Tenere tyre advice
 

I'm in the west of Ireland.

My 2010 XT660Z is on stock wheels, and I don't envision changing that any time soon. I've searched the threads here for tyre info. but most seems to be oriented to dry, dusty, sandy conditions.

It's wet, very wet here. Most of the off road opportunities around here are gravel forest roads, or grassy, muddy, slick as a slate bog tracks. I currently have Metzler Tourances on the bike, which are fine on road and not bad on the gravel, but they're an accident waiting to happen on anything slick.

What are your suggestions for dual purpose tyres, which can handle road use with some comfort, but which aren't going to dump me in the ditch as soon as I hit grass or mud?

Thanks, Rich.

http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/...psrw9b7bkf.jpg Jo 75 of this forum seems pleased with these....but you will have to pm him for details , I'm not sure what they are. Steve

I�ve been ridin�three sets of Heidenau�s K60 Scouts and think they�re way better then the OEM Metzeler Tourances. They�re handlin� very well on dry and wet roads, as on gravel and green laning too. Durability is also very good, I got an average around 20.000km�s, comparable to the Tourances(which I don't like that much on wet roads, even less offroad). My next tyres will be the Avon Trailriders, which got very good reviews too on grip and durability, but are more for onroad then offroad. We'll see and learn.

Hi ya, as Steve said I'm totally stoked with these Mitas e10...lovely off road... Just came back from 60 mile round trip on dual carriage way in the wet, no hesitation what so ever, heaps of grip on the black stuff, nice curved edge so still have confidence on round abouts. The cost is good aswell 56 for the rear and 43 for the front,for me it's a good tyre, and soon as I hit the trails the bike grips lovely even at speed.

Conti TKC 80's are a great all round tyre. I've used them on other bikes for trips to Morocco and I've just bought a set for my Tenere.

One man's meat is another man's poison. You'll get as many options thrown at you as there are days in the year when asking for tyre advice, and you'll probably end up more confused than before! ;)

As has been said, for many years folk have been chasing the holy grail of a true "do it all" tyre. The simple answer is there isn't one! I've tried 10+ different tyre brands on my Ten and I'm still not sure what's best!

In order to make an informed choice (for yourself) what you've got to do is look at the list above that Pepsi has kindly put together and rank the characteristics from most desired to least. From that you should be able to work out what you need, or at least you'll have a better idea and we might be able to guide you more usefully?

For example if mileage is important to you a TKC80, great tyre that it is, won't be your cup of tea.

Have a go. Rank Pepsi's list, post it here and we'll see if we can all help you find what tyre best fits (and it will be a "best fit", not a definitive answer!)

Sound advice all round, I'm hoping the Mitas will or might last a little longer than the tkc80..here's hoping. Honestly, in my case I think I will just have to live with wear rates,although I will be putting gt201 back on for my mainly road trip to Wales..

As luck would have it, Pepsi's list is already in the correct order.

Road grip
Off road grip
Mileage
Comfort
Fuel economy
Noise
Cost

I suppose when it all comes down to it, if I'm serious about exploring the bog trails around here, a Tenere is not the right machine for it, regardless of what tyres it's wearing. Our roads are wet as often as they're dry, so a full on knobbly is not a great choice. I used to ride knobblies on the road back when I thought I was invincible, that's when I wasn't on cut slicks! But the passage of time has made me a little more cautious. The Tenere was bought as a general purpose machine, and will probably spend most of its time on hardtop. Maybe I should get a 250 enduro to indulge my middle aged exuberance.

If you're mainly on tarmac the tyre that has been brilliant for me is the Avon Distanzia.....been brilliant around the roads of West Cork! Steve