Looking for good tires for going up north
 

I'm planning on taking a trip up northern Alberta, Canada, in October. Have had 09 DL650. Most of my riding will be on paved roads. I will most likely be encountering snow and cold weather. I need a set of tires that performs well in the cold, snow, ice, wet and dry conditions. Not planning on scraping my pegs but able to do reasonable speed in the twistiest on wet and dry roads. Not too concern about tire life other than having it last 5000km. Looking for advise.

Grab a set of Heidenau K60 Scout, there are 3 versins, one is rated at snow and ice, they last a long time, good for all roads and terrain but are an aggressive profile and a bit louder than normal road tyres, you will get 15-20,000km out of them

I have used them in everything except ice and snow, but others in Europe have and they say they are good.

Ditto for the K60.

Depends on where you are going in northern Alberta, and how late in October, but usually snow and ice are not a regular fixture by then. It can certainly snow in October and most people will remember a snow fall or two before Halloween, but it typically doesn't stick until later in the year. Unless you are really pressed for time, you can usually wait out a snowfall and then it'll get plowed or melted off in a couple of days and you can resume a dry and hopefully not too cold ride.

I think tires might be the least of your issues. For example I live in Southern Alberta and its supposed to go to -5C tonight.

That's too cold to be on a motorcycle.

Two wheels up north
 

Thanks everyone for your reply.

I ended up going with the Scout. Never rode with a tire that aggressive, but all was good once I got use to it.

I got back to the Vancouver Lower Mainland last Saturday night and just in time. Temperature had started to dip below zero during the nights up north and the higher elevations on the highways during the day did not dip below 5C even at speeds. Not a lot of rain between Edmonton and Kamloops. I had dry roads otherwise.