Magadan-Bam Tyre choice?
 

Hi.

I must have some serious advice which kind of tyres i should choose this summer for the route: Magadan-Yakuts-western side of Bam and then we change tyres to something more street suitable around Novosibirsk on the way home..

I plan to test this guy in Russia-Dean and see if he could ship some sets of tyres to Magadan, anyone who have tried this to Magadan?

Could a set of Heidenau K690 do the work all this way or maybe we need some Heidenau K69 front and K74 back?

i know it depends on the weather and all but could be nice to have some advice...

( 3*Tenere 660: Stockholm-Ulan Bator-Magadan-Bam-Home..)
?c?

Dean can send the tyres anywhere he has a contact to send them to. As far as I know he doesnt have contacts in Magadan, but I know he has sent tyres before to Yakutsk. If you want tyres sent to Yakutsk or Magadan, you may have to nominate a contact name and address there to send them to.

I have used the K74 / K69 combo before, and they are fine and will get you back to asphalt. Good grip and should suit single cylinder bikes like the Tenere. On more powerful twin cylinder bikes, aggressive riding (above 130 km/h) has been known to rip the knobs off. They are pretty squidgy and dont like being on asphalt, but since you will hardly see any asphalt on leaving Magadan until you get to Bratsk, 5000+ km away, the knobs will be quite low by then anyway and hopefully less squidgy.

Mefo or Hidenau ?
 

in the US the names are often interchangeable.

But the model designations are baffling, worse than KTM model numbers . . . I ride KTMs.

The Mefo Super Explorer has become very popular with anything from KLRs to GS1200s. Depending on the bike, 140/80 or 150/70.

The Mefo Explorer front tire has met with much more mixed reviews. Mileage is good but mediocre mud performance, lots of cupping, and a squirmy feel on pavement and gravel. My experience lasted 15,000km on a mix of surfaces. Never again on that tire.

The Super Explorer, also known as the Hidenau K60, lasted 16,000km on the same surfaces. They chased a K1300GT on the Alice Rd on Vancouver Island,
did 140kph on the Dempster "Hwy", and were good in slimy mud. I rode 140/80s on a 4.5" rim on a KTM 950. Many have said my throttle control must be grandmotherly for such longevity. An amazing tire.

The K60 has been reported to chunk a bit over 130kph but it seems thats been due tomfolks riding with less than the STRONGLY recommended pressures at that high speed. Mine have never suffered chunking. They work well at 25 pounds with the Tubliss system in technical single track.

My plan is to use a 150/70 K60 on a 3.25" rim and a Metzler Karoo 2 from UlaanBator to Magadan and then back via Lensk to Krasnoyarsk via a mix of ferry and road or just road in about 5 weeks from now.

Kurt

I have also used the K74 / K69 it's good choice like Colebatch said.
Maybe if you have heavy loaded bike K60 will be better all-round tyre.
K60 is really good for Tenere 660 but you should take 140/80-17 it's much stronger body than 130/80-17 also there is way more rubber to wear we have tested that last summer during FIN2PAMIR journey.

Also K60 is more "protected" not so open between the knobs so sharp stones don't make cuts so easily.

http://kuvablogi.com/nayta/prev/img2829351.jpg

The problem is: K60 is not available because is phased out of production line in sizes 130/80 and 140/80 17"

New K60-Scout replaced it. Sizes 140/80 and 150/70 is in production yet, 130/80 is on the way to production line.

Scout is better for 2-cylinder bikes because lasts longer and resists knobs ripping off better.

K60 Scout is available in...
 

140-80-17 and 90-90-21 K60 Scout fitted to my F650 Dakar
So far, good surface feed-back and much better traction in the wet than my previous MitasE07.

On my way there...
 

I'm in Uzbek at the moment and thinking ahead to what tyres to order from Dean Panferov.

I've been running heidenau K60 90/90 and 120/80 on my WR250R and while the rear is good at everything so far I just don't like the feel of the front off tarmac (it DOES need to be run backwards to combat the noise and I am convinced that a K60 front in either direction increases higher speed vibrations but have not been able to conclusively prove it). So far I have 6,800miles on this trip and the tyres are doing their job well.

Hoping to hit the BAM in a month or so and Dean has these in stock..
Mitas 90/90 - 21 E-09F DACAR TT 2 758р.
Mitas 130/80 -18 M/C E-09 DAKAR TT 3 839р.
I'm tempted. Anyone think this is a good idea? I do want to make sure I've got plenty of tyre life left for the journey out to Magadan.

Ed, yes the rear is much better than the front with the K60s ...

As for the Mitas, well your little beast wont damage the tyres much ... I would try and get to Irkutsk on what you are running on now, and give deans tyre choice a go then. That way you should have enough tyre life to get to Magadan.

If you fit the new tyres earlier (like barnaul or novosibirsk) you will getting pretty low come the road of bones. If worse comes to worst, and the front K60 is driving you nuts, there is a KTM dealer in Barnaul and dean has contacts in Novosib. Any bike shop will have some sort of knobbly 90/90-21. Score a cheap one to just get you across mongolia and into Irkutsk. The back should be fine and should handle Mongolia no problems. Even if you go into Mongolia without any tyre change, the K60s will not have a problem with it.

But change up in Irkutsk for the run to Magadan via the BAM and Bones roads

Walter, that's really interesting. The K60 rear is handling itself well but the 120/80 rear tyre is gonna struggle to get to Irkutsk with any tread on it (I could be wrong - have been before). I'm in Dushanbe at the moment and need to think about calling in with Dean to order something as I'll be in Russia in a few of weeks and need to give him some notice. I might have to have a look at the map and test the gut feeling on this one. I like the idea and I want some decent rubber for BAM/Bones.

Also remember Dean has to ship the tyres from Moscow to his contacts. They are not held in stock by his agents across Russia.

That means to add some days more in your time planning - not sure how much time as I don't know what method he uses. It takes about 5 long days to ride to Novosib and I would not imagine rail freight is slower overall with depot times.