Texas Dual Sport Tires 19/17 for the Big Pigs

Yeah, yeah. I'm just bitchin' but on the off chance someone has a solution....


Has anyone found any tire in a 19/17 that works for the really big pigs on our POS Texas roads? And by really big pigs I'm talking Big Stroms and GS's and the like.

TKC's get 2K or less for my bunch. Literally, nobody I ride with regularly gets more than that. Tourances and Anakees limit you off-pavement when it's dry and really limit you when it's wet or loose. All 3 are great tires but the trade-offs are just huge.

The reason I'm posting this in the regional forum is that I don't think folks in other states realize what our chip and seal roads do to tires. So, other than the unobtainium Heidenau's in a 150 size, is there a Texas solution that provides some moderate grip off-pavement (better than Tourances or Anakees) but wear better than TKC's in Texas?

It sucks to worry that a new set of TKC's won't make a 5 day trip to Big Bend/Davis Mountains by way of the Hill Country. I'm itching to get back out there soon but I'd like to be able to do something more than Class 1, gentle Class 2 off-pavement when I get there.

For now, it seems like the best choice is a TKC front and a Tourance rear but, dang. It sure would be nice to have a matched set. Almost makes me want to switch to KTM just for better tire choices.

Karoo T, fit the VStrom & the BMW r12gs
I got 4500 on the rear of my VStrom half was off pavement.
Should have changed it at 4k.

Thanks. I'll have to look at the T. Don't know if I've ever seen anything but the regular Karoo.

do you have any hang-ups on trying off-brand tires like shinkos? I was just looking for a set of 17's because my buddy was thinking about off-roading his WR250 supermoto...

motorcycle superstore has a tire finder by size...

Dunlop 606 Dual Sport Rear in 130/90/17 for about $75 - looks pretty decent offroad

Pirelli MT 21 Rallycross front and rear for about $71 each. Looks like some good reviews - 1500 miles and no sign of wear. Same rider wore out other tires (IRC, etc) in that many miles.

Michelin T63 Dual Sport looks pretty good for a rear



I know that doesn't help much with feedback on longevity, but there are reviews on each tire from customers, so maybe it'll help

If nothing else, it helps you see whats available by size.

BTW, I'm interested in what you decide on... I've been thinking of a 90/10% tire for the 1200GS...

BTW, the T63 is what Colebatch used on his 2010 Siberian Extreme ride - i dont know how many thousands of miles he put on the tires, but it had to be well over 6 or 7,000... I think he was on a BMW 650 X-country that was heavily modified.

Karoo Ts are damn expensive and, according to this one account, aren't any better than the TKCs... still searching too. 2400 miles and my rear TKC is now bald

tkc front and shinko 705 rear on my gs, is holding up really well, and is NEARLY as good offroad as the tkc ( only worse in the mud-better tire everywhere else)

rear shinko lasts at least twice as long as tkc80 on the rear.

and it wont slip and slide on wet pavement like my tkc did.

lol, TXjames. It looked like crap the last time we rode together. 2400 is a victory of sorts. It's a damn sight better than what Ghost is gonna get. Or what Nephew #2 got on a Big Bend trip. I'm not kidding. The rubber was falling off that thing so fast we knew it would never make 1500 miles. It did, but barely. We were already measuring tread wear before we got to the Park.

So far I've tried:

Dunlop 607's - Great street grip. Useless on dirt and sucks on mileage.
Shinko 705's- Good street grip. Pretty good in the dirt (better than anything other than the semi-knobs). Sucks on mileage.
Anakees- Great street grip. Ice-skating on dirt, but predictably bad. Liveable on mileage.
Tourances - Same as Anakees

I've ridden several bikes with TKC's but since I am the hardest on tires of our bunch, never bothered to put them on for the one long weekend it would take for me to shred them.

Next up in the 90/10 80/20 category will be the OEM Trailwings but I want to find a 60/40 or maybe 50/50 tire.

what mileage were you getting out of the shinko 705?

I've been through 3 Shinko rears and never got 3K out of any of them. But, I only get 3400 to 3800 (maybe 4K on a trip that had a lot of asphalt- North Georgia, North Carolina) out of Tourances or Anakees.


I'm not a little fella and I ride the biggest of the big pigs. Fully loaded for a trip, she and I weigh over half a ton. Easily. Some would say I ride "spiritedly". Others would say I ride like an idiot. I'm aware that all of that goes into the tire wear equation. But I ain't likely to change my ways at this late date.

I want something like Mefo's or The Heidi's. 4K and some dirtability with good street grip. Hell, I'll take 3K.

I gotcha, ive got well over 3K on my rear, but im a bit smaller,rarely loaded, slower, and likely drive less 'spiritied' !

and I dont think we have as much of that chipseal stuff up here.

Id like to try the heidis as well, whenever that may be.

Nope. Y'all have really good pavement in Arkansas. Our stuff is made from broken glass and rocks.

Oooohh... Death Wings, NO WAY! Haha. Pretty sure that's not the tire you want but maybe they're better than the rumors I've heard.

SWmoto has the non-T Karoo for $146 but I doubt it has any better life than the T.

Try the Michelin T63's man... Colebatch was loaded down pretty heavy and from what i see he likes to ride fairly aggressively as well. Its the only tire he trusts to make it across Russia in one piece.


For the price, i'll bet its worth a try.

Don't think a 130/80 would cut it.

I have a good friend who rides the TW 152 rear and it does well for him on the street. Can't be much worse on the dirt. So, rather than keep beating my head against the same rock, maybe I'll try a new rock. :huh Or something like that anyway. lol.


Even if the Heidinau's came stateside this week, the pent up demand will exhaust the supply instantly.

Well....I been tryin out different tire combos for quite a while now.
....On the DL1000s & 650s that I've had. (now this does include some purely street tires too) I won't include those since you're lookin for a 50/50 tire

...started out with the Trail Wing original equip tires....Switched to Tourances....then Scorpion ST90s (discontinued now but used several before they finally ran out of stock)....Never tried a D607 on the rear but did use one on the front....(What SOG said)....A set of Distanzias (brand new rear picked up a screw out near Star & by the time I made it home the tire was "breakfast bread" !! ......Shinkos (the orig bias 705 & currently running the new radial version.

Now....for my take on the differences.....

The Trail Wings (Death wings as some call em)...An ok tire on the rear as far as, say 80/20 tires go...but I didn't like em on the front in gravel...+ the street confidence wasn't spectacular on the front either.

The Tourances (NOT EXP) & to some extent Scorpion ST90s...Similar 80/20 tires that both handled well on the pavement + gave some confidence in the gravel. The Scorpions lasted slightly longer due to the harder compound compared to the Tourances. I bought a few of em.

D607....a street tire that kinda looks like a 80/20 tire.

Distanzias....Didn't have em on long enough to get a good impression off pavement,but they did handle pretty good on the road.Took the rear off after the screw incident & riding flat for several miles.

Shinkos ...Bias...rear...Good 70/30 tire that wore out pretty quick...
Radial....rear seems to be doing better mileage wise & same 70/30 capabilities.Haven't tried a front yet due to the tire below.

I did also try 2 sets of Maxxis Detours that were closeouts after being discontinued....The 2nd front is still on the 650 & has 12K+ on it. Good handling on pavement...not bad in the gravel...similar to Tourance/ST90.
1 Rear was NOT a mileage tire!!.... got rid of the other..nuf said.

& finally....The results.....Out of all these different tires....most mileages were around 4-5K except for those noted.With those mileage similarities,I would probably choose the Shinko radials if I was looking for another 70/30 tire. + they're far less costly than many of the others except say ...the Trail Wings.

DL1000 guys
PhilHill uses the Anakees exclusively & loves em...but he doesn't do much gravel
Wingnut uses the BattleWings & loves them.He will do gravel but still rides mostly pavement.
Both guys get similar mileages at 4-5K

The newest crop of 80/20 (90/10) tires like the Conti Trail Attack...Pirelli Scorpion Trail....Metz Tourance EXP seem to be focusing on pavement performance over gravel.....I wish they would keep 2 different tire styles in production to cover the pavers...& the gravelly goers.

I found the Anakee2 to be slightly better in the dirt than the Tourance but handled a little less confidently in hard corners

I've got a set of Anakee 2's i put on the 1200... and you're right. Not as confident in the corners as i would like. I think the bike had Tourance's on it when i got it, and it seemed to stick like glue.... but mine wore funny and developed cupping at midlife.

Only rode them in hard-packed dirt once, but it was a little muddy and i was two up with a passenger... I wasn't getting very ballsy but we still lofted the front tire a few times.