I have just fitted Michelin SIRAC's (front and rear) to my XT600E. I liked the look of em compared to ANAKEE's. I was wondering if anyone else has ever used them? They seem a good all round tyre. I use them 70% tarmac and 30% rough dirt/stone tracks. On tarmac they are superb.

I fitted standard sizes - 90/90 21 / 120/90 17 (Rated to about 100 MPH).

Got them from Sidcup Tyres Kent. Cost £115 ($230) for both.

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Triumph Bonneville 800 (2004), Yamaha XT600E (1999), Honda XBR500 (1986).

I've used TKC80s for the last 90,000 miles on 1200GS then 1200GSA. Tyre wear is supposed to be about 5500 rear, 7000+ front but at slower speeds it's much better than that and on a recent trip to Sénégal I did 9100 miles on one set and the rear was just at the legal limit on my return.

I can't really compare them to other tyres as it's such a long time since I used anything else.

Tim

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

7500 miles around Argentina and Chile. Plenty of open road and some off-road (which could be pretty nasty on rocks etc). Two rear TKC 80s and one front. However this was a 1150GS, two up and burdenedwith the regular array of necessary and unecessary stuff!

Had the bike not been wrecked by West London traffic, I would have tried Heidenau K60s next. No evidence to suggest they would last longer but at half the price and comparable performace, they seemed like a good bet.

I do hope to fit Heidenau K37 to the 19 inch wheels on my Ural outfit. This brand does seem very good value for money IMO.

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Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

scandalised at the very ordinary 7500km offered by a Bridgestone Trailwing 150/70 R17, used two-up on an R11GS.
the previous tyre, a pirelli scorpion, gave 18000 and was still going with precisely the same type of use.
cheers,
andy.

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www.outforaspin.blogspot.com

On my R80G/S I find Avon distanzia fine on the road, I get about 12,000 miles from a rear, 20,000 from a front, for gravel roads Mitchelin T63 are pretty good but only about 6,000 miles from a rear and 10,000 from a front.
This is changing them with about 2 or 3 mm of tread left. I think the best alround compromise were the old Avon gripster, still listed in 130-17 and 90-21 sizes but I am not sure of availability.

What a great thread! Hadn't seen it before.

Good to see it resurrected!

My last decent trip ( a lifetime ago, it seems)

Two-up on a 1150 GS: about 7% gravel, dirt and rocky trails, so not too demanding:
TKCs front and rear.

+
Surprisingly good grip on tarmac, especially in the dry
Adequate grip in the dirt (except mud and sand) from my inexperienced perspective.

-
Not very hard wearing (see road handling above!!): About 13000km front, and 5000km rear (6000 at a push)
No longer the cheaper option...
Availability (Hard to come by in South America)

Next time I hope to try Heidenau K60s on my Transalp, although most of my big trips will now be with an outfit...

Had limited experience of Mefo ME99s



Knobblier than they look on a photo, yet seemed to grip well on the road. Cheaper than TKCs, but more than K60s (same factory, apparently)
Not enough mileage to give a good review, though.

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Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

Just did a weekend of dirt biking on my 650 Dakar with TKC's that I'd gone to Morocco with. They have about 5000Km on them, rear is looking a bit worn. I found they worked GREAT on everything except mud. The tires (and probably my technique ) almost completely failed, bike would just head out in its own direction.

I did Tichka Pass in Morocco with these tires (100's of lovely hair pin turns) at quite a tempo and the TKC's were GREAT. I have yet to see it fail on tarmac. They go GREAT on fast gravel.

Just used a pair of Heidenau tyres to Morocco and back, including a few 100km of piste:
Heidenau 140/80 T-17 Tyre K60 (Catspaw) £89.10
Heidenau 110/80 B-19 Tyre K60 (Enduro) Scout £95.04

Seemed expensive (others are 20 quid cheaper) and took a long while to bed in, but once there, worked brilliantly for what they are, even in deep sand or on sodden Spanish motorways. On a big bike they felt as good as TKCs I used last time.
Gave the bike back (fitted these especially for the trip), but looks like they'd last 10k back and 15k front at the rate I rode, so a great overlanding tyre. Will be getting some for my own bike.

Pic below, rear after 3800 miles, end of the trip.
Full review on my AM website.

Chris S

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Trip from Belgium to Capetown at the west side, then to Nairobi (Kenya) and from there back to Windhoek (Namibia) + 500 km from Frankfurt to my homeplace in Belgium. Total : approx 40000km. I drive a BMW G650 XChallenge.
I started with almost new Metzelers Enduro 3 Sahara at home. I took also a pair of Michelin Desserts with me. In Dogon Valley (Mali) I changed my Metzelers to the Michelins. I was lucky, I met an Italian and I could buy an other pair of Desserts from him.
With my first pair of Desserts I could drive until Yaoundé (Cameroon). With the second pair of Desserts I just could reached Windhoek (Namibia). There I could buy a new pair of Desserts (my third pair) and I drove with them until Capetown. Because from Capetown to Nairobi (Kenya) it was almost all tar, I bought a new pair of Metzelers Enduro 3 Sahara in Capetown and I toke the used Desserts as luggage. I could drive with them from Capetown to Nairobi and back until Livingstone (almost border Zambia with Namibia). With the Desserts I could drive to Windhoek, and after taking the plane to Frankfurt, I could drive the last 500km home from Frankfurt.
So I used 2 pair of Metzelers Enduro 3 Sahara and 3 pair of Michelin Dessert. For me a pair of Metzeler Enduro 3 Sahara are good for about 10000km and a pair of Michelin Dessert are ok for about 6500km.
I have to say: I don't drive slow.

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R 1200 GS '08 en G 650 X Challenge '08

Heidenau Scout K60 front and back

Two sets now, the first set was mostly the hot rough Australian roads - 20,000km

I just replaced the new set recently, installed them in Frankfurt, they lasted 25,000km and still had some tread on, probably get a few more thousand each

I left Germany and am in Kazakhstan, I fully expect these to get me back home to Oz, maybe after the Mongolia dirt roads I may readjust that but will let you know

Cheers
TS

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www.travellingstrom.com

The Scout K60's look good. These also seem to be easier to get hold of than the Mefo Super Explorers? I'm thinking of using the K60's for Morocco next year (I have an F800GS). My only 'concern' is that I've read that some people have had issues with the new 'band' down the centre of the Scouts that wasn't previously there on the older K60's, or indeed on the Mefo's. Good / bad / indifferent, what are peoples' opinions of this feature of the Scout?

The tyres I used on the BMW described above were #1 and 3 in the line up below and they were fine on dry piste and wet roads.
My current bike runs a pair of #1s.

Bigger bikes run chunkier K60s.

Ch

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On my r1200gsa Hiedenau is good for the rear but on the front the tyre tracks like crap. As a result the front gets a TKC 80

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Character is what you are into the dark.

I have had no problem with the new k60 scout,(640e,adventurised) handles really well on pretty much everything and the wear rate is next to nothing even though i'm a ride like you stole it pilot just swapped it out for a mitas e-10 adventure which although says 140/80-18 is more like 150/80-18 and is another contender for good all rounder.

I used an E7 rear and an E10 front, both Mitas, on my recent trip to Morocco. Time was a little limited, and I wanted to ride there and back as opposed to taking the ferry to Spain, so I used some motorways getting there. The rear was good, but the front E10 didn't like the motorways at all, even though I rarely go above 70 (you see more when you travel a little slower). By the end of my trip, bits of the tire we coming off, and it was making riding difficult. Added to this were some of the Spanish motorways. At times they were concrete, and had grooves running in the direction of travel. The E10 basically slotted into these groves and the bike steered itself! The worst example of this was coming down a mountain back into France; not at all fun. In the future, I'm going to look at tires with deep grooves in them, as opposed to 'knobbly bits' protruding. At HUBB last year, Zen overland mentioned that the Mefo super explorers might soon be available for the F800; this seems like a winner to me!