Bike Magazine Tyre Test

charlie bimmerman said:
There's so much bulls**t written about tyres. My bike came with new Anakee's fitted and I haven't got a problem with them - despite being poorly rated in the test. I'm fairly brisk, I like to corner hard and I ride every day in all weathers. They grip and the bike handles brilliantly. Maybe if I stuck on the tyre test winners I might notice a tiny difference. But frankly I doubt it.

Whilst I would agree with you in principle, I have to say (and I do not consider myself some kind of riding god) that of the tyres I have used on my GS that they they tested (Dunlops, 020's and Battlewings) I would agree with every word they wrote :thumb2

However, they are ALL good tyres, and I have no 'issues' with any of them.

Andres
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Bones said:
'tis true http://bike.mywowbb.com/forum27/3383.html

they did only get 11 votes though
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Of the 11 answers they got, 5 answered they used the bike for gentle green laning or riding in 'muck' so where does Bikes 70% only used on the road come from :nenau

Even if that were true, 30% is a significant enough figure for off road performance to be worth commenting on surely.

Andres
 
terayon said:
I also did a poll couple of weeks back. 80 people voted on a multiple choice vote with all the current GS fitments.
42 people voted for the tourance, 4 for the dunlop 607

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104170
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That's because the D607 is a great tyre for grip in wet/dry & damp conditions but it wears very quickly, 3-4000 out of my first rear D607. Whilst Mich Road pilot and BWs have enough grip and last a lot longer (never tried Tourance so can't comment on those). BTW mine came with D607s when new so that was OE fitment at some time but another picked up the same day had Tourance- guess it depends what deal BMW can strike rather than unltimate suitablity for the bike.
 
The OE fit of tyres, I think, depends a lot on availability of the different brands - over the years and several new Tigers (same tyres as 12GS) I've had Michelin, Metzeler and Pirelli as OE fitment.

And really, I never noticed any significant difference between them, apart from the Michelin being more expensive usually.

My Mar '07 12GS has Metz Tourance on and they feel as good as they did on the Tiger.

Modern tyres are just so fffffff-in good!

Phil
 
terayon said:
is the tourance OE fitment or the Dunlop? One page says tourance and the last page says 607:blast
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My dealer har 3 R 1200 GS on the floor late in April.

One with Michelin Anakee
One with Metzeler Tourance
And mine with Battlewings...

I guess they buy OEM tyres from whoever is cheapest at the time?
 
Happy and Grippy

I've been riding with the Avon AV45 ST Azaro front and AV56 Storm ST rear combination on my 1200 since November and think they're clearly superior for on-road use when compared to any of the blocky tyres as fitted from new. They offered superior grip and feel on greasy winter roads and in the warm spring conditions we've been experiencing lately they've simply outstanding. Especially good is the mid-corner feel and accelerating from lean to upright. I used Distanzias before the current Azaro/Storm set and while they were just fine in most conditions they were also the noisiest tyres I'd ever had on a bike. If there comes a time when some adventure or tour takes me onto lots of dirt roads then I'd go back to the dual-sport tyres, probably the Metzeler Tourance, but I'm completely sold on using sport-touring tyres on the GS for everyday riding.

Surely there's only 2 reasons to have dual-sport tyres mounted and that's a) because you want that look or b) you really do venture off the tarmac on regular occasion. Most GSs in Europe, much less the UK, are never off the bitumen so it seems to make more sense to have a quieter, smoother tyre with more rubber in contact with the road surface. I've put just over 1800 miles on the Avons so far and don't really know how many miles they'll be good for.

So far Avon doesn't make the Storm for a 19 inch wheel. I hope they produce one because if the rear is any indication a front Storm might offer some useful additional feel. Also, I had first mounted an Azaro rear but it didn't work on the 1200 (not sure about the 1150 or others) as it set up a 'thrumming' drive-line harmonic. To Avon's credit they didn't argue about it and immediately replaced it with the new Storm.
 
terayon said:
I also did a poll couple of weeks back. 80 people voted on a multiple choice vote with all the current GS fitments.
42 people voted for the tourance, 4 for the dunlop 607

but i wonder how many of the tourance voters have tried a sports touring tyre. i used the tourance for 5 years and thought they were great - until i tried my mates GS with BT020s :thumb
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I've tried 020's, pilot's, battlewings and most sports tyre when I had a sports bike, I like the tourance as it lasts a long time but prefer road attacks, just wish they would last a bit longer
 
I have been using Avon Distanzias on my XT660X. They are excellent in the dry and wet including the cruddy winter roads that are coated in every thing from oil to de-icer. They last 3+ times longer than the OE Pirelli tyres (average on the Pirelli's was about 1500-2000 miles!) and much better handling. As for the noise, I could not tell because my cans were a bit unsociable (but road legal). I have not read the article yet but the mag is on the sofa, I will read it this evening.
I was lead to believe the Distanzias were suitable for a bit of off-roading. They have a very deep tread and look like they could handle a bit of dirt/mud quite easily.
 
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terayon said:
I've tried 020's, pilot's, battlewings and most sports tyre when I had a sports bike, I like the tourance as it lasts a long time but prefer road attacks, just wish they would last a bit longer
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What sort of mileage are people getting from Road Attacks? Having some fitted tomorrow - was originally going for 020's but as the RA are £155 the pair compared to £195 for the 020's seemed to make more sense :)

Peter
 
ANybody know if I can safely pair up a Tourance front with a Distanzia rear?
 
Avon

ampthill said:
What sort of mileage are people getting from Road Attacks? Having some fitted tomorrow - was originally going for 020's but as the RA are £155 the pair compared to £195 for the 020's seemed to make more sense :)

Peter
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Avon diz 43/44 at Round and Black on ebay £114 plus p&p use these people a number of times....excellent service:clap
 
Protyre in Poole.... D607 fitted to the bike £201.34!!!!
Tourance £189.

I'll be looking elsewhere I think.
 
rugbug said:
ANybody know if I can safely pair up a Tourance front with a Distanzia rear?
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I ran a Tourance front with an Avon Gripster rear (forerunner to the Distanzia) and it was fine.

Currently running a Tourance (soon to be Scorpion) front and Scorpion rear and that's fine too.
 
My GSA12 came with Anakees as OE fitment.

I've got 2600 miles on them but am off to Germany which will add another 2000 miles.

I'm tempted to swap them for 607s,especially as the Anakees didn't feature highly in the Bike test.

Will my rear Anakee still be ok approaching 5000 miles ?

Ta


(PS First GS,so no previous experience of these tyres)
 
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