Tyres - Tourance vs Trail attack vs anything else

Michelin Pilot Road

I'm not keen on Tourances. They seem to last ok but they are noisy and lack grip on high lean corners. I always felt secure in the wet though. I managed to ruin a front in a day in the Alps with heavy braking into hairpins. They cupped and vibrated from 50 to 70 mph after that even though there was lots of tread.

I've given up on the dual purpose tryes as I don' take it off-road and have a pair of Michelin Pilot Roads on the bike which I love... Fantastic grip to the edge of the tyre, loads of feedback, great in the wet, stable, quiet ... I've just replaced the rear at 7300 miles (on the legal limit) with a Pilot Road 2. I've done a 560 mile flying visit to North Wales and back one them and they are ace...

Just a word of warning on quoted mileage - my 608 mile (odometer) trip to Wales last weekend was 560 miles on Google Earth. I suspect many 1150GS riders will be exagerating mileage claims by 10% due to the inaccurate speedo

:augie
 
stonetown said:
The greatest experience I have so far is on the Trail Attacks, currently 6000, miles on a 12GSA for the last 6 months, commuting and touring, riding fairly hard, all weathers, about half worn. They are fantastic dry road tyres, I have full confidence here, but I have much reduced confidence in them in the wet they tend to slip too easily on overbanding and white makings and slip nervously on patchy roads when cranked over.

I had a service recently and the loan bike was a 12 GS standard with Tourance EXP's, the day was awful and extremely wet to start with, but the tyres had so much more grip than the Conti's in the wet, I am considering swapping the Trail Attacks to EXP's for the winter months, then swap back again next spring, I think this may be the best combination for me.

This also tallies with the reports in the PDF below.

:beerjug:

Ooops seems this has gone into the wrong subject area (should be in the 1200 section???)
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That's what I mean about subjective ( and I rarely believe anything a bike journo says, not that I think they're scheming, junket attending, goodie grabbing bar stewards who would say sodomy was great if they thought there was a set of leathers/tyres/free helmet/some other goodie in it for them..... cahnts ) I've found the Trails to be excellent in the wettest of wet conditions ( This years (aborted ) Ulster GP anybody :blast ) we get plenty of rain up here in Scotland and I have to say they've been nothing but grippy and confidence inspiring for me on wet/flippin wet/good/poor/broken surface yet clearly they haven't inspired the same wet confidence in you. Yes a slight slip on overbanding, but again, show me a tyre that doesn't, and when they do lose traction they grip again very quickly and without snatching.

So really the best recommendation is from someone who YOU know the riding style of AND trust for an honest opinion, I'd take that over an article from some journo or a faceless internet poster ( of which I include myself ) anyday. Good thing about forum postings is it can point you in the right direction for queries to people that you know and trust personally.
 
Have a look here:-

http://www.motorcyclerider.de/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/adventurebike_tyres_test.pdf

On the flip side check out how cheap you can get Pilot Roads for (not the 3's, nor the 2's, just the originals) my local dealer was knocking these out at about £140 a pair a while back and I can't see them being bad on wear either.


Other owners mileages are not a great guide, unless they have tried all the tyres your interested in and ridden them in similar conditions, a set used for a tour may last very differently to a pair used for solo blasting at weekends.

On my last sportsbike the OE rears lasted me 1500 miles, I knew guys who could get through them in 1,000, yet others would get 5k+ from them, what I could tell you is Roadsmarts lasted me 4,000 - but that does not mean matey who got 5k out of the OE tyres would get 15k+ (he might though) but he sure would get more than he did from the OE ones.
 
Hey up Phil, I've run with the OE Bridgestones, Tourances, Anakees, Heidenaus, TKC's and Trail Attacks.
If i was going for a long trip abroad i'd run with the Heidenau's. Good grip wet or dry, and great for the off road sections when you find them. They're also posted to you quickly from mynetmoto if you completely bugger one up. Mileage was pushing 10k with even front/rear wear rates.
For grip and fun factor, you can't beat a TKC, but the rear will be done by 3k. If money was no object i'd run these permanently
Best compromise between the two, in my experience, has been the Trail Attack. I used to get 4.5-5k out of a rear Tourance, but get another 1k from the Conti's. They give predictable grip in the wet and, when the front wears, still hold a steady line through a corner, unlike the others' i've tried. They do steer fairly quickly which, due to not riding anywhere near as much as i used to, can feel a bit unnerving till you've got a few miles under your belt again.
My riding, correspondingly, has slowed from the lack of familiarity with my bike, so i expect my mileage will increase on my current Trail Attacks.
 
As no one has mentioned them you could also look a Dunlop Roadsmarts as a road-only tyre. I have them on my 1150GS and they have so far proved to be excellent. Wet grip is awesome. 2000 miles to date and no squaring off so far.
 
I've been using Mitas tyres for a few years now from TrelleborgTyres E08 are pretty similar to Tourances but I find them quieter and perform better and don't seem to square off like Tourances £140/pair. On the Transalp I have E07 which are like K60s but I prefer them and they're easier to get on the rims... and in 150/70-17 and 110/80-19 sizes also.
There's also E09 which is similar to TKC80 I think
I like em anyway ;)
 
4 years on from the start of the thread and we still like the same tyres :D
 
Ed209 said:
TKC 80's ya poofs :hide
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So, Mr Hetrosexual Alpha Male, do tell, where have you been and what have you done with your TKC 80's that us "poofs" couldn't have gone and done with our Tourances, Enduro 4's, Conti Road Attacks etc etc......

And how many sets of TKC's have you actually been through?
 
Bugbear said:
As no one has mentioned them you could also look a Dunlop Roadsmarts as a road-only tyre. I have them on my 1150GS and they have so far proved to be excellent. Wet grip is awesome. 2000 miles to date and no squaring off so far.
Click to expand...

Very good, got through a front and two rears on my GS and may well fit the Roadsmart 2's to the Tenere.

Life was a shade dissapointing at about 4.5k - same as I got from them on a ZZR1400, but still better than the sub 4000 miles Tourance EXP's last me, and they feel more grippy (especially in cold and / or wet conditions)
 
ChrisH Kerry said:
I've been using Mitas tyres for a few years now from TrelleborgTyres E08 are pretty similar to Tourances but I find them quieter and perform better and don't seem to square off like Tourances £140/pair. On the Transalp I have E07 which are like K60s but I prefer them and they're easier to get on the rims... and in 150/70-17 and 110/80-19 sizes also.
There's also E09 which is similar to TKC80 I think
I like em anyway ;)
Click to expand...

Are we talking about tubeless with these?
 
red1 said:
Are we talking about tubeless with these?
Click to expand...

That's a great link and they would appear to be tubeless. I'm liking the E-10's, especially at £35 cheaper than a TKC and a more even balance between the off and on road bias. I'll be giving these a go when i need to replace mine.:thumb2
 
Madmountainman said:
That's a great link and they would appear to be tubeless. I'm liking the E-10's, especially at £35 cheaper than a TKC and a more even balance between the off and on road bias. I'll be giving these a go when i need to replace mine.:thumb2
Click to expand...

Had an email back from them, all the trail tyres suitable for the GS are tubeless fitment and yes, they do use the E-10 at Seven Sisters.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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