Tire selection for more off road
 

Hello I ride a 2014 KTM 1190 ADV R that has ~13,000km on Heidenau K60s.
I have ridden from Toronto to Vegas & along the way had an amazing 120 mile ride of the White Rim trail in Moab (full loaded with panniers).
I did cut out the center strip on my rear tire.

I am looking for a more aggressive offroad tire & am considering the following for front/rear.
-Mitas E09 DAKAR (rated 60/40 off/on); TL rear, TT front
-Metzler Karoo 3 (rated 70/30 off/on)
-maybe Mitas E07 DAKAR
-TKC80??

I am seeking your experience with these tires in areas: street, dirt, sand, mud, wet, gravel.

I typically ride ~ 1 hour on the street/gravel to the trails N of Toronto. I like the fire roads & open single track.
I do plan on riding a BDR in 2015.
thanks
Tire confused

Have Metzeler Karoo 3 on my 950SE and never seen a tyre worn so fast, half worn after a few afternoon trips. Assume something to do with my right hand, just to fun with 950 on gravel to be careful. It's now effectively a car tyre rear.

Though, 950 is new too me and dual sport for that matter and not tried the aother tyres you mention so might be just as bad.

Except for that, I think they worked well on tarmac and gravel. Not that great on wet grass and mud, not much grooves sideways.

I donot have a tire suggestion but you might want to look at the roads you are traveling on,here in socal we have a road -74 the elsinore side will eat your tires for lunch,I use it when my tire goes flat at the center but still eats the rear.
I ride 2up .
you might want to keep the k60 in the rear and go to a more aggressive front.

If doing a mix of dirt/street I'd say you're pretty close now. The Heidenau is highly rated. (I've not used one) Unless really going serious mud, sand, rocks a 50/50 rear is probably OK if you run LOW pressure when in more technical conditions and run a knobby front. The TKC is my choice. Expensive as Hell, but it's just better ... and lasts well.

If going serious off road, I'd run knobby TKC, T63, IRC or Shinko front and rear.

For a classic "Mullet" set up, I would stay with any good 50/50 rear but go with the TKC80 front. It works remarkably well ON ROAD ... and is not bad off road.
Just be careful under hard braking on WET PAVEMENT. But overall, an amazing tire ... really better than T63, IRC TR-8, Shinko.

You may find some lack of compatibility front vs. rear with certain combos where rough pavement will have bike moving about, reacting to different paved surfaces. But the TKC matches up well with some of the good rear 50/50 German tires. (Heidi's, Mitas, Mefo) All are weird when brand new but get better (on pavement) once 500 miles gone by.

bier

Now that Conti is introducing a TKC70, we will soon have to specify TKC80 when that's the one we mean.

I like the TKC80 much more than the Heinedau K60 Scout. For my riding it is a better tire in every way except longevity. Wet traction is particularly bad on the K60 but for dry trails it's not all that far behind the TKC80 or Kenda Big Block.

Because of that longevity, I have a pair of K60 Scouts ready to mount. For now, riding nearer home, better traction beats longevity.