Tiger TIRE questions from a newbie

[REGULATOR]

Ok all, been reading about tires as my tourances have 5,000 miles and are starting to show it, will do over a thousand this weekend, and knwo they will be geetting closer afterwards..

  I'm not a rossi on the streets, but ride faster then some,  don't live in an area where I'll be offroading all the time but want to be able to go down a fire road ( after letting some PSI out...)  

  I honestly mostly plan on doing LOTS of road miles on this bike, including about 3-5 500-1000 miles one way trips. but do not want to have Street only tires as I will not hesitat to take the road less traveled and go down a dirt road or somethign..

  Questions:  any tire reccomendations?
  2. how hard is it to swap your self with tire irons etc?  maybe I can buy a cheap set of knobbies and a set of road tires and switch back and forth somewhat?

  3.   TUBES,   I haven't had a bike with tubes in forever, whats a good reccomendation on tubes for the bike?  


Ive been lookign at  tourances again, the conti dirt attacks ( ?)
   I love the looks of the TKCs but I bet those woudl melt fast on pavement...

    realisticlly I will/can avoid the mud if I have more street biased tires.

any thoughts?      cheapest/ longest wearing/  I don't mind paying extra if it pays off in return, and  is there the "ideal" tire fo rthe tiger other then the original tourance?

[fano]

Tourances are really good tires for your purpose. Good on pavement and decent on dirt roads. Most of the time you won't need knobbies until you hit some more serious dirt. If I am in doubt, I just take a spare tire with me on longer trips and change it when need it. You can change them on the road just fine, but make sure you try it first at home.



For really serious dirt even knobbies may not be enough.  :lol:

[REGULATOR]

cool, and thanks Fano,  BTW I love your bike, mine is the same color and I have a picture of yours airborne on my screen at work :-)

   so the tourance on the rear and the TKC on the front does alright?

 is that teh long distance setup to get you to the rough stuff then switch back to the TKC on the rear?

if its easy to switch, I can run knobbies, ( only have short 10 minute commute to work daily) but can switch back to tourances for the longer stints usually planned in advance...

   I can see just buying tkcs or similar and soem tire Irons...

  also if my tubes are the original 2001, I shoudl probably go ahead and swap those?

[fano]

I did buy a second set off wheels, so I don't have to change the tires all the time and I just swap the wheels. On a long trip I just take a spare with me.

[REGULATOR]

ok thanks, thinking about the scorpions

[Dr. Mordo]

1.  What I can add to this thread is that most "dual sport" tires you will find are essentially useless on anything besides a dirt road, and sadly our options are limited because the tire market hasn't yet caught up with the dual sport phenomena.  Tourances aren't bad, but I just did some offroad with the Tourance EXP and was less than impressed (but I probly should have had a knobby for the terrain I was in).  I have a Pirelli Scorpion on the back of my F650 that is a good tire and reasonably priced.  I can't comment on its mileage, but nothing beats a Tourance for mileage.

You could also try Mefos.  Every review I have read has been very favorable and they get pretty good mileage.  They can be very tough to get your hands on though.  Backorders tend to last forever.
http://www.klr650.com/MEFO%20Sport%20Trail.html

BTW, from all I have read, the TKC80s are probly the best all-round tire - good off road and grip the pavement very well - but they wear out in 3-5k miles and are a bit expensive.  If even 5% of my riding was offroad I'd try a pair.  I probly will anyway.

2.  I have swapped four tires with tire irons, and it is no big deal if you get long irons.  I wouldn't try these wheels with little 6" irons - the rear in particular is tough.  I actually enjoy changing my tires.  It's easy in the scheme of things and has an instant reward.

3.  I can't comment on brands of tubes, but I have read that heavy duty tubes generate heat and should probly be avoided for dual sport use.  If you go with a brand name I'm sure you'll be fine.

[REGULATOR]

ok thanks, thinking about the scorpions

[Dr. Mordo]

I remember reading that the Scorpions aren't high mileage tires - 5k was the average IIRC.  Mine's got almost 2k on it, and still looks pretty good (9/32 left).  I'd be surprised if I got less than 8k at this pace.

I do like the way they look, too.  The non-symmetrical tread is cool looking.

BTW, another possibility is the Avon Distanzia.  It is on the short list for my next tire change.

[JetdocX]

I would recommend Anakees for your use.  Just air down to the mid 20's for the dirtier sections.  In mud all bets are off.  If you think mud is a possibility, then put TKC80's on there and deal with it.

[swamper650]

I consistantly get at least 14K out of my Tourances.......NOT Tourance Xp....the original Tourance. I change tubes every time I change out tires. 90% of my riding is touring, with a 80/20 mix of backroads and interstates. The times I do go offroad I lower the pressure and do ok in everything but really sticky mud and sugar sand. Man and machine got  to respect their limits.[/b]

[cbxtc6]

I consistantly get at least 14K out of my Tourances.......NOT Tourance Xp....the original Tourance.

Which brings to question: is the 'original' Tourance REPLACED by the new XPs?  I hope not.  I, too, get at least 10k miles from the 'original' Tourance.  I do like the TKC tires, and have gotten 8k from them.  Not a bad tire on the pavement too.
I had the Scorpions on too, and only got 5k from them. Anakees got about the same (5k).

Just my .02