The Great DualSport Tire Shootout!

[bereahorn]

Originally Posted by SOLO LOBO

I'd say that I don't care about tire life as spending $250 a year on tires that do everything very well but wear fast is no issue to me...

That being, said I rode Gripsters for a few years, they wore like iron, did well on the road and fine in rain and seemed to be pretty good off-road.... once I tried TKC's I realized how much easier it is to ride gravel and loose dirt with knobbies... and in my opinion the TKC's give up nothing to the gripsters on the road and on wet pavement... and no, there aren't any chickens trips left on my TKC's....

I'm planning a return trip to Alaska in June on my PD and will take a set of TKCs along to change over for a ride up to Inuvuk which is 500 miles of gravel. What tire presures do you run on gravel? Thanks

[England-Kev]

I am a little curious by this thread, do some of your bikes have 17" rear wheels? as some of the tyres (tires) listed don't come in 18", well over here at least. Also some of the tyres (tires) as listed in my thread (the ST one) have already been superceeded and are no longer available.

It would also be nice to know the sizes people are actualy using on their G/S's, GS's, and ST's, as I am unsure of width clearence problems with some of the rear tyres (tires)

[bgoodsoil]

the GSes have 17" rear wheels. on the tire list, if it says G/S then there are 120/80-18s available. if it says GS there are 130/80-17s available.

I may have made it a little US-biased so far. The Mitas for example--I put them as hard to find tires but they seem to be pretty common in Europe and Australia.

It would also be nice to know the sizes people are actualy using on their G/S's, GS's, and ST's, as I am unsure of width clearence problems with some of the rear tyres (tires)

+1 on that. There are a lot of 140 tires that I haven't listed because I don't know if they'll fit. The clearance problems may not be as simple as width. I can fit 120/80 knobbies on the rear with no problems but 120/80 Distanzias rub my shock. I can still ride with them, but it has different clearances despite the same listed size.

I got an e-mail from another ADVer, drzgal, yesterday that said the Michelin AC10s, 80/100-21 front, will fit a 90/90 so I'm going to put them on the list.

thanks for the (translations)

[StephenB]

Originally Posted by England-Kev

It would also be nice to know the sizes people are actualy using on their G/S's, GS's, and ST's, as I am unsure of width clearence problems with some of the rear tyres (tires)

Fitment is a whole different issue. I have started a thread a long time ago with actual measure values vs rim data:

Tire size	Make/Model	Tire Width [mm]	Rim size
140/80-17	Bridgestone BT45	140.00	2.50x17 (R100R)
140/80-18	Metzeler Enduro Sahara 3	140.00	KTM (?)
140/90-18	Mitas E 08	136.00	KTM (?)
130/80-17	Avon Gripster am24	143.00	2.50x17 (R100GS)
130/80-17	Metzeler Enduro Sahara 3	125.00	2.50x17 (R100GS)
130/80-17	Metzeler Tourance	130.00	2.50x17 (R100GS)
130/80-17	Michelin Anakee	130.00	2.50x17 (R100GS)
130/80-17	Metzeler Karoo 2	130.00	2.50x17 (R100GS)
4.00-18	Metzeler Enduro Sahara 3	113.00	2.15x18 (R80G/S)
4.50-18	KENDA 270	120.00	2.50x18 (R100GS custom)
120/100-18	Avon Gripster am24	125.00	2.15x18 (R80G/S)

The ones on this list obviously all fit without issues. Which isn't a guarantee for everybody else but a good indication. Whenever custom is mentioned it is safer to assume it won't fit to a stock bike.

I also found this website: U.S And Metric Tire Size Information Calculator

This is a start and could be extended if bgoodsoil would add it to the front page ...

[Gimmeslack]

I have:
R80G/S with Ohlins on rear.
Metric size Enduro Sahara 3's.

They do well-enough in almost everything (except deep mud perhaps) and are a good compromise. They wear fairly quickly and are noisy. The front howls.

The metric size rear easily clears Ohlins spring. As shown in chart it's quite narrow. In fact it makes the bike look like a 250cc from the rear

[bgoodsoil]

Done.

Where'd you get those measurements? I'd like to extend that for the rest of the tires.

So, GS is a 2.5x17 rim and the G/S is 2.15x18? Where do those measurements span? what's the rim size on a 90/90 front?

Oh, and if you don't mind, I'll be deleting that KTM nonsense.

[StephenB]

Tire width measurement are actuals from inmates or my own bikes.
The rim dimensions are given as per factory, not measured.

G/S can also have a 2.50 x 18, just don't know when that happened. The front is 1.85 x 21 for both, G/S and GS.

[bgoodsoil]

where do you take the measurement for the width of the tires? I'm going to do some reworking on that chart. That's neat, I think I'll change the tire info and put it in a swanky chart.

[StephenB]

As I said, these were actual measurements from inmates and my own bikes, measured at the widest point:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showt...ght=tire+width

[England-Kev]

Have you seen these, the F99 is available in a Rear size of
F 99 120/90 -18 TT 65S ISDE Master, E

Suitable for the G/S & ST

Cheap too, at £52 posted in the UK.

http://www.mefo.pl/kat_mefo.htm

Kev.

[bgoodsoil]

the Mefo's are on there, under 'uncommon tires'. hmm...what can I do to make this more euro-friendly....

[England-Kev]

Originally Posted by bgoodsoil

the Mefo's are on there, under 'uncommon tires'. hmm...what can I do to make this more euro-friendly....

Sorry, I am just stupid!

[bgoodsoil]

nooo...I've definitely made this thing for USians since the tires in the main listing may not be available to ya'll and the stuff under 'uncommon tires' is what you're likely to buy. I'll try to come up with a better solution.

I should celebrate this--my 666th post!

to be (evil) or not to be (evil), that is the question!

[bgoodsoil]

Tires are in!


I've never noticed how large the difference between tires is until now that I've got several types side by side.

Here's the rear of the Duro next to the rear of the Distanzia:



Yes, that's the rear and yes, they're both 120/80-18s. I had to check. The Distanzia is very narrow and very round while the Duro is wide and flat. The Kenda K761 is in between-but it's closer to the Duro.

I definitely think taking actual measurements like what StephenB mentioned would be valuable considering how different two tires of the same claimed size are. I'm going to wait until I have them mounted since that'd make a difference on the shape and width of the tire. The Distanzia probably looks a little worse in this picture because of the lack of a spacer--they didn't put one in. If I was mounting this tubeless I'd never get the bead to seat.

Here's another shot:

The difference is so stark that the Duro looks like it ought to be on a smaller rim.

Here's the fronts:


Same thing, the Distanzia is narrow and round while the Duro is very wide and flat. It's like comparing a tennis ball to a 2x4. Laying next to the Distanzia the Duro looks like it's a rear tire. Both are 90/90-21s. I'd assume this will make the Distanzia turn faster and the Duro feel heavier. The Duro will definitely have a larger footprint for hill climbs. It's the flattest dualsport tire I've ever seen. I always liked the feel of them on my KLR.

The Distanzias will go on for my trip down south, the Duros will be waiting till I get back in July or August.

I can't wait to get these Maxxis tires off. While I'm leaned over in a corner, if I barely add any steering input it goes all crazy. It's very sensitive. Unless I'm signed up for an offroad race like the Sandblast or something, I won't put knobbies like this on again. I definitely don't recommend anything below 50/50 if you plan on spending a lot of time on pavement.

[datchew]

Originally Posted by bgoodsoil

Unless I'm signed up for an offroad race like the Sandblast or something, I won't put knobbies like this on again. I definitely don't recommend anything below 50/50 if you plan on spending a lot of time on pavement.

You rode 2 hours or so home in 40 degree rain, in the dark, in the fog, up into the twisties of the carolina mtns the other night. I think that would cure me of real knobbies on the road as well.