Which tires are best suitable for this trip? We'll be doing no heavy off-road, but I suppose countries like India, Pakistan or Iran will have some pretty tough roads, not? I'm thinking of standard Bridgestone Trial Wings or should I consider some serious off-road tires? cheers

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Hello there,
I'm not terribly knowledgable about non-dirt tires, and I don't know much about the route you're taking, but what I can tell you is that the Trail Wings don't have a reputation for lasting very long - they come standard on XR650Ls and most people aren't impressed with them.

My personal favorite tire for street and light dirt riding is the Pirelli MT70 - they last relatively long, have a good amount of pavement contact and aren't useless in the dirt either.

But I would have a hard time recommending something else since I don't know what conditions your route will entail.

Best of luck,
Wright

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Wright Bagwell
http://www.geocities.com/wwbagwell/

Conti TKC80's are a road legal knobbie they are reputed to last well on road and give more traction then more street style rubber(Trailwing,Avon Gripster)

I'd go for either Michelin Saharas or TKC80 booth good tyres, but depending on the road conditions. The more severe conditions would be better suited the the TKCs. The TKCs are not to bad in the wet for knobbly tyres.

Julio

I have basically the same question, now for the trip from Holland to South Africa. Conditions will be sand, mud, paved roads. AMH recommends, among others, Pirelli MT21 as they combine reasonable wear on paved roads with acceptable performance in the dirt. I don't know about the differences between MT21 and MT70.

Could you explain and maybe recommend me tyres for this trip?

Auke

Auke It would be a BIG ask to expect any tyre to last from Holland to S.A. I would fit any old tyre Street/touring and take a Michelin "Desert" to fit when you get to the Rough.

[This message has been edited by Huan (edited 23 July 2001).]

Hi

I have some experience in Africa with a couple of tyres, variing from a Conti Tour (on a XT500 in southern Africa) and Michelin Deserts (in north en western Africa).
I think there is a small confusion here now. There is no Michelin Sahara. The Sahara Tyre is made by Mezeler (or is it Pirelli?) and has no real connection with the Sahara at all. Its just a nice tyre for on the road and can cope with some off-roading. The Michelin Desert is the real stuff. The Desert is developed specially for desert rally's. There made for sand primairaly and do very well with almost all type of terrain and, as long as you dont go to fast, they even are not to bad on dry sealed roads either. And, very important: the Desert is unbelievably tough! Its almost impossible te get it puncutered and even with no air left in it they keep their form. THey also last quite long (15.000 km is possible when you take it easy on sealed roads)
So if you gonna do a lot of off-roading in Africa: the Desert is the tyre. If you gonna ride mostly on sealed roads, almost any 'all-road' tyre (Sahara's, Enduro's 3 or 4, Trailwings, Cirac's etc) will do the job. generaly the more expensive they are the longer they last.
The TKC 80 is a very nice tyre thats not really good in anything but can do almost everything. They are quite tough, last quite well, are good on sealed roads and rocky pistes, even get you through deep sand.
I traveled from from Holland to Accra two times. To the south of Morocco (5000km) I used 'old' normal tires, like a Cirac or a Enduro 3. For the next 13.000 km (1000 km sandy pistes, 4000 km rocky pistes, 8000 km sealed roads) I used the TKC 80 that did the job well, expect for the real sandy part and quite a lot of punctures. A couple of years later I did about the same kind of route with Deserts: they made the sandy parts much much easier, the rocky parts as well but werent very comfortable on sealed roads and... no puntures. They both werent fully worn after 13.000. Even think the Desert were in better shape, but the bike was much lighter as wel as the first time.
For me, with limited sand experience, i would always take the Desert as soon as there is more then 100 kilometers of sand in my route.

On teh other hand: on the nice, well maintained pistes in Namibia i rode my XT500 with Conti Tours, low presure, no problems and over 25.000 km....

Peter

Avon Gripsters are a good compromise.
I have a pair on my KLR .- The rear has lasted over 8000 miles, which is more than most Dualsport tyres will go. Certainly more than the Trailwings.

dave

[This message has been edited by davec (edited 07 September 2001).]