I very quickly learnt the limits of those stock MT60s. First time I took my Himalayan down a very slippery, muddy track, the front end just washed out on the mud and down I went. Very slow speed though and the mud gave me a nice soft landing :P
Me too. I intend to use mine almost exclusively off road but I do need to be road legal. The stock CEAT (a copy of the MT60?) is absolutely useless in mud even when new).
I think the thing that doesn't work for me about the whole 80/20, 50/50 thing is that when I am off-road, I REALLY want an off-road tire, not a 20% one, even though that's more than the percentage of off-roading I actually do. If I ride from Oceanside, CA, to Anza Borrego, ride 40 miles in the desert and then home, that's 20% off-roading or so, but when I'm on that sand, I want TKC80's if not Motoz RallZ level traction. The pavement is curvy and lots of good corners, but I'm still gonna want grip in the sand. In my experience, TKC80's, Mitase E-07, Shinko 244, and the Heidenau K60's are good enough for my pavement riding--occasional peg scrapes on the Himalayan. For me, and I'm no badass off-road rider, 50/50 is a bare minimum tire for a travel bike.
Mine came with the tkc80s fitted, and the mt60s as spares, it was a ex demo. Never ridden with the stock tyres, but the tkc80s are a good tyre on road as well as off. Just got home from an evening ride down a very wet clay/muddy track and the tyres were full of mud, but the bike kept pulling me along, and as soon as I hit a hard gravel road, they cleared really quickly. The only downside is they are fairly expensive. Considering the mitas next time, so would be interested to hear more about those as they seem a good price, almost the same price for a pair compared to one tkc80.
Nathan, it would be interesting if you could try the current Original Equipment CEAT GRIPP XL, as the Himalayans don't seem to come on the Pirelli MT60 tyres any more. Thanks
I went out & did some lanes on my KTM 390 Adventure today... Wet, slimy Essex clay... It was my first time on slippy stuff, so I don't know any different... But I did feel like I was riding on slicks tbh... I didn't crash btw.
I happily put up with a more off road tyre when road riding, rather than struggle when the going gets tough off road. On my Tiger 800 I liked the Pirelli Scorpion Rally front ( good handling full knobby and good wear rate) and on the back I used a more 50/50 tyre ( Mitas E07, Motoz GPS) . Another good option for a 50/50 tyre is the Shinko 244 (AKA Goldenboy). I have used the Bajanopinch tool to make putting the 17 inch rear tyres on much easier. it is small enough to carry on your bike in an old sock. Breaking the bead is hard too, unless you have another bike along to use their side stand. You can kick the heck out of them ( Motoz) with your MX boots, or maybe use a modified C clamp device ( Motopliers from Oz)
I've got the Anlas Capra X on my Tenere 700. They are pretty good on road on the T7, and great offroad, sadly I have to do too many road miles, so I don't think they will last terribly well, but I am impressed with them.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts but would be interested which 90/10 tyre you would recommend for price and grip in wet and dry. I ride mostly road but would like a tyre that could handle some gravel etc but nothing too off road. Many thanks 🙏
Replaced a MT21 with a K60, both had really hard side walls. Im pretty sure an MT21 could run flat. Add in the description what that Turkish tyre is, apart from round and black!
To be honest I fitted Michelin tracker knobby front and Pirelli mt21 knobby rear for a big trail ride and find they grip well on seal even In the wet. Maybe anything's an improvement on those hard Seat things it came with. Given how it likes to be ridden tyre choice on road isn't critical so we have the luxury to choose a more off road style eh?
Good point about the sidewall strength. I haven't tried enough tyres to be able to compare. Still running tkc70 on mine. Good compromise. I've also just moved my tutoro to where yours is on the himalayan. So far she hasn't kicked it getting on or off.! Good one. Happy travels. BTW hope the spork doing its job (and several others. )
mitas i found are a challenge to get on and off, scared my rims in the process i would not use them again pay a bit more and get easy on/off tyres. if i was alone on the mountain i would struggle to fix a flat ,On my Himalayan ! i am dreading my next puncture.
Broader question on the Himalayan: when you originally advocating the Himalayan (rightly so) they were going for 3499, but now they're almost 5k do you still think they offer good value for money? It's so close to other classes of bike now, it has me in two minds. Can still buy the previous gen etc of course, but soon won't be the case.
@@michaelhayward7572 not to Europe! The rumoured Royal Enfield "Hunter" sounds interesting to me. Not really the same thing as it's assumed to be a scrambler style, but the fuel efficiency and character of their new 350 engine sounds good for a budget travel bike.
They were £3999 when they came out and I think are now £4600. To be fair I thought it was too cheap on launch so factoring in inflation, popularity and improvement I would still say they offer far better value than most of the competition. The new crf300l seems good at £4999 but it is still a very different kind of bike.
@@michaelhayward7572 yeah, lots of people were interested, but from what I've seen all the dealers etc have confirmed it's not coming to Europe (slightly higher bar for emissions and/or they don't think it'll be quite as successful in this market).