Touring tyres

[ChazzyB]

Touring tyres? Whatever happens to be on the bike. It's an adventure!

 

[Santa-2512]

Sorry??

Your not feeling confident on an 80/20 tyre

Thats 80% road bias and 20% offroad bias

your never going to get anywhere near the limits of the road bias, so why worry about an 100% road bias tyre

I had Karoo II's on my hexhead, now they were skittery in the wet, but grippy in the dry on road.

never went offroad , so i changed them.

Avon Trailriders, 90/10 Grippy as feck wet and dry, wore them out and couldn't get replacements, so i ended up with Mezteler Tourance

Again another split bias tyre 90/10, took longer to scrub in, but once they were, they were as good as the Trailriders


The LC came with Tourance Nexts , horrid tyre, worn badly very flat in the centre, took then off, and went back to Trailriders

Just put my second set on, that says how much i like them

 

[leadfarmer]

With the RA3s I occasionally found the front end a tad floaty at speed on the motorway but always found the grip to be huge and the confidence and feel in corners better than anything I’d had before

I put TA3s on this time just to see the difference, I do find them quicker steering but haven’t got the skills to find out whether they have more or less grip, they are at least as good for feel and confidence even on very cold damp roads

I’d say they’re both superb tires with, as I said earlier in the thread, a slight preference for the Trail Attack

 

[jags]

my brother would agree with santa about the trailriders. he was involved in testing them a few years back and still uses them, says a great all rounder.

 

[Wapping]

I've had 3 punctures in 10k miles riding the same roads in the way as I always have.

Tell us more about this, please.

Are you a bimbler or an R1 murderer?

Do you always perhaps always ride on the right, as opposed to the left?

Do you ride in some special way, that you have become accustomed to?

 

[ferguscawley]

Tried all of the above . Conti TA 3 blows them away .
Best set of boots for the Gs .

Agreed 100%

 

[BigT]

I see the Dunlop Roadsmart 4's are now available. They have stellar write ups, anybody got real time experience on them yet?

 

[younger06]

I have just replaced my excellent TA3 with Dunlop Meridian on my Crosstourer (more out of curiosity than anything else)

Can't really comment on them yet....apart from that the 100km ride home on them, on dirty, slippy, Irish mountain roads felt planted and perfectly safe.

My dealer is a motorcycle tour company as well (Overlanders in Gorey) and the lads swear by these new Dunlops.
Time will tell.

S20 5G sent this......

 

[harry the cat]

Decision made TA3 it is.

Good decision.

 

[Eunuch]

Good decision.

Ditto.

 

[Spareparts]

The latest tyres released the last 12mos all seem to have made another jump in compound/chemical grip characteristics. Not sure there are many bad tyres today? The real difference comes to carcass shape, sidewall stiffness, and ‘feel’ transmitted under load. And in this regard, I find that Pirellis still offer the best feel which equates to rider confidence to push hard on tarmac.
Dunlops offer good grip, but their stiff sidewalls don’t offer much confidence towards the limit when they start feeling very nervous.

 

[Woland]

I usually go thru at least one or two sets of tyres per year and like to change things up when I change. Ridden all of the versions of Michelin Pilot Road, Dunlop Roadsmart except for the latest, Pirelli Angel, Tourances etc etc. The road oriented tyres I´ve come to prefer the of the most are the Continental Roadattack 3. Stable, predictable and sporty feel compared to the corresponding Michelins and Dunlops as well as good mileage. If mileage wasn't a concern I´d use Pirelli Angels, but I cant be bothered to change tyres more often than necessary. I get separation anxiety bad every time my bike is in the shop...

But all modern quality tyres I´ve tried are better tyres than I am a rider, so it all comes down to personal preferences I figure

 

[sven]

Conti Trail Attack 3 would be my first choice followed by Conti Road Attack 3

Both brilliant

I really like the TA3, but the rear only last 3k miles. Michelin Road’s are puncture prone, so my go to tyre is the Tourance Next for their combination of grip, handling and longevity.

 

[RichardD]

^^^ I must be doing something wrong. My last two sets of TA3’s were both replaced before strictly needed and both sets did at least 7,500 miles.

 

[CPJS]

When ordering Conti TA3 make sure you order the V speed rating and not the W. There is a lot more tread depth on the V.
In my experience, 1500-2000mls more on the V.

 

[Sneldog]

Good choice. I am running TA3's for the first time currently and am impressed. Not much to choose between them and the Roadtec 01's I had before but both are so much better than the A41's that come as stock.

 

[K3FatBoy]

Didn't the OP say something about grip? If you absolutely, positively have to have the most grip ever and a 19" front wheel, Dunlop Sportsmart TT. Incredible. Not so much the lean angle, since any of the tyres mentioned are toes/pegs/engine bars down in the dry (as are Karoo IIIs etc.), but feel/confidence leant over, and all the throttle leant all the way over, and 'friskiness' like a salmon leaping upstream in the twisties. Not much good on gravel tho'.

(Dunlop Meridians are excellent on cold, greasy, salty roads, too. I took the Sportsmarts off when the OAT fell below 5oC: they'd become too interesting)