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Equipping the Bike - what's the best gear? Anything to do with the bikes equipment, saddlebags, etc. Questions on repairs and maintenance of the bike itself belong in the Brand Specific Tech Forums.
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  #1  
Old 8 Jan 2011
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Adventure tyres
Hi.
Just bought some MEFO Super explorers from ZEN Overland - Everything Adventure & Off Road
They were quite hard to come by at one time but this guy stocks them and they were delivered FAST!
Quite a few threads on this tyre as it seems to be the leader for high miles/useability at the moment.
Dave.
Last edited by djorob; 9 Jan 2011 at 10:09.
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  #2  
Old 13 Jan 2011
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These tyres look very interesting. Will try a set when we do the Trans America Trail this summer. As we will be covering some 6000 miles in total, we are keen to avoid sourcing new tyres along the way.
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  #3  
Old 24 Jan 2011
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a buddy of mine took a fall at 70mph in mexico on these tyres . the sidewall just went without any notice on the front and the rear was cracking. one of the other guys through both of his mefos away as they were full of cracks at the edge of the treads . both sets were from Seattle so could have mabey been a bad batch . any one else any experiance of these tyres????
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  #4  
Old 24 Jan 2011
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Mitas - E 07

Mitas are similar and also worth a look. Just remember tyres that give high mileages are made of a harder compound so there will always be a trade off in grip, especially in the wet.
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  #5  
Old 24 Jan 2011
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Hi,

I used one pair of Mitad E07 tyres all the way from Germany to Southafrica and a second pair all the way up again with no problems. They can do more then 20.000 km if you dont do toooo much tar

Travel save, Tobi
Riding the rough west coast through Africa part 3
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  #6  
Old 25 Jan 2011
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I'm currently giving TKC80s a try. Yeah, they're slightly better off the road but nowhere near as good on it. They're true knobblies and make the bike handle accordingly. Before that I've always used Tourance tires and they've been very impressive. These MEFO Super explorers look good though.
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  #7  
Old 25 Jan 2011
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Hi,

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jtw000 View Post
I'm currently giving TKC80s a try.
Forget TKC80 if you want to do milage. The knops just rip of on tar and the rubber is to soft to last long...they are good for snow and sand

LG, Tobi
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Old 25 Jan 2011
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Managed to get about 16k out the front and 9k out the rear (miles) on mine but they didn't look too pretty by then.




Quote:
Originally Posted by ta-rider View Post
Hi,



Forget TKC80 if you want to do milage. The knops just rip of on tar and the rubber is to soft to last long...they are good for snow and sand

LG, Tobi
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  #9  
Old 25 Jan 2011
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Not that this is really about TKCs but I thought I'd balance the claim above
(post before.. )

From experience you get a 'bigger block' TKC for larger bikes AT/GS etc and a smaller block TKC. We got 10k miles out of our rear TKC, changed in Cameroon but still had some life left, on an Africa Twin on the Cape Town trip (these tyres can be run tubeless too) but the smaller block TKCs don't last as long (as demonstrated by a friend on his DRZ400).
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  #10  
Old 25 Jan 2011
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Eh? I got over 10,000 miles out of my TKC80 rear and nearly twice that on the front... Admittedly by the time I changed the front it did feel like I was riding on cobbles.

I also thought they were nothing like 'proper' knobblies on tarmac -better grip and they gave fair warning of when they were about to cut loose.

Basically I thought they were ace, good enough in the sand and good enough on the road where my Avon Distanzias were great on tarmac and crap in the dirt.
Last edited by henryuk; 25 Jan 2011 at 17:40. Reason: typo
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  #11  
Old 25 Jan 2011
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I'm not impressed but I thought I better try them. Back to Tourance I think. Always liked them.
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  #12  
Old 25 Jan 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by djorob View Post
Hi.
Just bought some MEFO Super explorers
That tread pattern is an EXACT copy of the Heidenau K60. Or maybe it's the other way round - I dunno which came first.
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  #13  
Old 26 Jan 2011
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Tourance vs TKC80
I've just swapped (well 2500km ago) Tourance front for TKC80 - what a change in handling on gravel and sand - can't believe the difference. Tourance may give more bitumen (tarmac) distance and better handling, but after 3 broken ribs, I sticking to TKC80 on front for better gravel/dirt/sand handling - not worried about distance.
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  #14  
Old 27 Jan 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dave ett View Post
That tread pattern is an EXACT copy of the Heidenau K60. Or maybe it's the other way round - I dunno which came first.
Yeah I though that when I looked at the pic of the tyre but they are different in the flesh (I've used both).
I go for the MEFO every time now!
Dave.
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  #15  
Old 27 Jan 2011
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HAIDENAU K60
14 000km From Finland to Gobi dessert and to Almaty.
More than half on gravel.
Front tyre I did 27 000km and there where still something left way more than those TKC above.

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