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New tires thoughts/advice

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AllByteNoBark

AllByteNoBark

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Yes, I know, a tire thread, might as well talk oil. 😲 Sorry.

Been thinking about getting something a little more suitable for gravel and light dirt. In light of another thread on here mentioning rubber prices going up, and having seen that elsewhere also, I think I am going to pull the trigger on some new tires for the Africa Twin. My initial thoughts are that I will order a TKC80 for the front and a Midas E07+ for the rear.

I am honestly on hard surface more often than not but would like a bit more bite in the softer stuff when there. In researching tires the above combo seemed to keep popping up. The TKC80 for the front worries me a bit as I do not want to give up to much grip on hard surfaces and it looks pretty "knobby." Reports say the E07+ is better on wet roads than the Dakar version.

So, that is my thoughts so far. Tell me I'm crazy if you want, but then tell me what is better.

:duck:
 
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What are you using now? We need to know what your baseline is. I've been running a TKC80 front with a Motoz GPS rear on mine and like it pretty well.

The only thing I've been thinking about changing is getting a Motoz GPS for the front too. Haven't written it the TKC80 yet, so I'm in no hurry to make that decision.
 
Yes, that would probably help. It currently has the factory Dunlops on it. I have about 2300 miles on them and while ok on the hard surface roads they do get squirrely on loose surfaces.
 
A customer has 13,000 miles on Dunlop Mission Trailmax on a 1200GSA. Easier to change a tube than I thought they’d be. Great grip in dirt and rocks and was able throw sparks in the corners on wife’s F700GS
 
Did some research on the trailmax mission. Will be considering those, they sound like they might be a better fit for me. Any issue running tubes in them? Advantage or disadvantage of bias ply vs radial? Have always had radials on my street bikes I think 🤔
 
Heidenau K60s - love them, on my third set (F800GS & R1250GSA). Ridiculous mileage & great performance for both on and off road. And the BS about rain performance is just that. I rode the $M Highway, 2 up in a torrential downpour so you couldn't see the road in front of you and the tires performed great.

Ran with tubes on the F800 & tubeless currently.
 
Well I just committed to trying the Motoz GPS front. I ordered a spare set of tires last night. It'll be some time before I need them, however.
 
I believe I will go with the Trailmax Mission. What tubes is everyone running? Read somewhere that one opinion was to stay away from heavy duty tubes for street use. Any comments concerning that?
 
Thanks for the replies. Ordered a set of Trailmax Mission tires and a front tube. Have not been able to find a rear tube in stock. Might not get them on right away but they will be here when I get to it.
 
On my 3rd set of Tractionator GPS front and back (Africa Twin). I ran the Midas E07+ and loved them, but only got about 4500 miles out of the rear. Seem to get 8-9000 out of the GPS. So far so good off pavement and on. I did have a 'MisterK Moment' earlier this year: Riding in substantial rain, had the rear end try to come around and pass me. Had the throttle lock on. Prolly messed with the traction control and hydroplaned the rear tire. Managed to shut'er down and save it, but scared the snot out of me. Otherwise very happy with the GPS combo. I have a TKC80 I'll throw on the front eventually.
 
My tires came today. Thanks everyone for the comments. These look like they should work great for my type of riding. Now I just have to figure out id I should put them on now or run the OEM tires for a while longer. Looks like the front should be no issue mounting but man that rear one is really stiff. Better eat my Wheaties!

trailmax-mission-2021.jpg
 
Leave them in the sun, use lots of tire lube and you should be able to spoon them on. I was able to do both mine on the GSA without much trouble. Also note that Dunlop uses the yellow dot to mark the lightest point on the tire. You'll want to align that with the valve stem to minimize the additional weight required to balance the tire/wheel.
 
Well, just like a kid at Christmas, I couldn't wait. Put the front one on tonight and it went on fairly easily. Probably jinxed myself for the rear one saying that. I used only the stuff I carry on the bike to make sure I have what I need if on the road. Found a few of items I need to add to make it as convenient as possible:

  1. 12mm wrench, my axle wrench has a 12mm on it but you cannot loosen the inside bolt on the front axle clamp with it if the bolt head is in the wrong position.
  2. Towel, just something to wipe brake dust and dirt off things
  3. Valve stem tool - I prefer to pull the valve core and had no way to do so. Ran in and bought valve stem caps with the tool head on them.
  4. Lubricant for the tire - not sure what I will add for this
  5. Tie down strap to pull the rear of bike down when on center stand to get front wheel in the air
Overall not bad as the only one that would have caused much grief is #1 and I have a small adjustable wrench I carry. Once my toolbox gets here I will add a few more things. #4 I knew I needed to add just had not done it yet.

Tires were date stamped 0421 on rear and 0821 on front, so about as fresh as they come. Took it for a 7 mile loop around the house and no vibrations or anything weird. It does have a bit of whine above 80 but I usually wear ear plugs so don't think I will even notice.

front-trailmax-mission.jpg
 
AllByteNoBark said:
Well, just like a kid at Christmas, I couldn't wait. Put the front one on tonight and it went on fairly easily. Probably jinxed myself for the rear one saying that. I used only the stuff I carry on the bike to make sure I have what I need if on the road. Found a few of items I need to add to make it as convenient as possible:

  1. 12mm wrench, my axle wrench has a 12mm on it but you cannot loosen the inside bolt on the front axle clamp with it if the bolt head is in the wrong position.
  2. Towel, just something to wipe brake dust and dirt off things
  3. Valve stem tool - I prefer to pull the valve core and had no way to do so. Ran in and bought valve stem caps with the tool head on them.
  4. Lubricant for the tire - not sure what I will add for this
  5. Tie down strap to pull the rear of bike down when on center stand to get front wheel in the air
Click to expand...
I was going to tell you I have a manual tire changer if you get mad at the rear one or it gets mad at you.

2. Towel I buy micro fiber cloth rags from harbor freight. They are cheap and multipurpose.

4. I have a tub of tire lube. It is a paste type. You can carry it in a snuff can or old pill bottle. It can be used straight or mixed with a little water. You can have all you need as the tub should last me a lifetime.
 
Thanks Gary! Will keep that in mind. I like the micro fiber towels too. Usually have a pack of them from Sam's in the shop cabinet, just had not put one in my tail bag yet. I will take you up on some of the tire lube, thanks for the offer. Will look around here and see what I can find that will work to carry it.

I used to have a Harbor Freight tire changing station and sold it to a buddy when I moved. We changed a lot of tires on it.
 
I really like the look of that tire. I look forward to hearing how you like it.
 
AllByteNoBark said:
Did some research on the trailmax mission. Will be considering those, they sound like they might be a better fit for me. Any issue running tubes in them? Advantage or disadvantage of bias ply vs radial? Have always had radials on my street bikes I think 🤔
Click to expand...
The Dunlops will be my go to tire for a while. Really wearing great on my 850. Excellent street tire, even in rain. I have to commute to work on this and let's be honest. In Texas unless you trailer I've got to ride a lot of surface streets to get to the dirt, lol! In the dirt they work well, not a knobby but do really good on dirt roads/gravel. I even ride some single track(slowly) on them.
 
Got about 4,000 miles on my Dunlop Trailmaxes now, still really like them. Rode to Great Falls and back in a wide variety of terrain and weather without any issues. Dirt, washboard, moon dust, tarmac, chipseal, rain, sleet, 41F to 95F, 30+mph crosswinds, etc... Pretty much every possible condition and never had an issue.
 
I am liking these tires. They do feel a bit different but seems like they are going to be a good match.
 
William Wolfen said:
What are you using now? We need to know what your baseline is. I've been running a TKC80 front with a Motoz GPS rear on mine and like it pretty well.

The only thing I've been thinking about changing is getting a Motoz GPS for the front too. Haven't written it the TKC80 yet, so I'm in no hurry to make that decision.
Click to expand...
I just took off my GPS front and was not real happy with it. Try the Motoz DV.
 
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