What kind of tires do you recommend for a 2001 R1150GS. I won't really be using it off-road. I spend most of my time beating up on sportbikes. Let me know what you think. Plague
Metzler Tourance is a proven road performer and very usable on graded dirt and gravel roads. Haven't tried the new Avon Distanza yet, but they look very promising... may well be the cure for my Avon Gripster addiction.
Hey Plague, I've got Tourances on my 01 R1150GS and they work very well in the street. However, when venturing off the road, they leave a bit to be desired (steep hills, mud and gravel aren't much fun with near-slick tires). For your use, I'm sure they'll make you happy. For my uses (40%/60% ratio - G/S), I've been eyeing the Continental TKC80, but haven't been able to find a lot of feedback on performance. They look like they'd have more "bite", but you can't really judge a tire just by looks. If you have 'em, I'd like to hear about it!
Please keep us appraised as to your experiences! I've got 4-5,000 miles left on my Tourances and then I'll be making a switch. And yes, I really do get about 40% off-road use (that is until the upcoming Redmond trip). There are lots of cool forest roads all around my general area - all needing exploration!
I have 12k on my Tourances. Problem is no one has them in stock, the rear is shot, and I'm heading from Mass to Oregon in 2 days. I can get the Avon Distanzias on tomorrow but I'm worried about the past Avon quality, sidewall frag, and not getting the wet traction I get with the Metz. Anyone riding the Distanzias? COmments? Talk me down. Ween 01 1150GS
Just installed a pair of the Dunlop D604 TrailMax tires on my '91 R100GS. So far, they've been excellent on the road, although be prepared to hate 'em for the first couple hundred miles; they feel odd at first, but get a lot better fast. Much too soon to tell how they wear. I'm still too much of a rookie with this bike on dirt to know whether they're any good. It doesn't handle like a CR500, not that I was riding that thing anywhere close to its utterly scary potential... I would guess that if you spend most of your time on the road, these would work well. It won't cost you much to find out - MAW has 'em for about $57 front, $75 rear. Your local dealer may be able to nearly match that price when you figure in shipping - mine was within $10. Pete Bansen Truckee, California
I am in the process of fitting T66X (Michelin) to my Tiger, they seem to be a good all round tyer. They stick to a dry road like the perverbial. And are pretty good off road aswell. For those who don't know I'm now live in Australia and do a bit of offroading, so the T66X I have found to be the best for me in Dusty, gravel, sand and Bitumen conditions. The test will be this weekend when I take on the BMW boy's from out west on a training weekend run by the local BMW faction. http://195.154.239.169/moto/
The best tires I know for an 1150GS on the pavement are the Tourance. The Dunlop D604 are very good too but they are slightly not as good on pavement (they're however much better on the dirt). Plus, my rear one lasted only 4,000 miles instead of 6-7,000 for the Tourance. If you want something 100% pavement, I'm pretty happy with my actual Dunlop K591: it's a 160/70 instead of 150/70 but it works just fine on the GS. Will let you know for the mileage.
I will add a vote for the T66. They came stock on my 98 Tiger and they have proven them selfs to me. Good wet, dry and not too bad in dirt/rocks. I have about 6K on mine now and I would say I should be able to get about 3 to 4k more out of the rear.
Ditto! T66's were OEM on my 1150GS. I've got 6k miles on now, but I think I'll be ready for new rubber in another 1k. I'm thinking about the D604's because they're much less $ than the T66 or the Tourance, and seem to have a more aggressive tread pattern than the Metzlers. Check out the OPINIONS of the micapeak big list: http://www.micapeak.com/bmw/gs/gs_tel2.html#tires
I prefer the Tourance tire. Found that lowering the air pressure makes all the difference off road.Try 25 front, 32 or so in the rear. Just be aware that it is easier to flat spot the rim with reduced tire pressure Wont use Avons as I have two of them fail. Both due to delamination of the rubber. Yikes! If I was not going to ride pavement I wouldd try the Conti TKC 80. cRAsH had one up front on the pyg and in his own words " the front end just washed. I wasnt even pushing it" The pics showed no crap on the road surface to cause this. Santa
Please note a long post I made to the BMW-GS@micapeak.com list, regarding this same question. Crash found out -- later -- that there were many other things wrong with the front suspension and steering besides his choice of tires. These later discovered serious defects were likely signficant contributors to the cause of the accident. I can testify from personal experience that Crash is an excellent and competent rider in twisties, so as any reasonable (and even some rather unreasonable) speeds, his technique cannot be questioned. I would seriously question if the TKC-80's could possibly perform anywhere near as well as the Tourance (still the best known all-around tire for the R11xxGS) on the highway, but the Tourance is nearly useless on ice, snow or mud, where the TKC-80 shines. I suggest referencing Mr. Rich Logan's R11GS Page at: http://www.azstarnet.com/~ralogan/R11GS.html I have a very high regard for Rich's competence and great depth of hard earned knowledge. This man is a long time expert. I would like as much feedback as possible on the Metzeler Karoo 2, the Metzeler Enduro 4, the Pirelli MT-90, and the Dunlop 604, if anyone has any substantial direct, comparative experience. It is a shame that Metzeler does not provide a radial Enduro 3. I have to concur with the negative experience with the Avon tires. When they go flat, they collapse nearly instantly, causing serious loss of control problems. I have ridden for several hundred miles with a totally flat Tourance, while two-up and heavily loaded with camping equipment, at freeway speeds, with only minor handling degradation -- less than I have had with other tires when perfectly good. It is difficult to fault the Tourance tires. Ask Fish about his experiences with the T-66 on his R11GS. His experiences are mirrored rather consistently, and are consistently with the advice given by Mr. Logan.
Funny you should ask :): My 1150 came with T66's stock and I thought they were a pretty good tire (99% street) and stuck very well in the dry. They stink in the wet, tho. I got about 7100 miles out of them before they got really greasy. You don't want to run these guys down too far or they get slippery. I swapped the 66's out for Tourances. The T66 seems to be a quicker handling tire, while the Tourances seem to be more stable at higher speeds. This difference gets minimized after getting used to the Tourances. I ran the Tourances up to Redmond and back and they did fine in everything I could throw at them...even including a few fire roads. Seemed to be okay in the hardpack gravel...no worse than the Michelins, IMO. I understand the Metzelers work great in the wet, but I haven't had the opportunity to test that yet. Clearly both tires are top shelf. One thing to think about is that I believe the Tourances are steel radials, where the Michelins are not. I should probably research this a little more, but it'll probably be faster for someone who knows more about this to just jump in here and tell me i'm full of it
Personaly I prefer the Metzeler Tourance for 80/20 road use. They provide awsome grip ......... Regarding the Continental TKC 80. If you treat them like a road tyre you will get poor return from wear 3k average rear 5k front. If you treat them like knobblies i.e. accelerate slowly (no high street wheelies) you should get 4.5 - 5.5k rear 7k front.
That's correct.... I checked my T66's. They've got 2 plies of rayon in the sidewall and tread, and an additional 2 plies aramid in the tread. (The front tire was marked, not the rear).... Isn't aramid a high strength fiber similar to kevlar? Sorry, I'm just reading the sidewalls, I'm not a tire designer. I've got 7600 miles on now. I'm praying they'll last until the Tourances arrive. They're "in the mail."
Prayers answered. The T66's had 8200 miles and 1mm of tread left on the rear before I had new Continental Enduro Pro's put on at the rally in Republic, WA. (Thanks, Joe and Fred from Tacoma BMW. Decent price and good service) First, I woulda, shoulda, coulda swapped tires sooner if a certain mail order shop hadn't "mistakenly" told me they were shipping a new Tourance rear (the front arrived on Friday while I was on the road). Second, again the T66's were OK by me. The last ride I did on them was a hard-packed gravel/high speed twisty pavement run (oops, how did we end up in Canada?). Thank you, Michelin man! Third, the Continental's look like they'll work well. The "organized" GS ride with Crazy Walter was a bit challenging in spots. Hale Creek road was little more than a rocky, rutted jeep trail in spots, and the Continental's ran great in the dirt. (Sorry I roosted you, Mr. Cob! I honestly did not mean to spray you with dirt when I tried to ride off the centerstand ) The tires handled pretty well at speed too, but only well enough to rate a warning from the state patrol and not a "performance award." (76 in a 60 west of Winthrop in the straights before the pass). It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so I'll find out about wet handling soon enough - the bike needs a wash anyway. Nice meeting some of you folks. Thanks for the German chocolate cake, gyromaniac! Via con Dios!
Fish wrote: Dat's the truth- I ran my Orig T-66's down to the wear bars, and boy what an experience of white-knuckled pleasure it was to ride-wet or dry. I will agree they were pretty good on dry pavement, but hit a wet tar strip under power, and you better be packing clean undies If ya think they suck in the rain with tread *on* 'em, wait til they wear a bit... When I took the wheels off the swap over to my new Tourances, I was amazed by the fact that the front wheel and tire weighed more than twice the rear. When I went to put the Tourances back on, the reverse was true- the rear is much heavier, enough so that I'm wondering what changes in suspension damping I might need to make. Must be them steel belts... I haven't had a chance to ride it yet, but as soon as I do, I will post my relative (and highly subjective) comparison of the two brands.
Well, After 2 weeks on the new Tourances, I have to say they are leaps and bounds better than the T66's I had on before- I wish I had put them on prior to my 2200 mile trip up to Canada, but at least I have some quality time with both treads to make a comparison. Fish had stated earlier that the T66 was a quicker handling tire, but I'm not so sure I agree. With the michelins, I had to put a lot more effort into the bars to get the bike to corner. With the Tourances, I'm back to mild footpeg pressure, and the bike seems much more responsive- I am able to do almost bicycle-like swerves- very niimble. The tourances are also a more confidence-inspiring tire, as I was never sure the T66's were going to stay planted- you get used to it, certainly, but that feeling of "ZOOM-ZOOM" (sorry Mazda) just ain't there with the Michelins. I know this is wasted bandwidth to some, but it's another data point for those who have yet to make a tire change, and are curious to hear other opinions. Of course, nothing make a GS more Gnarly-lookin' than those Karoos cRAsH put on Jaun for the big dog...
I would be very interested in anyone's actual experiences with the Karoo II & the TKC-80's or similar on the R11xxGS bikes. I used many sets of TKC-80's on my Airheads, and they were quite good for mostly off-road, but of course did not wear well, nor handle nearly as well on the road. Neither are they radials. As I put many miles on my bikes, I tried the ME-880's, with rather scary results. They were like riding on ice when they encountered tar snakes, and would slip out with the greatest of ease. While they did wear well, I pulled them off long before they wore out. The Pirelli / Metzeler agent strongly advised against putting them on anything except a cruiser, and he was right. In a word: don't! Perhaps the recently introduced radials are better, but these were not available when I used them. Still, I am not willing to try that again.
