My Tenere is fitted with Bridgestone Trailwings which would have done around 2500 - 3000 miles before I set off round South America. I'm expecting the roads out there to be dirt track 'ripio' stuff and maybe some mud in Bolivia and Southern Brazil, although this will be a LOT later in my trip approx 5000 miles into it. So maybe a new set of tyres will have to have been fitted by then anyway.

So my questions is: what are trailwings like on mixed stuff? I've got them on now to do a load of road miles so that I can run the engine in after a rebuild. Chris Scott says to put on Pirelli MT21s and 'be done'. Can anyone shed more light on a decent tyre for all round use which lasts a long time?

[This message has been edited by Dave (edited 06 September 2000).]

This is a much debated topic on every M/C lists I have seen. For what its worth, the Trail Wing TW22s have a large centre patch, great for long pavement runs. The outside of the profile is more chunky and hooks up well in dirt. MT21s will not last very long, although they are great dirt tires. Gripsters seem to be the way to go for the best compromise. Work out what your load is, and how far you need to get between tire changes. A tire that is dead in 3000 miles is not much use to you.

tyres , the never ending story...
I agree that the TW`s are just fine , even in mud as long as it is not clay (but then what tyre would ) .I avereged (rear)about 15000-20000 on a XT500 (south america)
But then I `ve met a couple on a XT600 who had MT21 `s and even after 26000 km it just did not want to wear out!!!