So it's almost time for new tires and my head is spinning. My riding so far has been, sadly, all street focused because of my urban location. So I'm thinking of getting a more road biased tire for round 2. Option 1: New set of road biased tires I am liking the Pirelli MT90's so far, reviews read that they seem to do really well on the street but will retain some light offroading abilitites. I also stumbled upon the Conti Trail Attack 2's which allegedly, according to the gobal conti website, are offered in 140/80-18. There is also the Bridgestone Battle axe option, but then I lose all offroading options Then there is option 2: Buy a set of Strada wheels/have some aftermarket ones made/get some GS6650 wheels to work. Put some sweet agressive road rubber or 90/10 DS tires on those and some TKC80's(or similar) on the stock wheels and switch out wheelsets when necessary. Then there is option 3: Put some road biased tires from option 1 on the stock wheels for now and then have a aftermarket set of wheels laced up/purchase a second set of Terra wheels and put TKC80's or simmilar on the aftermarket set and switch wheelsets when necessary. Also does anyone have any experience with the Conti Trail Attack 2's? Would the Terra be too lightweight of a bike to handle getting those tires up to temperature? Are they too beefy of a tire for the Terra? Anyone running MT90's? Has anyone tried mounting up GS650 wheels? Would it be a plug and play? I've read the sprocket works, but I doubt that indicative of anything and I'm worried about chain line and all the other variables. Anyone on here have 2 wheelsets for their TR? If so, who put together you second set? Talk to me guys.....I'm confuzzled and I'm selling my baby KLR so I have some mod money to play with. Tell me what YOU would do....
Not an easy task... What I would personally like to to do is mixture of pt 2 and 3 of your choice: - have original terra wheels relaced to heavy duty rims for offroad use and put good DS tires on them; - add Strada or possibly gs650 (cheaper and equally good) stock wheels with road tires on them. For road tires with slight offpavement capabilities I used metzeler tourance and michelin anakee. Good tires both of them, metze better on wet, michelins better in durability.
If it were me, since you've mostly been doing pavement, I'd go with option 1. You'll probably continue to ride as much street as you have been, and just add in some more dirt in the margins. So, it'd make sense to me to keep something less aggressive on there. Going between a 19 and 21 front might go wonky on your speedo. I'm not sure how that's calibrated.
It seems far simpler to change tires on my TR650 which does not have rim locks than it is on my 2006 TE250 which has 2 rim locks in each wheel. If I wanted the best of both worlds I'd just change out the tires because that seems reasonably quick, and it would be cheaper.
I just did my first trail ride with a Kenda K761 rear tire. Ran it a full street pressure 30 psi just to see how it handle dirt & mud. I honestly didn't expect much, but I'm truly impressed how a tire so street biased performed on the trails, even going through decently mud filled ditches & ruts. I did get stuck in one mud pit, but pretty sure it would have happened even with a really aggressive knobby. It was a quagmire.
I've got the 120. Biggest they have in 18 inch rear. It does look small compared to the 140, but it did it's job & so much quieter on pavement.
ebrake - I also do a lot of street and want a tire that is still dirt capable. I wrote about the Mitas E-o7's in the other tire thread. I cannot say enough about their performance street wise. Previously ran Tourance on a 650 XC and Heidenau K60on an F800 GS. Both great tires, but neither performed like the Mitas on the street, They turn in as quick as the XC which has a 19 - 17 wheel set. Really nice street profile, and stick like nothing else. Yet to be tested in the dirt, but can't be any worse than the Sahara's!
well guys I went the frugal route and just got a pair of MT90's.....I will perhaps readdress the situation if I move and start doing a considerable larger amount of dirt riding
I've just put a sahara 3 on my TE630 without knowing it was the stock tyre for the Terra, so just wondering what mileage you guys expect out of the stock Metz rear on the 650.
I've done just on 4000km on my Terra, say 75/25 sealed/unsealed riding. I'd say I'm going to need to swap the Sahara 3 out in another 1000-2000km
Have you thought about a set of Shinko 705's? A good 80/20 tire that I used to run on my Triumph Tiger 955i. Nice and sticky on the road, decent in the dry stuff off the pavement. Rear lasted around 6000 miles, front about 9000 on the Girlie. Or how about the Pirelli Scorpion Trail, a 95/5 if you really want to mount a super sticky dualsport tire? I think there are plenty of street oriented tire options available for your Terra, no need to switch rims to 19"/17". IMO the Terra is nimble enough, turns into corners rather well with the 21"/18" stock rims.
Got the new Karoo 3 mounted. Thanks to All American KTM in Ramona. Quick turnaround. Dropped the bike off on Friday afternoon around 430, it was mounted and balanced by like 5:15.
I've been having a look around at what's on bikes, and I don't want to go all the way to a knobbie, but I'd like a tyre with a bit chunkier tread than the Saharas, and the Karoo 3 looks like it might just be a nice midway point between the two. I'd be most interested to hear how it performs and wears on sealed roads.
I'm running the Heidenau K60 Scouts right now. They are great on the road, and decent off road. I much prefer the TKC's off road, but the K60's offer a great compromise.
