MEFO Super Explorer tyres?
 

Has anyone had any experiences with these tyres over long journeys, they look a great compromise and from reports on advrider they seem to last longer than TKC'S.

http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/ima...r_explorer.jpg

Also, if anyone has these can you tell me where I can get them, either in the UK or US as I will need to ship them to either UK or Dubai.

Thanks

Sam

Couldn't find those myself but Mitas (made in Czech Rep) does something very similar (E-07). I got very good mileage out of mine. As with most long life tyes, you do compromise some grip for harder wearing but overall, was pretty happy with mine. Put them on before leaving Australia and changed in Iran however would have probably got me most of the way back to the UK. Only changed it as I was carrying a spare tyre and my patched inner tube kept bursting so just put on the spare tyre and tube.

Mitas - E 07

Tyres Mitas E-07 - www.iTyre.com

Tyre MITAS E07 : sale of tyres MITAS on Pneus-Online

This MEFO website lists a number of international suppliers, not sure how up to date it is though.

Import – Export – Großhandel – Vertrieb von Motorrad – ATV – Quad – Roller – Kart – Reifen und Zubehör

A very good adventure tyre
 

hard compound, made in Germany for MEFO (I believe) by Heidenau.

Very long life, very good on hard pack and gravel roads.

You will never get everything in a tyre, but for me, these are about as close to an ideal adventure tyre as you can get. You will never get something that has long life, AND is great in the mud and sand. But something like the MFE 99 Super Explorers that have particularly long life, are good on tarmac and excellent on dirt roads and hardpack covers about as much of my key requirements as anything out there.

They do look like Heidenau K60s.

Those have had decent reviews and so excellent value for money.

I've not used the MEFO's but most reviews are good .... although I did read a long term report from a guy doing a big Mexico ride who did not like them in terms of handling. But most reviews I've read are positive. I did a dual sport ride with a guy on a KLR that had just mounted them. He did fine and said he liked them on the rough dirt roads we were on in California Sierra.

Mileages are reported to be good:
8 to 10,000 miles on a front, 6 to 8,000 miles on the rear. This is really good mileage from a 50/50 tire. But if you have a heavily loaded bike and ride at speeds over 70 mph, then your tires may wear out quicker. So as they say YMMV. :Beach:

I thought seriously about MEFO's last time I bought tires but can't resist the price of the IRC GP-1's. Also, the Shinko's look very good and they will be on my list to try out. On a Baja trip over a year ago I started with street tires and hauled two tires along. The front was a very expensive TKC (about $80) the rear, a cheap IRC ($60) This combination was OK once the TKC wore down a bit. Street handling at first was "unsettled" to put it nicely! Off road I love the TKC on my DR650. Good in deep sand, and good control on very loose and steep downhill, off camber "roads".

http://patricksphotos.smugmug.com/ph...34_6KfaG-L.jpg
Here you see the worn Pirelli Scorpion MT90 AT on my DR with the NEW IRC GP-1 mounted on the rack. At this point I had already put on the TKC (you can just make it out) which saved my ass on the other side of this hill!

With the GP-1 IRC in Baja trip and I rode for about 1000 miles, mostly off road similar to pic. Then rode home (highway to San Francisco) and put a bunch more miles on it doing mostly hard, high speed miles on tarmac.
I changed it out at 5,200 miles according to my tire log. Not bad for a $60 rear tire.

My front TKC was removed immediately after Baja with about 2000 miles on it. It still looks like new. I have two sets of wheels so swap out tires/wheels depending on ride coming up.

Here in the USA the MEFO's cost about $125 REAR, $85 front, plus shipping.

If one is intending to ride into remote countries for extended periods of time/distance with no tire re-supply available, then something like the MEFO or TKC are ideal. They are versatile, and work in a variety of terrain and most of all, they LAST a long time, even on pavement.

If you do not need a tire for dirt riding then I would use another type tire.
If your dirt riding is not far away from civilization, I would use a cheaper tire than a MEFO. Many good ones for half the price. (Shinko, IRC, Kenda,
Cheng Sen, Maxxis and more)

Patrick :scooter:

Thanks for that everyone, i am going to try and get some from the uk supplier, they just seem to be a great trade off. I am running 908rr on the rear and mt21s on the front and I probably get 4-5000km off these, and its a great combo for what I'm doing and where I am (dubai-so plenty of dune bashing!). As a lot of the riding will be on unsealed roads i want something i know I can rely on, on and off road.

Just found an online UK supplier, pneus-online

Tyres PNEUS ONLINE: car tyres online, motorcycle tyres, SUV tyres, new tyres for a cheap price

I dont know why, but there is a strange tyre naming system with the MEFOs

Rear tyres ... make sure you order the SUPER explorer MFE 99s, not the regualr explorer MFE99s ... there is a big difference in the tread pattern. The Super explorers are the rear tyres you want.

Front Tyres ... They dont make a "Super Explorer" in front tyres ... but the regualr Explorer front 90/90-21

The D908RR are pretty popular tires around here, some buddies riding big KTM's seem to like them. I don't know how long they last but my guess is off road performance of the RR will out pace both the MEFO and TKC by a fair margin. But of course won't match them on pavement for longevity or handling.

If you can double you're over all mileage with the MEFO or TKC then that is the way to go. For riding Dunes the only way to go is a big 'ol Paddle Tire
out back. Not good for much of anything else, but on Dunes it transforms the bike 100%. Sand? What Sand??:mchappy:

Patrick :scooter:

Feed back on Mefo's from Mexico
 

I might have mentioned I had heard of at least a couple riders who wern't in love with the Mefo's. Below is a link to a fantastic Mexico ride report by a guy riding a KLR who has a few comment on Mefo's. It's a big report .... but well worth the read. He comments on the Mefo's on the very first page and more thereafter. Great photos. This guy goes solo to places NO ONE I KNOW OF has gone on a bike. One of the best ever on ADV.

2 months in Mexico solo on a KLR... - ADVrider


Enjoy the read,

Patrick :scooter:

MEFO super explorer ect.
 

I was looking to get some MEFO explorers as I have heard some good reports regarding life, capability ect.
These Mefo "super" explorers look (as mentioned) just like K60 Heidenau's which I ran for 5k miles on a GS12 and were about half worn .
Can anyone directly compare the standard explorer with the super explorer?
Cheers. Dave

Are these super explorers very similar to Heidenau K60s? I remember reading that K60s had problems with heavy and strong bikes such as KTM 990 Adventure.
Anybody knows an online supplier in Europe which sells these Super Explorers?

small print
 

Colebatch - your Xchall is on 140-80 18".. super explorer is load & speed rated at 70R.
My WR250R is on 120-80 18" on explorer (can't get Super) is rated at 62T.
Maybe only a minor oddity but T is 118mph and R is 106mph - different construction perhaps? I'm trying to work out whether I'd get the same results as you have by using them.

People are comparing TKCs with TKCs when Continental produce a tubed version and a (bigbike) T/Less. I had excellent wear out of a T/less tyre (with tubes) on my old Africa Twin whereas my friends didn't get such great mileage out of the smaller Tubed TKC on their DRZs (loaded, same speed, on the same trip). The tyre construction is clearly different T vs T/L or bigbike vs smallbike so some comparisons on this site aren't apples and apples are they and that makes life complicated?