This may have been covered elsewhere but what's the max width tyre the ten can take on the rear?..

140/80-17

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Thanks, that's what I love about the forum, a wonderful place to chat and vast emporium of knowledge!..

A 140 will be great for riding on seal..
But for anything with a lose surface it
will be all over the place...
A narrow tyre cuts though the lose top surface
into the hard base where the grip is easyer than a wide tyre,,
I run a 120 on my XTR for gravel roads etc...

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Harley Davidson..
The easyest way to turn gasoline into noise with out the side efect of horse power...

All good advice as usual,just not sure which way to go,i use the bike for daily commute , yet also some off road when i can and when byways permit(not to many round me) Also not many if any gravel roads round here just varying grades of west sussex county council tarmac!..

Having ran 120s, 130s and 140s in various different brands on the Tenere, I can honestly say, from my point of view, that a 140 gains you nothing apart from giving the bike a slightly more "manly" stance/appearance. In the 140 size I have tried K60, TKC80 and Trailmax TR91, and I have used all those in 130 sizes too, so am able to make direct comparisons. Read here for my thoughts on the TKC80 in all its permutations.) Personally, I thought fitting a 140 took the edge off the on-road handling compared with a 130; it doesn't ruin it, I just thought it wasn't as good, not as sharp, less feedback and feel. Off-road, I agree with Petenz, I found a 140 spins up and loses traction much more easily than a 130.

Fitted to a 2.75" rim the 140 gets pulled in at the bead, which in turn pulls the tyre into a slightly pointy oval shape in cross-section. I found that this accelerated squaring off and made for more fidgety straight line stability and increased the falling over feeling in corners when the tyres were new.

IMHO, chose a 120 for off-road use, a 140 for looks and a 130 is the best of both worlds, a good compromise, which is why I guess it's the recommended size!

As ever though, tyre choice is personal, it's up to you. There will undoubtedly be someone pop up who will swear by the fact that a 140 gives them superior grip on the road.

Do what you like, experiment and find out what works best for yourself.

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Hi Pete..lovely advice.. One of the tyres I was considering was golden tyre gt201, people seem to rate them well,just curious to see if you had any knowledge on them?..