Winter tires
 

Hey everyone!

I'll be riding the xtx throughout winter, and I reckon my current tires (diablo rosso's) will be woefully inadequate on wet/snowy roads...

What would people suggest/recommend?

Cheers

Don't ride in snow on an X - its madness!!!!
Anyway, not sure you can get knobbly tyres in 17 inch format to suit X. I use Michelin Pilot Road 3 & they were excellent last winter. I avoided ice/snow, but in the wet & cold they are very good indeed - reasonable wear & seemingly don't require warming up.

'Winter Tyres' - do you mean tyres that are OK for riding in the winter ? Or marked winter tyres ?

Normal road tyres don't work well in the cold (anything below 5c I think, but could out a few degrees), they don't flex enough to grip and therefore they don't keep you on the straight and narrow. 'Winter' tyres have different compounds that work well in sub-zero conditions as they still flex enough to grip. Car tyres are easy to identify but it appears that motorcycle ones are not, probably because many motorcycles are tucked up warm in a garage over the cold months, until there are more of us out there in the cold there will be no market and therefore no choice in winter tyres.

Winter tyres usually suck in the summer, they will shed rubber and loose grip quickly in higher temperatures.

A search around the web gives the impression that the 'M+S' marking on the side of the motorcycle tyre is an indication of a winter tyre, or certainly according to the Germans (maybe one of the European <mainland> guys can add something here?). My car has M+S markings on the tyres, but they are not considered winter tyres, although they are much better than most in the snow. My gut feeling is M+S markings are not actually winter tyres, just a half way house, so-to-speak (but better than summer tyres)

TKC's do have the 'M+S' marking, and they certainly work very well in the winter, at low temperatures, even in snow. Some people have used a rear tyre on the front of XTX's and I saw a post about 17" front sizes being available - didn't pay too much attention to that so I could be wrong.

Oddly, TKCs still work well in hotter temperatures which goes against the mantra of a winter tyre - can't explain that one.

Don't be afraid of using a knobbly patter on the bike, many people wrongly believe that they offer less grip.... not always. As Keith mentioned, he noticed an increase in grip when he (finally !) moved to TKCs. I get better grip from the TKC's on the Tenere than the Pirelli Trails on the Tiger (of course that's not very scientific given two completely different bikes!)

The German government made it compulsory for vehicles to have winter tyres in “snowy and icy conditions” back in 2010, which apparently applies to motorcycles too (although the BVDM are legally challenging it on the basis that there are hardly any dedicated winter motorcycle tyres). In Germany apparently the M+S rating is good enough to satisfy the law, which is I think is why the TKC80 is appearing in more and more road bike sizes like the 120/70x17 front?

Winter tyres must bear the M+S marking, but it only means they will perform better on snow and ice than a “normal” all season tyre, it doesn’t in itself mean it is a winter tyre! What you need to look for in addition to M+S is…

http://www.michelin.co.uk/content/le...t_MS_SnowF.jpg

But the snowflake in a mountain mark is only a voluntary symbol in the EU (compulsory in North America) for true winter/snow tyres, as far as I am aware only Continental and Michelin use it currently in Europe and only on car tyres I believe; there is pressure from lobbyists to make this mark EU law.

So TKCs are probably your best bet on the XTX, but you'd have to settle for a 150/70 rear though?

Hi,
the only company I know making real motobike winter tyres is this one:
http://www.reifenwerk-heidenau.de/mo...oint=5&rtyp=17

Regards

It's actually 7c.....

I think I will go through this project next winter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohkpc...eature=related

M+S = winter tyre in mainland Europe.

For motorbikes I only know of 2 models that are M+S. The TKC mentioned above and a M+S version of the Heidenau K60, called the K60 Snowtex.

Unless you are driving through snow the K60 will probably get you better grip on the road. If only for the larger amount of rubber contact.

Metzeler Karoo/Karoo(T) have also the M+S sign. The Heidenau K60 Scout has it too. The K60 Snowtex is a real motobike winter tyre with a special rubber mixture suitable for cold weather.