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ADV Gravel Riders - What Tires?

After doing a fair amount of gravel and dirt riding in the last week or so, I'm starting to wonder if I should get some new tires for the bike. It came stock with these:

View attachment 58257

As far as I know, they seem fine on the street. I've had them up to 115 mph and all good. But when I go off pavement, things get a little wiggly.

I wondered if there might be some tires that still give me decent street performance, safely allow me the occasional 100+ mph run on the street, but also help me out when I go off pavement.

Any recommendations? I heard people talking about some of these options:

Continental TKC70
View attachment 58258

Motoz Tractionator GPS:
View attachment 58259

Mitas E07:
View attachment 58260

Heidenau K60 Scout:
View attachment 58261

Shinko 705:
View attachment 58262
I switched to the Shinto 705’s and I am loving them.
 
I've been using the 705 in the front for the last 2 yrs.
first 705 one was a radial. after about 2k miles,
the radial kept losing air if i didn't keep it above 35psi. for dirt, i like mine at 26-28 psi in the front, so it got a bit annoying having to live w/ 35 psi....but
what got me all in an uproar was, mine stated to show bumps at the center of every block.
like this;
230091


so.... when riding slow on the street, the front felt out of balance, like the wheel slightly move up and down similar to riding a knobby dirt tire on street. so last yr, I replaced it w/ a bias 705 right before my trip to/fr Galiana mexico . down there, it worked ok for the dirt, but on the street portion, w/ luggage loaded down, i didn't think it was as nice and supple as the 705 radial, and braking felt slow to stop, didn't have that quick initial bite as before. Maybe the tire needed to be broken in more, but after that trip, it made me question my choice w/ going to a bias 705 ...

so for 2019, i'm back on the radial tire camp,
but this time, went w/ the metzeler tourance radials on my strom:

230092
r

I've put about 1k miles of ~85% street on them right now, w/ the 15% dirt spent riding w/ the TWTEX d/s ride last month down in Castroville,
but from the get-go, these tires feel smooth, quiet, light & easy to lean, got that firm initial brake bite back again, and grips good enough on the easy dirt we rode on.
Haven't tested it yet in rain, but imo, this tire's a nice adv tire that i'd use to go from here to Cali and then ride all up and down the PCH and on the way back home, pop into yosemite and moab and cloudcroft.
 
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I used the Tourances on my 1150 GS. For me, they are basically just a street tire. Off the pavement they were no better than any other pure street tire. You can run hard packed dirt roads without much trouble. They were horrible in sand, deep gravel, scattered gravel on hard pack, and even mild mud (all of which I see around here frequently). IF I were lucky enough to be riding to say Alaska, I might mount a set for the run to Alaska and have something else waiting for me there for all the dirt riding once there. Then I might mount a set for the return. I usually got about 4.5-5K miles out of the rear and maybe 6-7K on the front. Of course, it has been 10 years or more since I last ran a set on any bike, so they may have improved, but the tread still looks basically the same. I had similar results with the Avon Distanzia(?). Both were great on pavement and meh off pavement.
 
You aught to mount it, that way you will be used it it by AK time. I think its great for pavement myself, less in the slipy stuff.

Funny you should say that StromXTc. After cutting the grass yesterday I still had plenty of daylight and thinking it would be one of the warmer days for a while, I decided to throw it on. I don’t like worrying about running out of tire and becoming “That guy.”

c959fe14a33e3bc70a38d467c3d36c63.jpg


b8d1d78acb08ee342e635371cc6f7c56.jpg


The new Dakar E-07 plus have some pretty good sized lugs with wide spacing that’s for sure.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Is the EO-7 plus the same as an EO-7 Dakar? That’s a nice looking tire, I’ll probably go with that on the rear of the Husky 701.
 
I could swear I saw a set of Mitas that had a reflective side wall stripe... :ponder:
 
Mr.2mch, that could be. My understanding is the original 07's are discontinued and the plus are the new ones. Not sure about a Dakar Plus but that would be overkill on a single cylinder bike I'm sure. Bigger lugs and wider spacing on the new ones. I paid $153 for a 150/70-17.
 
Scott, I was looking at tires recently and thought I saw that on a Shinko 804 (B).
 
I've been using the 705 in the front for the last 2 yrs.
first 705 one was a radial. after about 2k miles,
the radial kept losing air if i didn't keep it above 35psi. for dirt, i like mine at 26-28 psi in the front, so it got a bit annoying having to live w/ 35 psi....but
what got me all in an uproar was, mine stated to show bumps at the center of every block.
like this;
View attachment 230091

so.... when riding slow on the street, the front felt out of balance, like the wheel slightly move up and down similar to riding a knobby dirt tire on street. so last yr, I replaced it w/ a bias 705 right before my trip to/fr Galiana mexico . down there, it worked ok for the dirt, but on the street portion, w/ luggage loaded down, i didn't think it was as nice and supple as the 705 radial, and braking felt slow to stop, didn't have that quick initial bite as before. Maybe the tire needed to be broken in more, but after that trip, it made me question my choice w/ going to a bias 705 ...

so for 2019, i'm back on the radial tire camp,
but this time, went w/ the metzeler tourance radials on my strom:

View attachment 230092r

I've put about 1k miles of ~85% street on them right now, w/ the 15% dirt spent riding w/ the TWTEX d/s ride last month down in Castroville,
but from the get-go, these tires feel smooth, quiet, light & easy to lean, got that firm initial brake bite back again, and grips good enough on the easy dirt we rode on.
Haven't tested it yet in rain, but imo, this tire's a nice adv tire that i'd use to go from here to Cali and then ride all up and down the PCH and on the way back home, pop into yosemite and moab and cloudcroft.

I had a Shinko 705 do something similar. I'll look for the picture or post.

Here it is!
 
Mr.2mch, that could be. My understanding is the original 07's are discontinued and the plus are the new ones. Not sure about a Dakar Plus but that would be overkill on a single cylinder bike I'm sure. Bigger lugs and wider spacing on the new ones. I paid $153 for a 150/70-17.
Ive seen em both on fleabay...

I recently put the old style E07's I had for sale forever on my Tenere. They are the Dakar version so I'll see what kind of mileage I get out of em. Both tires were only slightly used when I installed em.

Oh...& ...did I mention the roofing nail I found In the rear Saturday !D'OH !!!
 
Scott, I was looking at tires recently and thought I saw that on a Shinko 804 (B).
804 is what they label the front tire with 805 being the rear. Or was the B the differentiator?

I've heard spotty things about the Shinko 705 series, but everyone seems to love the Shinko 805/804's. Bill Dragoo recommends them.

I think Raw Hyde recommends the Mitas E-07+ Dakars for more longevity.
 
Here's what I saw Jarrett. This is the B one. Look down to the description near the bottom and it mentions it. I assume they have a 805 that does the same thing but I didn't look.

 
Ok, e07 + means it is the new design without the center rib.

Eo7+ and Dakar means new design and a stiffer sidewall. It has the yellow indicator.

I got the new design Dakar on my rear. (Expensive at $ 175 ) It has the yellow stripe to one side of the tread indicating ...dakar

And it seems to be wearing fast . Probably won't stay with it, nice tire but too costly for my budget.
Probably operator error
 
I've been using the 705 in the front for the last 2 yrs.
first 705 one was a radial. after about 2k miles,
the radial kept losing air if i didn't keep it above 35psi. for dirt, i like mine at 26-28 psi in the front, so it got a bit annoying having to live w/ 35 psi....but
what got me all in an uproar was, mine stated to show bumps at the center of every block.
like this;
View attachment 230091

so.... when riding slow on the street, the front felt out of balance, like the wheel slightly move up and down similar to riding a knobby dirt tire on street. so last yr, I replaced it w/ a bias 705 right before my trip to/fr Galiana mexico . down there, it worked ok for the dirt, but on the street portion, w/ luggage loaded down, i didn't think it was as nice and supple as the 705 radial, and braking felt slow to stop, didn't have that quick initial bite as before. Maybe the tire needed to be broken in more, but after that trip, it made me question my choice w/ going to a bias 705 ...

so for 2019, i'm back on the radial tire camp,
but this time, went w/ the metzeler tourance radials on my strom:

View attachment 230092r

I've put about 1k miles of ~85% street on them right now, w/ the 15% dirt spent riding w/ the TWTEX d/s ride last month down in Castroville,
but from the get-go, these tires feel smooth, quiet, light & easy to lean, got that firm initial brake bite back again, and grips good enough on the easy dirt we rode on.
Haven't tested it yet in rain, but imo, this tire's a nice adv tire that i'd use to go from here to Cali and then ride all up and down the PCH and on the way back home, pop into yosemite and moab and cloudcroft.
Yes, I have heard of Shinko tire delaminating. But I figured they worked the bugs out. At least I am hoping. Good info and I will keep an eye on mine
 
Ok, e07 + means it is the new design without the center rib.

Eo7+ and Dakar means new design and a stiffer sidewall. It has the yellow indicator.

I got the new design Dakar on my rear. (Expensive at $ 175 ) It has the yellow stripe to one side of the tread indicating ...dakar

And it seems to be wearing fast . Probably won't stay with it, nice tire but too costly for my budget.
Probably operator error
Look at your cost to the mile and you find maybe that they work out at the same price
I am running a E0 7 dakar on my vstrom and I am ride two up most the time to early to make conclusion yet only 1500 are so miles we will see

Aaron
 
I rode on the old version E07 dakar for well over 12k miles, ~ 75% pavement. This how it looked, my last ride to/fr Galeana
230163


after that trip, i think it could have gone another 2-3k street miles more, but clearly not enough bite left for dirt.
This was one heck of a long wearing tire!
So, here's my new E-07+,
w/ the E-10 (40 road/60 dirt) up front.
230164

this combo is for copper canyon, Mex-Trek., Big bend, OK trips.

and, im hopeful that the new e07+ grip better in the soft dirt now that they deleted the continuous bead in the center...it's too early for me to know until i wear at least 2k-3k miles off the top. The old version, once it wore down to the center rib, would routinely slide out from underneath anytime i rode it too quickly through mud or soft slop. i had to paddle walk the bike through the soft stuff just to keep it upright.
 
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Yes, I have heard of Shinko tire delaminating. But I figured they worked the bugs out. At least I am hoping. Good info and I will keep an eye on mine

The delaminating Shinkos are a thing of the far past. Back when the the 705s very first came on the market.
 
Ok, e07 + means it is the new design without the center rib.

Eo7+ and Dakar means new design and a stiffer sidewall. It has the yellow indicator.

I got the new design Dakar on my rear. (Expensive at $ 175 ) It has the yellow stripe to one side of the tread indicating ...dakar

And it seems to be wearing fast . Probably won't stay with it, nice tire but too costly for my budget.
Probably operator error

So what tire are you looking at? The plain e07 or something else? You ride about the same pavement /dirt ratio that I do on my 701.
 
So what tire are you looking at? The plain e07 or something else? You ride about the same pavement /dirt ratio that I do on my 701.
Click above. see post 125. And it looks mean too
 
So this is how my rear Mitas 07s looks now:

231404

The middle section has almost reached the inner bar. Is that the time to replace them? Picture may not show but the tire has squared. Unfortunately it looks like the standard E07s are gone, so I'm looking at other options. Shinkos 800s seem like a nice choice but I'm definitely not doing 40/60, I'd say realistically I'm 70% pavement. Not entirely confident in the other 50/50 options. Opinions?

The 80/20 options seem nice but has anyone had success with those off roading? I'm sure it's more skill dependent though.
 
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