Tyres that can handle mud & wet grass

Fireblade

Fireblade

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West West Cork, Ireland
Well, I haven't found a tyre thread for 2025, and the older ones seem to be more about road-biased tyres, so I'll risk launching a new one.

I've run the original style Tourances since I bought my GS1150, they're mostly great. I've been everywhere from Cornwall to Donegal to Shetland and they've always worked pretty well - apart from a lack of grip on wet grass.
I've now relocated to remote SW Ireland. I'm at the end of a rutted country lane which sometimes floods, cows and farmers add mud and dung to the mix. Even accessing my workshop involves a steep grassy slope. I'm going to be riding lots of Irish backroads.

I'd like a tyre that'll give me a bit more grip in the wet and soft stuff, what do people recommend?
I don't want to lose all road manners, I'm likely to visit the Big Island once or twice a year which involves several hundred km of tarmac.
I'm looking at TKC70 Rocks, Karoo Street...but I'm open to suggestions from those who've used them.

Thanks!
 
ThreeDawg said:
Don't rate the TKC Rocks for wet grass. You probably need a set of Motoz Rallz or similar.
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I don’t really want more than a 70/30 on/off road tyre, I was just hoping for a bit more traction in the slippy stuff. Plain TKC70 with that smooth centre band doesn’t look promising, hence considering the Rocks.
I plan to lay gravel to the workshop, so I won’t get trapped at the bottom of the hill!
 
I've used Karoo Streets and Michelin Anakee adventures on my Africa twin. On the road both grip well with the Karoos slightly better than the Michelins in the dry and about the same in the wet. Both are good on gravel but crap on mud/grass. I like the Michelins because I get 7000 miles out of a rear v's 4500 out of the Metzler's so even though the Michelins are more expensive they are better value. For what you want to do, I'd say you are looking at Anakee Wilds/TKC 80's Trailmax raid Karoo 4's or Pirelli STR rally's but they all will compromise road performance a bit. Failing that can you put pavers/a strip of concrete down to your workshop?
 
Mzokk said:
I've used Karoo Streets and Michelin Anakee adventures on my Africa twin. On the road both grip well with the Karoos slightly better than the Michelins in the dry and about the same in the wet. Both are good on gravel but crap on mud/grass. I like the Michelins because I get 7000 miles out of a rear v's 4500 out of the Metzler's so even though the Michelins are more expensive they are better value. For what you want to do, I'd say you are looking at Anakee Wilds/TKC 80's Trailmax raid Karoo 4's or Pirelli STR rally's but they all will compromise road performance a bit. Failing that can you put pavers/a strip of concrete down to your workshop?
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Gravel path to the workshop is coming as soon as I can lay it!
I’ve no plans to take the big old GS seriously off-road (I’m far too old/light/short!), just to get through slippery spots better then the tyres I’ve got. I’m off to the Leeward Island next week, if that finishes off the Tourances I’ll be tyre shopping.
 
There is a possibility that your wanting something that doesn't exist... Chunky tyres such as TKC and the ones I've used a couple of times in Mitas are not 70/ 30 road by any means... The thing about big trailies/ adventure bikes is they are probably 80/20 road biased and so nearly all the tyres are the same...
 
I found the TKC Rocks really good on road and mud, they were also good on a short section of wet grass but it was boggy which helped. The problem, for me, is they don’t last.
I had K60s on the front - the TKC 70s won’t cope with mud - and I thought the combo was great for everything.
My wife has 70s front and Rocks rear and we did a 4 week trip including Ireland and they were great for Boreen and gravel roads.
As I said the Rocks lasted me the summer, I don’t think wife will get a year out of them, whereas the 70s last well.
 
I had good results with Mitas E07+ off and on road.

You don't need the hard sidewall Dakar version
 
Grass is the worst.

Even big knobby tyres pack up and end up smooth pretty quick.

So bizarrely you actually fair better with fewer blocks, spaced apart.

But anything that's remotely decent on grass / mud, won't be fun on the road.
 
I found Motoz GPSs to be a really good gravel and light mud tyre - they handled everything on my last South American trip very well, including snow - with the Dunlop Trailmax Mission a close second on hardpack. Amazing mileage but mud and grass? Maybe not.

Perhaps a set of Pirelli Scorpion STRs (I really like them but haven't used them on a foreign tour as they won't last long enough) Great tyres, or the Rally version for deeper mud?
 
I have a short grass/ mud bank that leads to my garage. It gets wet & claggy in the winter. I found dunlop Mutants were able to cope with the climb , any normal road tyre usually spun and slid sideways when entering . The Mutants have excellent road manners ime.
 
IainMac said:
I have a short grass/ mud bank that leads to my garage. It gets wet & claggy in the winter. I found dunlop Mutants were able to cope with the climb , any normal road tyre usually spun and slid sideways when entering . The Mutants have excellent road manners ime.
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Interesting, I hadn’t looked at these. Thanks.
 
Agree.
Grass is slippery.

You'll end up having a tyre that doesn't really behave on asphalt just to cope with the last few yeards to your garage.
Just put the gravel down: sorted.

I'm a big fan of TKC70s, just got my 4th or 5th set this week.
While somewhat more directional on dry-ish off road than other road-biased GS tyres, they won't solve your problem. Again, gravel will (and they will work well on gravel).
I can confirm the Rocks rear (had one set) lasts significantly less than the standard 70 rear.
 
TKC80‘s are what you need…. despite their aggressive looks the only place you will have a problem with them is wet manhole covers.

Oh and it’s 1150GS not GS1150 :thumb :D
 
Ye, but would you ride everywhere on TKC80s if not doing any offroad, just to do the ramp to your garage/lock-up?
I do have a set of wheels with 80s and love them... but would not (despite having had them on the bike consistently for the last 6 months for other reasons). :D
 
er-minio said:
Ye, but would you ride everywhere on TKC80s if not doing any offroad, just to do the ramp to your garage/lock-up?
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Yes, I did so for years, rode all the way to Morocco and back on a pair too.

Fireblade said:-
Fireblade said:
I've now relocated to remote SW Ireland. I'm at the end of a rutted country lane which sometimes floods, cows and farmers add mud and dung to the mix. Even accessing my workshop involves a steep grassy slope. I'm going to be riding lots of Irish backroads.
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So they will be perfect for him.
 
Thanks all, plenty of food for thought there. Anything from full-on knobblies to something that looks like race wets!

I’ll be laying a gravel path to the workshop as soon as I can, so no need for a second set of wheels with mud tyres just for crossing the lawn. I fancy a change from the Tourance, I’ll let you know what I end up with.
 
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