Patrick,
+1 on the Venoms. I have these on my Harley Road King and I love them. I don't get the mileage of some of the more long distance tires on the rear but the difference in the way the bike handles is more than worth it. The bike steers lighter and and I love these tires in the rain. You can get the Venom in a 21" front also.

I mentioned the Marathons because a friend of mine runs them on his old KLR650. What I forgot to mention is he uses his bike just for commuting on the interstate with these tires so he can get nothing but high mileage. He has a set of knobbies mounted on spare wheels for off-road use. He doesn't do much "sport" type riding on this bike as he calls it his "work" vehicle.

Further to my post on this interesting thread regarding the fitting of Michelin SIRAC's, I would point out that these tyres are slightly more offroad orientated than the standard Michelin Anakees also mentioned on this thread. If you seek a more agricultural look as well as tyres capable of some limited offroad stuff then the SIRAC's are the way to go.

Most of the new Yamaha XT660 Teneres are in fact fitted with Michelin SIRAC's.

The Anakees are primarily designed as a road/tarmac tyre NOT as an occasional offroad tyre. I would estimate useage at -

Anakees - 90% Tarmac 10% Offroad
SIRAC's - 70% Tarmac 30% Offroad

Obviously it depends on what you intend to do doesn't it -

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Triumph Bonneville 800 (2004), Yamaha XT600E (1999), Honda XBR500 (1986).

The Bridgestone Battlax BT45 are awesome road tires for the XT. I've had them on for the past 5000 miles, the rear is at about 50% tread, the front will last another 15000, it's at about 75%.

It also uses the "Dual Tread" construction, meaning a stiffer compound in the centre and a softer compound on the ouside. The result is a long lasting tire that won't square off as easy, but retaining exellent cornering characteristics.

If anyone is familiar with Deal's Gap in North Carolina here in the US (318 curves in 11 miles ), the pegs will scrape hard before challenging just how welded to the ground the tires are.

I wanted to switch back to Bridgestone TW's from Metzeler Tourances, but is there a world shortage of them?? I've spent the past 2 weeks phoning every tyre place I can find for some TW101's with no luck.

I've just spent quite a bit on the two XT's so because I couldn't get what I wanted, I decided to go for something 'cheap' to tide me over for a while.

I decided to try a VRM163 Vee Rubber. NEVER heard of them before until a few days ago. I wanted a 120/90 - 21 rear, but they didn't have one in stock and persuaded me to have a 130/80 - 21 instead. They look pretty robust - Vee Rubber : The Pride of Thailand - but no idea how they will perform. Don't tell me how crap they are, because I've already had them fitted. I was desperate.

TW's are around 120 euros each here in Spain, but these cost me just under 300 euros for four tyres, fitting and balancing. Doubt I'll get the 15k miles I've just had out of the Tourances, but I'll let you know how they perform.

Oh, and while they were being fitted, I had the chance to drool over the new Tenere. Mmmm, me want .....

many tires on many online sites show OUT OF STOCK!

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

Just out of curiosity - what pressures are you all running for road use???

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Tom
I'm a country member...

38 psi, front and rear for street.

My '89 3AJ Tenere has a 120-80-18 on the back at the moment but the online shop has just sent me a 120-90-18 by mistake. I don't imagine this will be a problem, but I wanted to check what sizes people are running and whether anyone thinks this will be a big problem. Thoughts?

Don't know about tyres but my 1VJ engine is still for sale if you'r interested. Can't send a private message as I don't know how to do it. Mail me: tenere99@live.co.uk

Isn't that a bit high???

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Tom
I'm a country member...

I don't know the XT that well

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

It will wear in the centre, and quickly. It will also reduce your grip level.

Heat causes tyes to wear rapidly, and though a high tyre pressure will reduce the deformation of the tyre, and thus the build up of heat, you will also lose grip. Tarmac viewed through a magnifying glass is pretty rough, composed of peaks and troughs. The tyre pressure has to be low enough to allow the tyre to deform, and mould itself into these peaks and troughs. This gives more rubber in contact with the tarmac, called the contact patch, which gives grip. This is exagerated off road, as the tyre has to mould over ruts and rocks to get grip, hence lower tyre pressures for off road use.

OK, so heat wears tyres out, so how come a tyre that's over inflated will wear quickly then, if it's not flexing so much and building up this nasty heat?

Looked at under a magnifying glass, you can see what's going on.

The tyre will bounce over these troughs and peaks, and any stones, or surface irregularities instead of moulding into them. What this does, is allows the tyre to leave the surface as it bounces - so there goes the grip. When you lose grip, you allow the tyre to slide across the tarmac, scraping rubber off it, and building up heat. And heat wears tyres.

With over inflation, the contact patch size is reduced, as the tyre stays round, and doesn't deform into a decent contact patch, so there is less tyre in contact with the road, but it's still carrying the same weight of bike and rider, and therefore having to work harder to find grip. Less rubber on the road gives less grip. We're not talking broadside, tyre smoking, squealing slides, but the effect is the same on a much smaller scale, and over the tens (hundreds?) of thousands of revolutions the tyre makes on a journey, thi pretty quickly adds up.

It's worth experimenting with your pressures, to suit your load, riding terrain and style, but a couple of psi at a time is a big enough step to make.

Yamaha and the tyre manufacturers have given their guidelines, having tested them properly, and a couple of psi more or less would be as far as I would deviate. I think 25 psi front and rear for fast tarmac riding, or heavily loaded is what Yamaha reccomends, and 18 or so for one up / mixed riding.

I've been doing more research and the AVON Venoms look like the best 'road only' option for the XT.

You can get them in 21" and 18" and even with white walls if you are that way inclined (they are mainly used on Harleys - excuse my language!!!)

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Tom
I'm a country member...

Some HD guys really ride!

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Patrick passed Dec 2018. RIP Patrick!

11000 miles in 11 days - madness!!!
Are these guys sadists????

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Tom
I'm a country member...