4,500 rear). Currently using D606's and I'm not using them again - I want to take my bike back toward the road, more adventure than dualsport. 606's work well offroad but howl at 50mph and above on road. I may just pay the $$$ and go with TKC's. NTL, I think there are better tires than TKC's for mostly onroad.

[tx_dutchman]

Stock rear was shot after 3.5k miles, replaced the rear with a MEFO explorer.

Mefo is now shot, 4k miles later. Compared to the stock tire the Mefo is not very good on wet roads, slippery slide. Off road the Mefo may have hooked up a little better but I hardly noticed any improvement. I will not get a Mefo again, too much $ not enough improvement over stock. In fact I would choose the stocker over the Mefo.

I ordered and received a GP1 rear, a D606 rear, and a MT21 front. Next rear up is the IRC GP1. After that I will replace the front with the MT21 and the rear with the D606. The rubber compound of the GP1 feels very soft, I fear for the mileage I can get out of that tire. The D606 is a stiff bastard, gonna be fun mounting that sucker. I'm looking forward to the howl and riding that one in the soft stuff.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that MT21 front road-wise, looks like I'm going to have to adjust to those knobbies. But I just have to try it and feel it for myself.

[Mojave]

The D606 front pretty much cures washing out in the loose stuff. I may stay with it. I had short (3000 miles) but decent service from a Maxxum 6006 rear, I think those are pretty cheap. The 6006 front was fine on the road but washed badly off.

[j-rad]

I've got the TKC80s put on front and back now and so far I am pleased. The stock trailwings were pretty worn on the back and had some cracking on the front and they were near useless off road, so I dont' have any comparison to new TW, but the TKC hook up on loose stuff pretty well and the front tire is as grabby as I had hoped. But the surprising thing is how smooth this tire is on pavement!!! Very nice 50/50 design. Nice pavement cornering grip too. The only issue is the front tire has a high spot on it and I am going to have it remounted to check if it is the tire, or the rim, or just not seated properly from a crappy intstall at the shop. The rim spun fine when I had it off, so it is likely a bad tire or the installation.