Best Tires for F800GS for Long Trip

[1994klr250]

I did a 7,000 mile ride from Michigan to California and back this past August. I had the TKC 80 front and 140/80-17 K60 rear, both mounted brand new for the trip. I still have the k60 on the rear with over 9,000 mile on it as of right now. It was a good combo for the varying road conditions. If your going to ride dirt and have a long way to get there this was a good set up.

[Mollygrubber]

Another vote for the Anakee II's. I put my current set on before a 5000 mile loop around the southwest last Sept. and they're still in pretty good shape. Great traction dry or wet, used them all winter. I love these tires.

[JRWooden]

I have the Anakee II on my F658GS ... roughly 12K miles on them now and they would have been good for another couple thousand I think ... alas ... today I picked up a very small puncture in the rear ... what I pulled out of the tire looked almost like a small shark tooth and was none metallic ... not sure WTF happened...

With the tread "almost" gone, I'm not sure I'll bother trying to repair ... unless someone has a clever suggestion?

Anyway, I like the tires ... good grip nice ... in pretty much anything but slick/wet hard clay
One thing I do notice which I think is a result of the tread grooves getting larger as they get to the edge of the tire is some heavier "road noise" when I have the bike leaned over ... not a big annoyance.

BTW: Does anyone know what the original tread depth is on the Anakee II ???

[XTrooper]

Originally Posted by JRWooden

alas ... today I picked up a very small puncture in the rear ... what I pulled out of the tire looked almost like a small shark tooth and was none metallic ... not sure WTF happened...



BTW: Does anyone know what the original tread depth is on the Anakee II ???

Landshark!

Tread depths (from Michelin chart):

Front: 6/32"
Rear: 10/32"

[JRWooden]

Landshark ... sheezzzzzzzzzzz I better not see him again soon!

Thanks for the tread depth info!

[Bucko]

No one's mentioned the Pirelli Scorpion Trails, so I will. They look pretty tame, but I've had a set on my bike for about 4k miles now and am enjoying them. I've had them on a some rocky dirt roads and wet pavement and they've worked well. Just rode them over Hunter Mountain (back way into Death Valley), and out to pavement past Tea Kettle Junction with no problems over lots of dirt, gravel, rocks and washboard. Then more dirt and gravel into Nevada to watch the eclipse . Certainly not a mud tire, a little squirrely in the sand, excellent traction on the street and perfectly good for a lot of off-pavement riding. And they're wearing well, too.

[XTrooper]

Originally Posted by Bucko

No one's mentioned the Pirelli Scorpion Trails, so I will. They look pretty tame, but I've had a set on my bike for about 4k miles now and am enjoying them. I've had them on a some rocky dirt roads and wet pavement and they've worked well. Just rode them over Hunter Mountain (back way into Death Valley), and out to pavement past Tea Kettle Junction with no problems over lots of dirt, gravel, rocks and washboard. Then more dirt and gravel into Nevada to watch the eclipse . Certainly not a mud tire, a little squirrely in the sand, excellent traction on the street and perfectly good for a lot of off-pavement riding. And they're wearing well, too.

I thought it was just me!

In dry weather, I do fine on all kinds of road surfaces from gnarly rock trails to loose gravel, dirt, etc. Yeah, you'll definitely get some fishtailing in sand, but they're amazingly capable for a mostly street-oriented tire and if you use your head, you can go damn near anywhere with them. Mud, wet grass, and the like? Fuhgeddaboutit!

[ecce]

I would run with a combo of Metzeler Karoo 2 (without T) in the front and Heidenau K60 in the rear. Works great on and off the road.

[8lives]

I have these on my DR350,2000 miles on rear and seems to be holding up well,I'm seeing 5000 miles for sure maybe more,these things make the DR a cornering machine,and 70mph on the Freeway is not as squirrelly as before,in dirt,rocks,and roots they stick and make the DR chug along in the single track stuff.

[nathan8315]

I bought a K60 scout set for a trip this month and have about 2500 miles on them now. The front shows very little wear and the back looks used. The tires have seen dry and rain paved roads and dry, rain, hail, and snow off road. 2000 miles have been on the road and about 500 off road. Off road includes fire roads and rocky terrain. The only time I had problems was in the snow and ice, but I think most duel purpose tires would have a problem there too. Below are a couple pics of mid trip. I leave again tomorrow to head out on the last part of my trip which will add about another 1000 miles to the tires. They really don't seem to be wearing that fast and the only thing I would possibly do different is put a TKC80 on the front for some better off road performance (the K60 front tends to "slide" if not careful). These also seem grip very well on the road. I did some rides around the mountains in the denver area with my brother on the street and was very comfortable leaning the bike over and not worrying about them breaking loose.

edited: I have been using these tires with a loaded down bike. Both side BMW side cases full, a dry bag of clothes on the back seat, and a trunk of misc (camera, notepad, sleeping bag, extras gloves, and rain gear). Basically they have been holding up very well with some weight on them.

[Farkler]

As mentioned by several others, the Metzler Tourance is an outstanding tire. I have one on the rear of my F650 classic with about 5,000 miles on it and I'm expecting AT LEAST maybe another 2k or so. They are a little pricey sometimes, but find a set online and get them sent to you.

I've been very impressed with the grip in the turns as well as the traction in the dirt. After a couple multi-day trips both in dirt and on the slab, I've been pretty happy with them.

-Farkler

[Bucko]

My front Scorp Trail now has over 9k miles and is still OK. Replaced the rear at about 6500 miles with another Scorp.

[arjones]

Well, I did a very long trip last December/January, Northeast Brasil - El Calafate (Argentina) - Back Home again and I have a different opinion: the first 5.000 km the Anakees 2 are great. The best grip ever on the wet and dry pavement. After that I felt the front really unstable. Thought it would be the tire. I checked it and at the first glance all I saw was a perfect tire (for that mileage of course). Then, it got worse. Looked again (closely this time) and realized the tire was deformed in a very strange way, even though it didn't look like it.

Now I have the Tourance (without the "T") and they handle more mileage big time. But they sure don't have the Anakee's grip. The Anakee's rubber seams to be "softer";

[FredRydr]

Originally Posted by Farkler

...tire....

I suspect the OP bought his tires, rode to Montana and is back home by now.

Fred

[Wildman]

I got 14k out of a set of Metzeler Tourances. Trying the Tourance EXPs right now, not so impressed. Will swap back to a Tourance rear and probably go with a TKC80 front for next years trip to Iceland.