Tires and heat shield

[dgsofnj1]

I've had the bike just over a year and it rolled over 10K last week. The original tires still on the bike need to be replaced. I do 90% of my travels on asphalt and 10% on dirt roads..regular dirt roads. I'm on my third set of Michelin Pilots on my 06 Ducati Monster S2R1000 and I've gotten 18-20K per set and about 5K on the current set and still look new. If I did all my riding my riding on asphalt, Michelin Pilots no question..Any recommendations on 90/10 type riding?

Heat shield question. I replaced the original pipe/muffler with a Yoshi slip-on and left the heat shield on. In a move to make the bike look a little better, I was thinking of removing the heat shield altogether. Is this a normal practice?

Thanks,

Dave

 

[scott123007]

Put Pilots on it. They will take that Big Pig anywhere any other tire will. Ask me how I know.
You can remove the heat shield, just as others have.

 

[Nikolajsen]

I think the OEM tire (on my 2017), Bridgestone BW 501/502 is a perfect 90/10% tire.

 

[jimmy z]

Don't know anyone getting 18k to 20 k on pilots on the tenere,either compound..6k to 9k is about average.Great tire thou.

 

[Don in Lodi]

I've had the bike just over a year and it rolled over 10K last week. The original tires still on the bike need to be replaced. I do 90% of my travels on asphalt and 10% on dirt roads..regular dirt roads. I'm on my third set of Michelin Pilots on my 06 Ducati Monster S2R1000 and I've gotten 18-20K per set and about 5K on the current set and still look new. If I did all my riding my riding on asphalt, Michelin Pilots no question..Any recommendations on 90/10 type riding?

Heat shield question. I replaced the original pipe/muffler with a Yoshi slip-on and left the heat shield on. In a move to make the bike look a little better, I was thinking of removing the heat shield altogether. Is this a normal practice?

Thanks,

Dave

The heat shield looks good when it's cut back. I just ran a skill saw across mine an inch or so back from the step, plastic and heat shield, cleaned up the edges, shot it with a few coats of satin black and you're all set.

 

[snakebitten]

In the recent couple of years I've held my tongue on these kind of tire questions. (I know. Hard to believe) But tonight I'm feeling undisciplined. (It's been a great day)
My main point is that I don't believe there is any correlation between the ratio of miles spent on both terrains with the current marketing designation used for tires. What I mean is just because I ride 90\10 road\dirt doesn't mean the right tire would be what some manufacturer badged as a 90\10 tire. And there is a simple explanation why. Neither equation addresses what I as a rider actually values most. I'll be specific by using me as an example. I don't have exact numbers, but in all the years and all the travels, I bet my ACTUAL mileage is 90\10. Regretfully. I LOOK for dirt. But face it, unless you trailer your Tenere to the state you want to ride off road on, you probably offset your 200 miles of offroading with 2000 miles of travel.
But, because I VALUE those amazing 200 miles so much, I'm not going to sacrifice the experience with a road tire with some dirt tread looks.
Make sense?

So at the cost of short tread life, my Tenere is ALWAYS ready for an off road opportunity. For me, modern dirt tires are plenty sticky on asphalt to not ruin my travel. But street or 90\10 80\20 tires are off road pretenders.

Just my lunatic point of view.

 

[snakebitten]

Oh, I forgot to mention, just last spring I enjoyed running sweep through the West Virginia forest behind some of the craziest off road Tenere brothers there are.

I assure you, each and every Tenere tracked with the aplomb that the tires they were shod with afforded.
It was visually predictable.

 

[Don in Lodi]

That's It! Perfect! ::008:: ::008::
I want a tire that is 100% on pavement, I want a tire that is 100% on dirt, because when I'm on any particular surface, I am there 100%! Where did "they" come up with these numbers anyway? So the best I'll ever see for a 100/100 tire are the 50/50's that keep hitting the market, there's more and more all the time. I am continually amazed at the quality that we see, and sometimes the lack there of. I'm having a blast riding this wave that we helped create, this wave of big heavy Adventure/Touring machines that do everything so damned good. Everybody and their Brother are scrambling to catch this wave. More and better product every month/week/day. What a fantastic time! ::26::

 

[Stef]

In the recent couple of years I've held my tongue on these kind of tire questions. (I know. Hard to believe) But tonight I'm feeling undisciplined. (It's been a great day)
My main point is that I don't believe there is any correlation between the ratio of miles spent on both terrains with the current marketing designation used for tires. What I mean is just because I ride 90\10 road\dirt doesn't mean the right tire would be what some manufacturer badged as a 90\10 tire. And there is a simple explanation why. Neither equation addresses what I as a rider actually values most. I'll be specific by using me as an example. I don't have exact numbers, but in all the years and all the travels, I bet my ACTUAL mileage is 90\10. Regretfully. I LOOK for dirt. But face it, unless you trailer your Tenere to the state you want to ride off road on, you probably offset your 200 miles of offroading with 2000 miles of travel.
But, because I VALUE those amazing 200 miles so much, I'm not going to sacrifice the experience with a road tire with some dirt tread looks.
Make sense?

So at the cost of short tread life, my Tenere is ALWAYS ready for an off road opportunity. For me, modern dirt tires are plenty sticky on asphalt to not ruin my travel. But street or 90\10 80\20 tires are off road pretenders.

Just my lunatic point of view.

That's beautiful.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Agree with everything Snake wrote, but there are limits to practicality. I'm not putting a D606 knobby on the Tenere that I mostly use on the road. Fortunately for us, there are so many good and great tires that we get tire threads which resemble the oil threads of the old days. Which one is best? A lot of them can be, because it's flavor. The OEM Bridgestone is actually made for exactly what you describe and can be replaced for a very friendly price. We have owners here who swear by the Shinko 705, which are also billed as a 90-10 tire, are the most inexpensive things out there, but are scrubbed away really fast.


The Mitas E-07 tire is my current personal favorite, as it is for a number of others. You can run them to the edges, they are fine to a point off road (well past 90-10) and the current set on my bike are still serviceable* with more than 12,000 miles.




* The E07 has a solid rib along the centerline because some of the higher horsepower machines could rip the bases of the lugs off when the original rib-less design came out. Knowing that Mitas used to produce the tire that way, when the tread wears to the rib I use a dremel to groove the tire and get a couple thousand more miles of wear. In grooving, NEVER go deeper the manufacturer profile does and ALWAYS make the bottoms of the grooves round, not square. Since a picture is worth a thousand words. . .

 

[snakebitten]

Agree with everything Snake wrote, but there are limits to practicality.

My brother Bob, haunted by the practicality gene in his DNA.
But I kind of agree there IS a limit to practicality. I limit it every time it pokes its little head up trying to thwart my adventure!

I'm not putting a D606 knobby on the Tenere that I mostly use on the road.

Chicken. (Although I recommend the Big Block over the D606, which is a 240lb dirt bike tire)


You know I love you man. 8)