What Tyre for a 610TE ?

I see that my new 610 Te Husky with the stock Metzeler Karoo tyre on the back is not going to last too long. So my question is--What tyre would one replace it with. I do mostly gravel roads with it and only about 20% of the bitumen. Here in SA the Metzlers are more expensive than the Continental TKC. I have not used the TKC yet, The front Metzler seems to hold up well. Any input ?

After the stocker went away quick I tried a MT21 with only lasted a few hundred more. While supposedly not great off road, I'm going to try a D908 if they ever come off backorder. Those at least last a little while with the weight and torque of the 950's so it should be ok for us.....

Interesting tire. Would you run that front and rear or stay conventional up front? Definitely hearing more and more about folks running the trials tires.

Sounds good--But do they make it in a 450 x 18 ?

NOT a 908.

It's too big it makes the bike hard to turn, it's squirelly and Howls on pavement. It's heavy and expensive. Blech!

I'm going to put a 606 or a maxxis desert on it. There's also a new Michelin dual sport that is very cheap. I think I will try that and then do a 606 when I go to Baja.

Looked at the Dunlop D809 Today---The price was about twice more expensive than The Continental TKC

I used Michelin T63 on my KTM640 Adv and got about 5000km on them (50/50 tar and gravel) They are less than half the price of the Karoo's and will probably do twice the distance. As soon as this karoo on my Husky wears out I will replace them with T63's.
The T63 only comes in a 130 though, but if you want a 140 you can go for the Michelin Desert.
Haven't tri them yet, but apparently they get good mileage as well.

By the way, were in SA are you?

I’m in Vredenburg (Western Cape)

Bluebat

Tried the T63 on the fornt of my other Husky( 450 Te) Not at all bad price and good value for money. As for the T63 on the back---nothing seems able to handle the punishment it hands out. Saw a RR where 3 x new Tenere Yamaha's destroyed the T63 tyres on the back --saw the tyres--middle knobs ripped out. They only did 1700km to Mosambique and back---maybe they did not let them seat in first. Demo Bikes.

Got a TKC 80 140-18 for the back and will eventually try them out. They have dropped by over R1000 in price ? The Desert was also a option but they have No stock at the moment.

I live in Guateng in the East of Pretoria,

Ran these rears:

Stock Karoo, ok but only lasted around 700 miles.

Shinko 700, more of a street oriented tire 60/40. Cheap too.

Dunlop 606, not many miles on it yet, but the dirt ability is way up from the Shinko.

In the back I have had a MT21 and D606 and unless something better comes along, I think another 606. It was mostly gone by 2500mi. and I'll take it off for sure by 3000.

I just put a Kenda 270 on mine, ran good on my other bikes, about 5000 miles. Only thing is its narrow, only a 5.10-18. I like them on the back but not the front. I like the Pirelli MT21 and have run the Cheng Shin 858, it lasts a while. I've never run the 606, I might have to try it out next.

So far I've had Karoos' which didn't do very well in the sand but did well on the street and Bridgestone M604s' which hooked up really well but wore out very quickly.


I like the D606 best so far. The only complaint that I have is that they chunk if you get crazy on the asphalt.

I also hear the D606 is good --except one gets very religious when riding on wet bitumen with them.

I live next to the Mojave and we don't get a lot of rain out here so I wouldn't know.

The Continental TKC looks really close to the Karoos' and seem like they'd be the best bet for the type of riding you do. Keep us posted I'd like to know what you end up going with and how you like them.

TKC

Anyony try the Prielli XCMH DOT knobbies. They look pretty aggressive, similar to a D606. I've run D606's on another bike and did not like the front.

Kenda 270 on the rear , going to run it again next but the 777 on the front will be replaced with something more street worthy

I bought the TKC 140 for the rear. Will still be using the front Karoo until it is finished and then see what i will go for in front. However i am pretty pleased with the stock Karoo up front for the time being. Have about 1000km left on the rear and then i will try the TKC.