Tyres, tyres, tyres...
 

Hi all,
Forgive me for bringing up this old topic again.

I am in Cape town preparing for a trans Africa up the East Coast on my 85' Tenere and i am really having trouble finding a good option for my rear tyre. I would love to get a Michelin Desert, but im told theyre not made in 18", i would not mind a T63, but Michelin SA is out of stock indefinately! The incredibly unhelpful salesman has said he may be able to get me a Pirelli ,im not familiar with these and i will have to pay for it before i see it. What i can get is a Continental TKC70 (or a TKC80 but only in 140/80/18, will this fit?). The TKC70 looks ok, but ive never heard of anyone using them.

I am soon to lose my sense of humour! Any advice will help.

Thanks, jim

I had good experience with Pirelli MT21.

Although is a little slippery on wet surfaces, its very durable to punctures. It causes vibraion and lots of sound but i think it can be overlooked.

Thanks, what sort of milage did you get out of your rear? Did you ride much in sand?

Jim

Jim,

I came the other way on Pirelli MT21's. They are not bad but not as good as the T63.
However, the T63 is being produced in two or three batches a year. If stock runs out you have to wait for the next batch.
MT21: wears very very fast on tarmac at elevated temps. So, keep a high pressure in the tire. I maintain 3 bars rear and 2,5 bars front tire.
Nevertheless, when you go for the MT21 I would recommend you bring a spare rear tire with you.
Or, what I did, I had road tires for the large stretches of tarmac and changed to MT21's with dirt coming up.

When crossing the North of Kenia and Ethiopia in the dry season run road tires, they are much more wear resistant than knobblies and hold very good on the stony surfaces. Ethiopia just eats away the knobs.

Auke

Hi ;

My milage was around 10,000 kms.

Around 6000 kms was off road and the rest on tarmac. As for sand ride, only a bit of beach sand (maybe 1000 kms )

(+) .. good traction and very good puncture resistance
(-).. slippery when wet and fast wear on tarmac

As for T63, i have no idea.

Note: are you absolutely sure about Michelin dessert 18"? I am pretty much sure they produce that rim size.

Check web site http://motous.webmichelin.com/home.htm

I used MT21's,
running on 2.2bar front, 2.4 rear,
I got 18000km front and 14000km rear.
Used a bridgestone trailwing through Ethiopia to save on the rear.
About 6500km was off-road.

Now running Pirelli Scorpions for road-use.