Tires for a 5000 mile road trip

[EricV]

But my point is I would get 4k out of a Roadsmart on my last bike when touring two-up, others could get 6k or 7k - same bike, same load, same use, same tyres - very different mileages. Everyone rides differently, and riding style can make a huge difference to tyre wear.

You keep coming back to this Rasher. All you're doing is telling me you're a hooligan with poor throttle control. Worse, you haven't even worn out the oe tire on your S10 and you're offering up suggestions to others for tires. For a day rider that only covers 3500 miles a year, anything round and black will do. The stickier the better.

The point is that if a tire is known to last under similar load and conditions for 10k, it's going to do ok for the OP's 5k ride. Somehow I doubt you've ever done a 5k ride in your life, or ever will. Go polish your bike or something.

 

[Rasher]

All you're doing is telling me you're a hooligan with poor throttle control. Worse, you haven't even worn out the oe tire on your S10 and you're offering up suggestions to others for tires. For a day rider that only covers 3500 miles a year, anything round and black will do. The stickier the better.

The point is that if a tire is known to last under similar load and conditions for 10k, it's going to do ok for the OP's 5k ride. Somehow I doubt you've ever done a 5k ride in your life, or ever will. Go polish your bike or something.

Sorry, not trying to upset anyone here, just trying to point out my mileage and your mileage may be very different, had you told someone tyre X would definately last 5k and they found it was worn out half way through a 4k trip they may be a bit miffed.

Obviously my shite throttle control is the cause, or perhaps your just not opening your throttle very much, or your bike is running on one cylinder?

I would not class myself as a hooligan (well not anymore) and according to my California Superbike School instructor my throttle control is fairly decent, it was also good enough to easily pass an IAM test, however I will admit I do like to drive out of corners, but if I wanted to just slowly gather momentum upon exiting a corner I would have bought a Prius.

I have not worn out an S10 tyre as a deal on an S10 fell through at Xmas, Iand because I have a Euro trip coming up in a few weeks I wanted to go with my current bike which is all setup for touring, something I do a bit of, normally setting off once a year for a trip to somewhere in Europe (normally 10-14 days and about 3,000 miles) plus a few other long weekends here and there of 500 - 1000 miles.

I have worn out many tyres over the years, and know that different people wear tyres differently, a mate of mine who used to ride extremely hard on the road (before taking to the track and winning a couple of national championships) came with us on a tour once, same tyres as some of the other chaps, yet they did the whole trip (2,000 miles) easily on one tyre, we had to find a store to get a new tyre fitted to his bike as he went through it in about 1200 miles (Yes he was a hooligan) but the point is he was on the same trip, on the same roads on similar bikes (all 750 - 1100cc sports bikes - his was "only" a 750) on the same day in the same weather doing the same "type" of riding.

Anyway gotta go and polish my bike

 

[EricV]

Sorry, not trying to upset anyone here, just trying to point out my mileage and your mileage may be very different, had you told someone tyre X would definately last 5k and they found it was worn out half way through a 4k trip they may be a bit miffed.

Obviously my shite throttle control is the cause, or perhaps your just not opening your throttle very much, or your bike is running on one cylinder?

I would not class myself as a hooligan (well not anymore) and according to my California Superbike School instructor my throttle control is fairly decent, it was also good enough to easily pass an IAM test, however I will admit I do like to drive out of corners, but if I wanted to just slowly gather momentum upon exiting a corner I would have bought a Prius.
<snip>

Well said Rasher. ::008:: You just did a far better job than I of making every single point I had posted before. ::025:: ::025:: ::025::

 

[3putt]

When I owned the 07 K12GT, the forum had several discussions just like this. The KGT makes big miles pretty easy, especially with CC. We found that the western states have very aggressive roads, like the granite ones in UT, also Montana. Some guys would get 4500 miles and others (me) would get almost 12,000 miles out of the PR2s.

Now getting 12,000 miles was safe, but the lean angle and tar snakes started to make you into a cruiser around 9000 miles. Being on a trip, I choose to come on home, but if not for the time and trouble to locate a shop, would have changed out the tires.

The RoadSmarts did not hold up half as long on that big bike.

EricV, since you were in the ironbutt, would you happen to know what car tire Ken Meese put on in Florida? Think it was meant for a lotus sports car??

 

[EricV]

EricV, since you were in the ironbutt, would you happen to know what car tire Ken Meese put on in Florida? Think it was meant for a lotus sports car??

Ken is running a custom wheel with an adapter for the BMW. He has a couple of different ones, but as I recall, he was using a Kumo tire on an aluminum drag racing wheel. We had a lot of discussions about car tire use, as I had been doing that with the FJR for years. Ken was using a 14 or 15" wheel though, which made it difficult to find performance type tires that would hold up. He did find something that worked well, but not as well as the all season performance tires I was using on the FJR, (40k miles from a Bridgestone Potenza 019G and 40k from a Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S), using the stock FJR wheel. With the single sided swing arm on his BMW, clearance at the bend in the swing arm was an issue. With the stock wheel, 5.5" wide, most car tires would not clear, or be rated for that narrow of a wheel. The FJR uses a 6" wide rim, which the CTs are rated to use.

 

[pteppic]

The last major touring / tire wear testing I did was with my '04 ST1300. Dunlops were the worst at about 3500-4000 miles for the rear. The tires I wound up liking the best and bought more than one set of is the Michelin PR2s. I sold the bike with 77k on the clock.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk

 

[pierre lourens]

Hi there, i currently got continental twin duro 150/70 (front) and TKC 80 twin duro 110/80 (rear) on my tenere and must replace them soon. I am using tar roads mainly and from time to time gravel roads. can anybody suggest a good tyre to buy?

 

[EricV]

Hi there, i currently got continental twin duro 150/70 (front) and TKC 80 twin duro 110/80 (rear) on my tenere and must replace them soon. I am using tar roads mainly and from time to time gravel roads. can anybody suggest a good tyre to buy?

Tyres are a very personal choice. There are a lot of other tyre threads on the forum that may interest you. You have your tyre sizes correct, but reversed as to front and rear sizes. What works best for you, depends on how you ride and what kind of roads you typically ride over.

A lot of S10 owners that enjoy a mix of tar and dirt/gravel roads are enjoying the Heidenau K60 Scouts, which are available in SA and last quite well. I'm on my second set, the first rear going over 19k kms and the front going well over 30k kms. Very good manners on the tar, and still very confidence inspiring on the dirt/gravel too.

Here is a nice write up done on the K60 mounted up to the GS1200 for your reading pleasure. Note that this is old, from 2008, and now the correct size tyres are available for the Super Tenere and the big GS. The 150/70-17 has a different profile than show in the pictures at the link, with a full center rib now connecting the lugs there for better tar use and stability/wear.
http://www.bmwmotorcycleclubcape.co.za/tyre-report-heidenau-k60-tyres-r1200gs

If you're just riding tar and very good dirt/gravel, you might prefer a more tar oriented tyre, but many of the Sport-Touring tyres don't last as long as the K60, so consider that aspect as well. The Michelin Pilot Road 3 is well liked for tar only riding and has good longevity. If maximum grip is a priority, tyre life will suffer, but there are many options too.

Anakees and Conti-Trail Attacks are getting good, solid reviews as well, with the Conti TA lasting some 16k kms.

Hope that helps.

 

[Rasher]

Ran Roadsmarts om my GS and they lasted as well as Tourances but offered more grip on tarmac, especially in the wet.

Not sure any of the road orientated dual purpose tyres would be any better of road than tyres like Roadsmarts and Pilot Roads, but they do look much better, road tyres on the GS looked a bit odd. May stick with Tourances or move to Dunlop TR91's just because they do look better on these bikes.

It seems tyres are either proper off road tyres, or these DP ones that are claimed to be 90% road / 10% off-road, which I take to mean a road tyre with slightly reduced grip due to larger tread pattern, but still not knobbly enough to offer noticeably more grip on loose stuff than a road tyre would.

I think a 75% / 25% tyre would be better for many people who live in areas with off-road opportunities, almost a knobbly that can dig in to the dirt, but at the same time put down a decent footprint on the road and not have the tread moving around too much.

For me in UK central there is virtually no off-road places so I am happier with rubber that sticks on the road, the most off-road I am likely to see is a well graded unpaved road on my European travels.