The Perfect Tire
 

I have been reading the reviews on dual purpose tires, and its overwhelming. We are doing Alaska-Yukon(Dalton,Dempster),USA,Mexico,Central-South America. We anticipate 80% on road 20% off road. I am sure there are a number of people that have done this route, and would appreciate some comments on which tires worked well for you. Thanks.

simple
 

metzeler tourance

amsterdam to malaysia

we took them off in south africa to put on knobbies, but I bet they would have carried us back home - the whole 42000 km!

greetz Els

Two for the Road

consider taking michelin anakee 2 , dual purpose , excellent on dry and wet and long miles life

Hi,

I can recoment the Mitas E07 as it took me all the way from Germany to Southafrica, was great on Sand as well as on tar and i did not have to use my spare tires:

Transafrika - Motorbike travel tour through africa part 1

Travel safe, Tobi

It might help if you told us what bike this was going on the options for a 17" rear wheel are a little more varied than an 18" for example.

:confused1:

Metzler Tourance will not do the Dempster, The Anakee IIs may do some of it, I have used both tyres in that partof the world. The dirt part to Prudoh Bay will ruin whatever tyre you use, your best bet is to take a set of knobbies specifically to do the Dalton and Dempster, then when you get back on the pavement, change them for 80/20

My reccomendation is Heidenau K60 Scout, so far I have 18,000km on them with another 4-5000km possible before I need to change.

I have been doing the Balkans and southern Europe, in mild temps and rain, I have used these same tyres in Australia, on the extreme rough and hot pavement we call roads and they managed 18,000 total, so a big difference due to heat and road surface.

chica diabla-- I have to seriously question the numbers you quote of 42,000km on a set of Tourance. I have used these many times on my Vstrom and NEVER achieved more than 8,000km in either Oz or the US on a rear tyre, the front sometimes got to 14,000km before a change was needed

Cheers
TravellingStrom

What´s the difference between Tourance and AnaII in that respect? If at all, the Tourance (not the Tourance EXP) is a little more leaning to offroad use in terms of profile. I´ve got them both in the basement for the summer trip around the Carpatian Mountains, the Tourance for the Africa Twin and the Ana for the Transalp.

Regarding the 42k - I doubt that number as well, your numbers are more or less what my experience is.
Cheers
Chris

In my experience the Tourance is a lot more stickier and thus melts a lot quicker, or scrubs off more in the corners. The rough roads up in Alaska takes its toll, especially on the dirt.

I seemed to find the AnaII a bit harder and thus not as stable, but that could just be me, on a heavy laden bike.

Cheers
TS

I said I rode from amsterdam to malaysia, which was around 30.000 and we changed in SA to knobbies because we expected more off-road, but they were still in respectable shape
anyway......i just try to share my experience here

@ TS, thanks. It will be interesting to see if there´s a noticeable difference in wear between the Anakee 2 and the Tourance (aside from the fact that I´m somewhat heavier than missus, my bike is a bit heavier and I carry more luggage.

@chica diabla, sorry man, no patronizing intended.

Cheers
Chris

The Perfect Tire
 

Hey, thanks for all your comments. Our rear tires are 139/80-17 we are on a 650 klr and g650gs, so lots fo tire selection. We are considering the Metzler Tourance, Avon Gripster,i but i like the look of the Pirelli MT90 Scorpion AT. Anyways we gotta make a decision tomorrow. Seems like alot of effort to back knobbies up to Alaska. I am more concerned about the mud, on the Dalton/Dempster than the rough road.

Big decision,went with the Heidenau K60 Scouts. Read some really good reviews on these tires. Available at Bently Motorad in Kelowna B.C. Will keep you posted on how they perform.

also consider Continental ESCAPEwhich quickly warms up.. :thumbup1:

Hi Bren have k60 scout on front of xt660z ,really good on road,small bit of noise not to bad ,had it off road a couple times,good on gravel and light rocky ground,never going to work brilliantly in real soft mud but nothing is compared to a knobbly.will be putting a rear on when my tourance is done.did take 150 miles to scrub and feel completely stable on direction changes

I've been loving my rear Heidenau K76. Wearing like iron for sure, decent wet traction, great dirt road and gravel traction in any and all conditions so far, and fairly quiet. My only complaint has been dry road grip, but thats coming from super sticky supermoto tires that I had on my bike prior. Had no problems with the rear on the Dalton in the rain. Hell I managed fine with the continental sport touring front in the rain on the Dalton too, but my bike is small and light.