Been very happy with my TKC80, but since my Ten sees less and less tarmac I plan to pick some more dirt oriented tires next. Choosing tires is hell though. I made this simple list of 5 different tires ordered from road bias to dirt bias based on all the tests I have managed to find and my own (limited) experiences. Not scientific in any way, just for myself to help me pick the right one:

At first I thought I might go for the MT21, it's wonderful in the mud with its self cleaning pattern and it handles the sandy stuff well too. These tires make you look like you know what you are doing offroad. Cheap too. I don't want to sacrifice the road behavior totally though, inspired tarmac driving is pretty dangerous on these.

Then I looked at the Karoo, I have tried one and it's a slightly better tire in the soft and muddy then the TKC80. They are not as comfortable though, also noisy, and in the wet they can be dangerous.

So finally I decided to maybe go for the middle ground between the 2, T63. It seem to be pretty decent on the road and much more competent offroad then the TKC I have now. Heard of people even go enduro with these. Never tried them myself so it would be interesting.

Only worry is the problems reported in this thread: http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=9276

I will do as little tarmac as possible though so I hope they will work.. And if not I've learned something new. =)

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The big question, what tyres?
I'm going to Morocco in oktober and will use the TKC's I have laying around, not the best tyres, I know, but then again I'm not the best driver. Any real good driver would beat me on tourances any day.

Like Tim, I would say the TKC80's are the best tyres for that kind of trip - they are far better than any other 'knobblie' on the road (both for grip and wear) and there will be a lot of road as well as off-road on your trip from Belgium to Morocco! I rode across the US and back on TKCs - including some serious off-road and desert conditions - they won't let you down.

I have also used MT21s on the Tenere - they didn't last particularly well (around 2500-3000 miles for the rear), but I would say they are a good alternative if you ride in wet and soft (ok, I mean muddy) off-road conditions.

I have used Michelin T63s on the XR650R, and as I said in the thread Molgan linked to, they barely lasted over 1500 miles on that bike... the 'problem' with the T63 is (according to their own literature) it is really designed for a lighter weight (enduro/trail) bike, even if they do offer a 17 inch rear size... I'd say the Tenere is far too heavy for that tyre (as Yam6 seems to have experienced), although, if used at lower speeds and mainly off-road, you might get away with it - they won't last long anyway x

Another option that may be available is the Dunlop 606 - these are very popular in the USA, and nearly every KLR650 has them fitted if used off-road much.

xxx

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"Where we're going, we don't need roads..."

JennyDakar.com

mt21 front and mitas e09 rear is a good choice except on wet tarmac, the mitas tires are horrible on wet, I will nerver use a mitas tire at the front.

have fun,

j.

Ye they look nice, but I thought they don't sell them in Europe?

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JMo, what sort of milage did you get from the TCK80's on sections that were mostly road/highway.

Had my Ten in for 18k service and they pointed out my BT45 rear is almost worn at only 6k miles (I got 12 from the sirac with tread left to spare). I was planning to fit Tourances next but if the TCK80 has enough tread depth I'm tempted to try them instead.

Granted I almost exclusively ride motorway/dual carriageway but the tck's should give me the confidence to try a little bit of offroad I hope

If you ride 90% on road then the Tourances would be the tyre I would choose to get the best milage and grip

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:tenere:

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Oh, it's difficult to remember now, as I did tend to do a fair bit of mixed riding... but I would say you should get around 4000-5000 miles from the rear (I'd say 4000 is about max if you've any hope of them being still good off road, but you'll get another 1000 on road still), and 7000-8000 on the front until they are similarly worn.

Like most knobblies on road, the front tyre blocks tend to wear alternately (typically due to the braking forces I understand), but they are still pretty comfortable even at 7000+ miles, even if they look a bit like cogs. They are certainly not as bad as pukka enduro tyres in that respect.

Also, even when the rear is squared off (as they were when I arrived at Deal's Gap), they are still very predicable... as others have said, the Tenere ought to come with these as an OE fitment in my opinion - I'd say they are the definitive dual-sport tyre for this bike...

xxx

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"Where we're going, we don't need roads..."

JennyDakar.com

Thanks for the quick response JMo (and Ricky)

The Sirac's did the same as you describe at the front, very heavily feathered/scalloped and alternatly worn block tread. That was a large part of why I replaced them before I'd worn all the tread down as being my first bike/set of tyres I had no way on knowing if any problems I was getting was caused by that or something else.
Also good to know the rear is predictable, again like the siracs and BT45's that are nearly worn at the reare. Seems to me that with a narrow width on the rear tyre that they never get really unfomfortably square with any tyre make or model?

I think I'm going to stick with my origional plan and try the tourances when I can (not sure whether to just use another bt45 rear until the front is worn or try the tourance with the bt45 front) as I don't think the TCK's will last long enough to be economical enough.

That said it could be that the much reduced life on the BT45 compared to the Sirac is down to me being more confident on the bike so just being harder on the throttle and tyres...although the Sirac does have a LOT more tread to wear down than the BT45.

Argh, picking tires is a PITA. Maybe shouldn't think so much and just pick something for trial and error. Think I go for a Karoo on the back and a T63 at the front, could be a good combo. The Karoo/MT21 combo I had before worked great offroad but the MT21 was horrible on the solid stuff.

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