Hi All I am a newbie so please forgive me, as this question appears to have been asked a few times, but I don't fully understand all of the replies. I ride lots of miles on various bikes from my BMW GS through to my 'Busa. After several close scrapes with the 'Law' I have decided to find my entertainment on the back lanes of our wonderful Isle. My 'weapon' of choice is the 08 SMS 610 ie, which I have now owned for a couple of months and really enjoy riding. At the moment it is shod with nice sticky road tyres. My question is....I have the chance to go trail riding (totally new concept to me!), both here and in the Pyrenees, so assume it will be mainly gravel track, but of course the existing tyres are not suitable. Having looked around the site and in particular what tyres are available in the UK I have proposed to fit the following - Front Continental TKC80 120/90 17 and Rear Continental TKC80 150/70 17. Are these suitable? The 120 front is listed as a rear tyre, but I have read of others here having placed a rear on the front with no issues. The tyres need to be road legal. Also, I appear to be able to get 150/60 tubes but 120/90 do not appear to be so common. Do I need this size or would another suffice? Many thanks in anticipation Dazlove
+1 Judging from the pics I've seen of her 610, she also has experience putting rear knobbies on the front.
if you mount those conti's let us know how it works after the ride! ive been thinking of something like that also......
Conti's Fitted Decided to go with the Conti TKC80 front and rear. Also added a bash plate and a changer of gearing - 14/47. Have put a piccie in the piccie thread. Not had a chance to get her out on the dirt yet, but will post back with my thoughts once I have. Regards Dazlove
Whoa...no wonder my ears were burning Yes, I've experimented with a TKC80 and a Metzeler Karoo on the rear, but I went with the 120/90-17 Pirelli MT21 on the front. It worked well, but it was a little wide for my taste. I've also run Pirelli MT60's and they are grrreat on pavement and dry hardpack and gravel roads. An extra added bonus is they work fantastic on wet pavement...almost as good as a full-on rain tire! Not so great in the mud, though They're very sticky, almost like a trials tire and they work great in rocks and creek crossings, but they disappear quickly and they're expensive. They're a good option if you don't like to change tires all the time, though. I ran Cheng Shin 755's (full-on knobbies) last time I rode it in the dirt and they were the absolute bomb! They worked fantastic in the excellent conditions we were riding in and the front tire gave me a more normal feel than the MT21. They were also much cheaper than any other tire I've ever run at $86 for the set I'm sold on them for dirt use. Be sure to post up some photos and tell us how you like your new tires! WoodsChick
Pressures Hi WoodsChick What sort of pressures do you run in your 17 inch knobbies? I know I need to drop the pressure but don't want to catch the rims. Best regards Dazlove
TKC80's To anyone interested...... Have finally got the 610 out on the dirt and got a 'pass' to take a day off work and spend the day trail riding. Here in the UK a fair amount of homework needs to be done to find legal byways that are still/currently open to motorcycles, which I did prior to the days fun. It is sad to say, but over here, trails are diminishing with increasing numbers of restriction orders preventing motorcycles from accessing the trails, which means that a fair bit of tarmac work is still required between each of the trails. Anyway, the main reason for the post is to say the TKC80's performed excellently. I had no problems on the soft stuff at all. The only issue I had was a slight feeling of understeer when on the tarmac, but nothing that ever felt uncomfortable. Overall I am glad to have made the decision and look forward to many other days off! Regards Dazlove
Nice, Dazlove Glad you found a set-up that works well for you The bike looks pretty good! Sorry about forgetting to answer your question about tire pressure...I ran 17psi in the Cheng Shin knobbies last week in Nevada and Oregon. WoodsChick
