► Tyre choices and emergency repairs

[v8legend]

I've tried a few tyres on mine. Conti trail Attacks were best, followed by the Pirelli Scorpion Trails. Both are much better in the wet, but would be useless off-road.

I found the Bridgestones OK in the dry, not so good in the wet.

 

[Roy Barnes]

I'm not a big fan of the Bridgestone OEM tyres on my F8, particular the front wheel tyre. For me the tread is to small and shallow in the gravel to feel comfortable/stable in the turns. On my old Africa Twin I had the "old" Metzler tourance, and I really liked them, but as I understand they've changed the pattern a bit - tourance EXP. They seem more road orientated. Are there better choices than the tourance EXP with a bit rougher pattern, more like the old tourance? Or are the new ones as good as the old ones? (Knobblies are not an option for me.)

I like Cont. trailattack. They work better than tourance and last longer.

 

[Dean]

Tourance or Battle Wing ? for my F800GS and Wife's F650GS (Twin)

We have just got over 7000 miles on the Battle Wings, are Tourance any better?
We have been happy these so far.

Any Thoughts

I can not comment on what I have not tried but. (on third tires at aproaching 24 K, smiles )

Went from the B/W standard fit to the old type tourance which were fantastic on the F650GS better wet grip on road than the Tomb stone death wings and possibly better in the dry also which gave me more positive confidence

Now on Heidenhau K60 scout (new type) new as in if you look at the rear there is a continual stril which i think makes them possible better on road than 100% sepperated blocks, I have not tried them in the wet yet but everything else very good

 

[MikeMike]

I've got a matched set of Conti Trail Attacks, albeit with the a 150-70 on the rear instead of the stock F650GS twin 140-80 set up.
Works great, decent grip on dirt roads.
The OEM Bridgestones never handled the wet very well and were useless on any surface other than asphalt, though they did wear very, very well and are much cheaper. I won't use them again, though.

 

[earwig]

Got a F650GS twin late last year from AJ's, which came ready fitted with Tourance EXP's. As a newbie , i've found that they are very confidence inspiring on the tarmac in all conditions (dry, wet , icey windy (weather, not me ) etc.)
Not tried them off the tarmac though

The twin is a cracking bike for commutting across the Dales and still getting about 68mpg , even with the hills

 

[roy.henderson]

Scorpion Trails

I've got these Scorpion Trail tyres as fitted to the bike. They're good on tarmac but this year I might be having to cover some distance on gravel roads. TKC80s seem to be a bit restricted for the motorway stuff? I fancied the MT90 ATs (tried on my brother's KTM) and they seemed ideal but they don't seem to do a 150/70 17 for the rear of the F800. Anyone suggest a tyre that handles fast road work and also some dry gravel type of roads?

 

[casperghst42]

I've got these Scorpion Trail tyres as fitted to the bike. They're good on tarmac but this year I might be having to cover some distance on gravel roads. TKC80s seem to be a bit restricted for the motorway stuff? I fancied the MT90 ATs (tried on my brother's KTM) and they seemed ideal but they don't seem to do a 150/70 17 for the rear of the F800. Anyone suggest a tyre that handles fast road work and also some dry gravel type of roads?

You can have a look at the MT60's they come in 140/80-17. I'm running them right now - I've only done ~600km but until now they look too do ok'ish.


Casper

 

[MikeMike]

I use a matched set of Continental Trail Attacks on my F650GS and I run the 150-80 instead of the 140-70 on the rear.
Here in Mexico, conditions go from nice asphalt on the highways in Puebla for example, to absolutely terrible pavement in Veracruz. However, there are a lot of dirt, sand, and gravel roads and routes and these tires are much better than the Bridgestones, worlds apart. The Trail Attacks are fine for light duty off road stuff in my opinion, good value for the money.

 

[sijohnston]

I will only ride 3 tyres on my 800. Conti tail attacks for most road work, and in fact they even coped admirably with deep sand and desert in Kazakhstan. If I'm not using those and want to do off-road majority, it's a Mitas Dakar on the rear and a TKC on the front (F800GS). Of all the tyres I've tried on the 8, this is the best combo.

 

[roy.henderson]

Hi Casper
I've not heard much about the MT60s. Are they OK in the wet? Noisy on the road?
Thanks for any thoughts.
Roy

 

[casperghst42]

Hi Casper
I've not heard much about the MT60s. Are they OK in the wet? Noisy on the road?
Thanks for any thoughts.
Roy

I don't find them as noisy as the tourance I had on my GSA, I can heard them but it's not bad.

They fell ok'ish in rain. Other people complain that they are difficult to get warm in rain.... I'll be able to say more in a couple of weeks as I'm off to Morocco tomorrow, and according to the weather profets I'll have a "bit" of rain.


Casper

 

[casperghst42]

You can have a look at the MT60's they come in 140/80-17. I'm running them right now - I've only done ~600km but until now they look too do ok'ish.

Got slightly more milage on the tires, due to a mishap I never got to Morocco, but got something like ~2.500km on them. They wear quite well, almost no sign of usage (but I'm always good with my tires, got 23.000km on a set of Tourance on my Adv. last year). As it looks right now I should be able to get to 12.000km before having to change them.

They are, in my unexperienced experience, ok off road, ran some sand and gravel roads today, and they track quite nicely.

I had 700km of pissing rain in France, and nothing to report on the rain situation (except for being missrable), I actually like them more than the Tourance, but that was on a different bike.

Only issue I have, which might be down to tyre pressure; the bike shakes it's head slightly under acceleration from around 120km/h, and under heavy sidewind it take a bit of work to keep the bike strait. But then again...

Casper

 

[dmilne]

Tubed tyres

Why can't we just put F650 (tubleless) WHEELS on an F800GS. Does that not solve the problem?

Dave

Anyone know the answer to the reverse - can you run tubeless tyres on the 800 standard rims? (e.g. for a 3000 mile road tour)