80/20 90/10 tires. Gripster, Tourance, etc.

I've been running Metzler Tourance for quite a while now.
I like them on-road and can live with them in dirt but they
suck bad in mud or loose stuff. I very much like getting
10k on a set of tires and they do well in the rain too.

Thinking of giving Avon Gripsters a try. Any experience
with them ? Any other tire with OK on/offroad performance
that you get decent milage out of ?

Thanx for any thoughts

 

I had them on my old XT600E, and you could crank the thing over and get
your boot down, on dry tarmac.

Unsurprisingly, they were not so good on dirt. "Adequate" comes to mind.
Fine for green laning and general trail riding, but not so good in mud.

 

What kind of mileage did you get ?
Any others you've tried and liked better ?

thanks again.

 

Can't remember!

 

The holy grail that every on / off road biker searches for! Now,
if I ever knew it I sure forgot what bike you ride and that's kind
of important if the answers are to be meaningful.

Now, if your bike is of the KLR/XT/XR/LC4 type, and if you
want to do mud in style, you'll have to sacrifice comfort, lean
angle and longevity. Nothing short of Michelin T63 / Pirelli
MT21 / Metzeler Karoo or equivalent will do. Anything with
a more "dense" knob pattern will just clog up.
Even if these tyres don't last, some of them is dirt cheap
(pun intended).

Continental TKC80 sort of works in deep dry stuff and is way
better than the disguised pavement tires (like Tourance). It lasts
a bit longer and is more comfortable than the DOT-approved
MX-type tyres mentioned above. It is also much better suited to
heavier bikes.

I tried the Gripsters a long time ago and they did not impress
me at all. Maybe they had a bit more wet pavement grip than
the worst, OTOH IMHO they did run very hot when riding "fast"
with a bit of load or a pillion on a dry day.

 

'88 BMW R100GS. About 10,000-12,000 miles a year
with appreciable time cruising at 75-85mph plus
some bashing around on bad jeep roads and ATV
single tracks. Also ridden in rainy weather. Definitely
a very porky bike.

Probably not right.

I'll take a look at the TKC80s too. Long tire life is also
an important criteria. I'd like to get a year out of a set of
tires if I could.

Thanks

 

[Re: TKC80 ]

Thanks. 1,500 to 3,000 mile tire life would mean 3-4
tire changes a year if not more. That's totally
out of the question for me.

I really want at least ~7-8000 mile tire life
even if it compromises performance in the
soft stuff.

 

1500 would be a very short life for a TKC80 unless you're hammering
the Hell out of it.

I've got about 3000 on mine and they're still showing lots of tread.

 

Gripster on the front. Still running a Tourance on the
rear at least until the rear's ready for replacement.
Shop owner says some people run that combo all
the time.

Bike handles really nicely. I fully expect the handling
to still suck badly in deep mud or sand but maybe
a little bit less badly than the Tourance. Tread is a little
more open. Probably won't hit much mud or dirt before
spring. By then, I'll figure out the rear tire.