I popped a deposit down on this today: I'm really happy with the spec history and condition, it's almost exactly what I was looking for, but might have to do something about these pretty quickly: I'll know more when I've ridden the 30 miles home on it I suppose. They are obviously geared towards off-road use, but I'll be looking for something that has say 25/75 off-road/on-road use, What's recommended? Could somebody tell me the sizes I'll be needing as I forgot to check when I viewed it.
Tyre Sizes: Front 120/70 19 Rear 170/60 17 Options I’ve tried: • Dunlop Mutant - love these generally but wouldn’t do 25% off-road on them. • Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR - love these more than the mutants, haven’t done anything more than gravel/stones as only had them fitted start of winter, but they are phenomenal to me, track better on our shitty roads and corner like full road tires. My remaining list to try if the STRs won’t do the light off-road I attempt while I still have mine (1200): Metzeler Karoo 5 - had the 4’s on a KTM and they were good in all but thick mud, not great so have the 5’s in mind. Heidanau K60 Scout (the ones with a centre line to help with on road) or Ranger (full knobbly). Caveat: I am not a tyre bloke, I don’t know jack all about them really but I like what I like, and I do a bit of research. I haven’t done hard core green laning on this bike and won’t as I ride solo, this is more going where I want to and try not to let surfaces dictate that.
Not noticeably - I do wear some sort of ear protection every ride but I commute into work on these with the lightest alpine plugs daily and don’t notice a thing. The STR are - I think - standard fit on desert x, I think they’re the dogs danglies but still untested on anything remotely sketchy.
Had these on TS and DVT 1200S - thought they were good til I tried the mutants, both for the longevity and profile, and bonus was no noticeable grip loss in the wet.
Thanks Handtoeknee Any views from anyone on: Continental TKC 70 Continental TrailAttack 3 Pirelli Scorpion Trail II/III All more road orientated I know.
Would be really interested to hear anyone's experience of Continental TKC 70s, particularly with regard to wet on road grip.
I’ve spent far too much time on this over the last day or so, reading reviews etc, and always have in my head that in reality there probably isn’t any such thing as a particularly bad tyre from a major manufacturer these days. I’m really tempted by the Continental TKC 70, and have to admit part of that is the look to go with the bike, but in reality I won’t be needing more than a modicum of off-road ability, especially at first. Also whilst I’m getting used to a bike this size and style I’m probably going to be better off with a tyre that has really good road manners. I’ve read about several issues with the TKC 70 Front tyre being a bit vague, especially until properly broken in, but even after that. So I think for the first set of tyres I’ll play safe with road manners and order a pair of Continental Trail Attack 3s
I think that's a good choice, after 5-7000 miles you'll know the bike and your needs better. As you say, in reality, it's only a modicum of off-road use.
Thanks Bumpkin. A pair of Trial Attack 3's now on order from forum sponsor Two Tyres who've helped me with a quick delivery as I'm hatching a plan to get the tyres swapped out ASAP after collecting the bike. I've not ridden a bike on Knobblies on the road for nearly 40yrs, and that was a 250 trials bike that needed to get from track to another on a short section of road. A totally different proposition to this bike. Just how bad do people think the full Knobblies fitted to this bike will be on my 30 mile ride home on varied but mainly fast A roads? I know already they will be noisy and generate some vibration, but will I have to totter round bends bolt upright? I'm seriously thinking about finding a local tyre place to the seller, dropping the new tyres with them on the way to collect the bike, and going straight there before riding home. Perhaps a brand new set of tyres on an unfamiliar bike could be worse than the knobblies, but I doubt it.
I certainly wouldn't worry about it on a 30 mile trip home, they are pretty aggressive and probably not great in the wet but, they're not going to spit you off in the first corner as long as you appreciate that you are on, what look like, 75% dirt 25% road tyres and don't try and get your pegs down on the first island!
Continental TKC 70s are a very popular tyre for a little off roading with lots of on road. They do 2 rears the standard 70 and a 70 Rocks which is more off road biased. I have the Scorpion Rally on my Desert X and are standard fitment. I’ve had no issues with them at all, they make no more noise than any other road tyre from my experience but the centre blocks do have signs of wear after 1500 miles and I have read they are prone to punctures between the blocks.
After I had TKC70s on a bike I’d never use them as a pair again. Front was reasonable for an 80/20 but the rear very poor, particularly on straight line braking. I would never have another tyre with a solid centre band. It’s made like that to help it last longer, but does nothing for braking grip.
Just out of curiosity - what did you think of the mutants...i must confess i thought they were wet tyres...when the tyres on my SXV550 go through i thought about a set but theyre pretty steep in price!
