Does anyone have any experience with this tire? I bought a new take off for my cr 250. Took it on a dual sport ride at 20psi and was swimming and wobbling like a guppy on gravel roads. I had a mt32 before this and never had a ride like this? Is this tire trying to kill me? Should I change pressures? Or tires. Seems great on mid/soft single track. But, was almost scary on the road.
I think that's a Michelin Enduro Competition MS. I've heard they're an all round "poopy" tire. Not really doing anything good. Kelly @ Motosportz carries the Motoz Tires. Not sure if they're DOT'd or not.
Chef, you didn't say whether you're running it on both wheels or mixed with it on one wheel and something else on the other so my experience may not be relevant but... My 09 TE450 came with the Comp MS on the front as standard (and a Comp IIIe on the rear). I love it both on the road and off and I've never had a single even slightly scary moment with it except where I've caused it by doing something dumb. I've used plenty of gravel tracks out on Salisbury Plain (local military training area) and it's fine at all speeds right up to "I'm sorry range warden but I couldn't see the speedometer because the wind gets round my goggles and makes my eyes water, and in any case the dog ate my speedo cable". When it eventually wears out it will be replaced with another Comp MS because I have such confidence in it. Of course, it's very much horses for courses so it may not be the best match for the sort of riding you do (I trail ride single and double track with some road riding to get there), but it certainly isn't scary on the road on my bike. I occasionally get up to 80+mph and it's perfectly stable at those speeds, plus it corners really well. The recommended pressure for my bike is 15.6psi in the front (with 14.2psi for the rear). These are for if the bike is used on the road as well as off - for pure racing use the pressures are meant to be a little lower. Might be worth some experimentation with the pressures to see if that will improve things.
I was just thinking about this. When my TE was brand new, it wandered and weaved all over the pavement. Just for the sake of thoroughness, I checked the steering stem bearings and found them to be way too tight. After backing off the stem nut a bit, the bike went in a much more predictable manner, both on and off the road.
Exactly like my F800GS from new. Oh, except it wandered and weaved all over because the bearings were so loose! Still, made life "interesting" till I fixed them. :smashpc:.
20 psi sounds a little high, I ran 10 to 12 offroad & 14 on pavement, been riding mostly pavement & never had an issue.
Did you run the mt32 at 20 psi also? I ask because that's a lot more pressure than I run on any front tire on a dirtbike. I've run as high as 15 psi but only if I feel there's a real chance of a puncture due to jagged rocks. 12-13's the norm. Dave
If it's the same tyres as the Michelin Enduros that came with the bike when I bought it (I'm in the UK so they may be different) then yeah, My TE 450 was horrible on the road - mid turn in was very vague (and I like drifting on tarmac!). I couldn't find a decent compromise with pressure either. Anyway, I chewed up the rear as quickly as I could and fitted a Pirelli MT21 as it was my go-to tyre on my XR600. Then crossed my fingers as the TE is a very different bike... and so far so good. The Michelin is a superior tyre off road - more open pattern, possibly softer compound, maybe slightly flatter profile - it certainly hooks up well, but as there's a fair amont of tarmac between the off-road bits here I'm willing to trade and tyres are always about compromise... The Michelin front is actually pretty well-mannered on the black stuff - I haven't managed to tuck it in yet, perhaps because I can get on the gas earlier! It's also OK off-road, although it does skate about a bit on a neutral throttle, but that's possibly because I haven't got the suspension dialled 100% yet. It's very good under braking though and most of the rest of the time it's not touching the ground... Sorry, long post, but no, it's not just you - those Michelins can be a bit wriggly!
My TE450 came with Michelin AC10's and I thought that they were okay on the street. I switched out to a Dunlop 908 in the front and a 606 on the back which made the bike have better street manners and also the bike behaved better on rocky singletrack trails, but was awful in sand. I now have MT21s on the bike and they are too vague at full lean on pavement, handle most dirt, sand and rocks well. I haven't figured out what I will try the next time around.
I guess that a tyre thread will always go the same way as an oil thread - we've all had different experiences, plus with tyres we all like our bikes to handle in different ways. There's usually more grip than you think and the key to using it is confidence. Lose confidence and the result can quite often be a faceplant. It would be nice to be able to roadtest a tyre without having to pony up for it and then be stuck with something you hate for weeks though... As there's photographic evidence to show that Dirtdame can hustle a D/S around with 400lbs of luggage while wearing a rear knobbly on the front of her bike I'm never going to bleat about tyres again. Wow, I'm so precious, I should just get out there.
Not me! You're thinking of Woodschick. I'd hate to see me on a big dualsport loaded down with luggage....oh wait a minute, maybe not.
Chef- our 08's came with Michellin enduro comp's. I really liked them on the dirt. I ran them at 15lbs f/r as we ds to get to the dirt. The 08 manual says front @ 12.8-15.6 and rear @ 11.4-14.2, with the higher lbs for street use. Try lowering the pressure and I think you will like the tread a bunch.
Very true - I didn't find the Enduro Comp MS to be a compromise at all on the road. In fact the Husky handles much better with that than my 800GS does with TKC 80s on it. Of the two, I probably ride the Husky harder round corners on the road despite having less rubber on the ground, as the TKCs sometimes feel a little vague where the Comps don't (the Comps are miles ahead off road of course). Every rider's different, every bike's set up differently and we all have different expectations, so somebody else's experiences can only be a general hint. Unlike oil of course, where whatever I'm using obviously really is the best. That idea about being able to road test before you buy sounds like a good one. Might suggest it to Micheldever Tyre and see what they say (needs to include free fitting on all the tyres you try of course).
Thanks for the replies. The mt32, I ran at 14psi for d/s and 12 in the single track. At someones suggestion I went to 20psi. I'll have a look at how tight the front is. The tires are mixed, I have an interco on the back (was on it when I got it) I'll try lowering to 14psi this weekend also.
As in Teraflex? Thats what I'm running now also, The big boob 150. What pressure are you running? I have mine at 6.5 psi for everything. (They're designed to run pressures between 4 & 12 depending on the bike). If it is the big one you have, it could be part of the problem. It's taller than the factory tire, I dropped the forks in the triples until they were flush to raise the front end to match the new height of the rear. I've ridden mine almost daily commuting back & forth to work with plenty of times cruising between 70 & 80 mph with zero head shake. Both wheels are also balanced with dual rim locks.
I was wondering if anybody has tried the new Conti Gelande. It looks like a nicely constructed tire with a good all round tread (although not DOT) and a decent price.
I usually have the teraflex at 12psi. It now has a slow leak, so by the end of the ride it is down to 4 or so. I like the tire and will probably buy another.
