1190 Tyre advice

[cookie]

I've never had a problem with any tyre "squaring off".

Of course they all square off and performance/feel might change slightly, but never anything worth worrying about and I can't understand why people get so concerned about it

the TA on the back of my 1190 is noticeably flattened to look at after 2000 miles of almost entirely minor back road use, but feels fine to me from the saddle.

 

[Rushy]

I've never had a problem with any tyre "squaring off".

Of course they all square off and performance/feel might change slightly, but never anything worth worrying about and I can't understand why people get so concerned about it

the TA on the back of my 1190 is noticeably flattened to look at after 2000 miles of almost entirely minor back road use, but feels fine to me from the saddle.

All I can tell you is that I usually run my tyres until they are literally worn out. However, when I finally replace them the difference is then always so marked that I always wish I done it so much sooner. It was very noticeable on the Tourances. TThe new tyres roll from left to right / in and out ofcorners so much more easily and sweetly.
Riding the worn tyres doesn't actually feel that bad, until you put the new ones on. Nirvana is a new set of rubber

 

[Green Boy]

I've used TKC 80's in the past and been largely happy with them but wondered if anyone has any other recommendations before I go this route? The TKC 70 looks good but I think it might be to road biased. I had a set of K60's on my GS but didn't get on with them so I've ruled them out. I've considered MT21's as I liked them in the dirt on my 650 X Challenge but they seemed to last about 10 minutes (this was a few years ago and they may be a lot better now. Our American cousins seem to like the Tractionator adventure tyre but I can't find a UK distributor.

For what it's worth, I emailed Motoz who said that they had received no interest from potential stockists in the UK but had found some in Europe (Spain and Germany) and they thought that they would be selling them from this summer (whenever that is!)

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

I've been trying to find the thread where I mentioned 'pattering' on the front end when braking hard into corners but can't find it so this seems as good a place to update on it.................

1190R - Trail Attack II's

I first noticed, at the end of the summer last year whilst hooning on Spanish mountain roads that the front end would 'patter' when I was playing silly buggers; fast in, hard braking into a sharp bend and blasting out again. I was convinced it was the damping causing the forks to progressively compress and not release enough thus loosing their travel but no amount of tweaking would fix it. Tyres at 6500 miles.
Then as the miles went up it would do the same on smooth corners. Also the bike would weave at 40ish (nothing scary, only if I took my hands off the bars).

Last weekend I got some miles on the bike in France and noticed the front end pattering at anything over 50mph in a straight line which got me worried about the front end again. Tyres at 9500 miles (still legal but obviously needed changing).

This week I had a pair of Trailsmarts fitted (whilst price was not a consideration they were £215 fitted to loose wheels which I thought very good). The ride is now as smooth as a smooth thing with no pattering when braking hard into a sharp bend or running straight and with no weaving at any speed so it looks like it was wear on the front Trail Attack.

It's a bit early to say what I think of the Trailsmarts (I'll report back after some miles) but they don't half handle differently! They seem to turn in initialy in a similar way to the TA's but once over, if you want to tip over a bit more they just drop in very suddenly (more like a 17" wheel IYSWIM). I'm getting used to this and am beginning to like it but it didn't half catch me out a few times at first; I don't think it was just a 'new tyre thang', they really do seem quite different. Sidewalls are I think a bit stiffer as I can feel more shocks through the suspension so will need to back that off a bit. I also think they may be a bit taller as it's a bit harder for me to flat foot the bike at a standstill now.

I'm looking forward to getting to grips with them

Andres