Africa Twin - Which Tyres?

[miggy]

Hi.

Any recomendations as to the best tyres for a model 1990/RD04 for 'road' riding?

The occasional potholed road might be tackled but it'll be 95% road riding.

[electric_monk]

I have tried quite a few different tyres of the Twin and have found that the Michelin Anakee gives the best grip on the road no matter if it is wet or dry. When I got the bike originally it had Michelin T66's on it which I could not get comfortable with and have since tried Avon gripsters and distanzia's which were both great and only changed on recommendation from a tyre fitter. I also tried a Continental Twinduro which was uninspiring in the dry and downright scary in the wet. I am sure there will be plenty who have different thoughts but that is my two cents worth.

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[miggy]

Thanks.

I had Avon gripsters on a Cagiva Elefant 900 and thought they were great. I then fitted T66s for no particular reason and hated them.

I could feel them moving and squirming all over the place, tho' they got better as they wore down, but they've turned me off Michelins I'm afraid.



[This message has been edited by miggy (edited 30 May 2004).]

[iswoolley]

I'm running Michelin Anakees front and rear on my 2002 RD07A.

Pros: Good grip on road
Cons: Expensive (£100 for a rear), Short life (rear 6000 miles, front 10000 miles)

Hope that helps.

Iain

[miggy]

Thanks.

You're not thew first to say that the Anakees are good I'll maybe check them out.

[electric_monk]

I manage to get around 10000 miles on a rear and 14000 on a front. Style of riding might be very different. I hope Iain, you are going to the HUBB gathering in July and we can sontrast styles.


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[mattpope]

Been running on Michelin Siracs in Central America and the rear is now a slick after just 6000 miles. They were damned expensive two.

Much prefer the standard Trailwings, two sets of which exceeded 10000 miles.

Never tried the Anakees but was told by a dealer in San Diego that the Siracs were replacing the Anakees. How true this is I cannot verify. You guys all talk a great deal about them still.

[Peter Bowden]

Ive had 2 AT 750 and all our riding is 2up.The first bike had trail wings on and got 10,000mile to a set of tyres as i normally change them as a pair.The second bike had Michelin T66's on it and iwas happy with them so stuck with them when i could get hold of them. I have got 12,500mile out of the michelins riding 2up U.K.-Australia with 75kg of luggage and they were great alround tyre.

[iswoolley]

Sorry electric_monk, but July is holiday time for me, so I won't be at the UK HU meeting.

My style, if you can call it that, is quite gentle. I prefer a slightly slower motorway cruising speed than mattpope, but on country roads I don't tend to slow down for corners. Even still my tyres tend to square off rather than wear evenly across the profile.



Tyre on the left has done 4000 miles. Tyre on the right is brand new.

Iain

[colesyboy]

My 2p worth - T66's have done me ok so far from Canada to Chile, the great thing about them is that I´ve found them all over the place and they aint going to put a big dent in the wallet.

Cheers
Brian
http://colesyboy.tripod.com

[electric_monk]

Iain

How are you able to include a picture? I can't for the life of me figure it out...



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[iswoolley]

Originally posted by electric_monk:
How are you able to include a picture? I can't for the life of me figure it out...

You have to link to an image on the internet somewhere. First make sure that HTML is 'on' when you write your post. Then add the appropriate

[IMG SRC="http://wwwherever" ALT="descriptive text"]

Oh, and change the [ above for a <. I can't or the forum will try and interpret my HTML code.

Iain

[This message has been edited by iswoolley (edited 19 June 2004).]

[miggy]

I've just fitted a Trailwing 101 to the front and had my first ride today.

Verdict? Don't know really. It feels ok but anything would be better than the very worn Metzeler Sahara I had on before.

It's difficult to make a judgement until I've covered a few thousand miles.

I still reckon the best tyres I've ever had were the Avon Gripsters on my old Cagiva Elefant 900.

[This message has been edited by miggy (edited 26 June 2004).]

[miggy]

I now have trailwings front and rear and.................well they're adequate.

Maybe they'll improve as other tyres have done as the miles pile on tho' at this moment they're ok nothing more.

They're unstable going over white lines and motorway lane joints lines enought that I make special effort to avoid them.

[miggy]

A quick update. The 'Trailwings' have improved after the first 1000 miles or so and are pretty good now.