Author Topic: Road v Adventure tyre choice  (Read 6760 times)

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Offline Strommerboy

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Road v Adventure tyre choice
« on: January 28, 2018, 12:28:38 »
Having had Trailwings, Tourances and Annakee 3s,  I am now being encouraged by my riding mates to fit a set of pure road tyres to my 09 Wee. They insist it will improve both the ride and feel of the bike. Are they right?

Offline Rich:-)

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Re: Road v Adventure tyre choice
« Reply #1 on: January 28, 2018, 13:23:26 »
Yes, I think so.

Adventure tyres are a compromise, they are giving up something to give you a slight increase in off-road traction. If you only intend to ride your bike on tarmac, or dry grass, hard dirt ect then you can choose 100% road tyres and the benefits that come with them.

These benefits could be better dry & wet weather grip/feel. Could be quieter running, improved mpg, better longevity, or simply just a slightly cheaper tyre.

I went for a road going rear and it's been great, later this year I'll get rid of the ContiTrailAttack 2 front and replace with a suitable sport/touring tyre.


Offline porter

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Re: Road v Adventure tyre choice
« Reply #2 on: January 28, 2018, 16:39:21 »
I used the oe Bridgestone's on my 1000 for a year,  then the replacement a40 Bridgestone's for two more years and just recently changed to Michelin pr4's. What a difference,  much better wet grip, steer nicely to and more comfortable on the bumps. Can't say on wear as yet but the stones where nothing to shout about anyway.
I'll not use the trail style tyres again over a road tyre unless the price is right.

Offline mr_diver

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Re: Road v Adventure tyre choice
« Reply #3 on: January 28, 2018, 17:42:09 »
They are correct.

But...

On the Wee I had (in this order) trail wings (Stock), Pilot Road 1, anakee 2 (3 sets), Heidenau k60, Mitas E-07.

The Pilot Road 1 were by far the best tyre for road use.

On the Varadero I've had Battle wings (stock), Anakee 2, Heidenau K60, Roadtec 01,  A40 adventures, Heidenau k60(currently fitted)

The worst tyre I've had on the Honda was the Sport Touring Roadtec 01.

Not all tyres suit the bike you put them on even if the size fits correctly.
Also your riding style affects how you perceive the tyres.

The best all round tyre on the Wee was the Anakee 2. I've had the arse end hanging out on fast corners, zero chicken strips, got long mileage and comfortable m-way miles on them.

The A40 Adventure are second to me only because they offer a less blocky tread pattern which I found a benefit on the crud covered lanes in the winter. But other than that a very good tyre like the Anakee 2.

At the end of the day, asking opinions will only sway you one way or another. You have to make the choice and try it.

Pilot Road 4 are a popular choice with those who ride tarmac only.
The new Road 5 is available in sizes to fit Adventure bikes, but dealers/tyre fitters may not have stock yet.



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Offline wurzel

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Re: Road v Adventure tyre choice
« Reply #4 on: January 29, 2018, 09:19:07 »
Pilot road 4 for me, I'm sure there are other tyres as good, but the Strom is a road bike.
I would say you will notice a much improved ride and grip with good road tyres.

Offline tallpaul

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Re: Road v Adventure tyre choice
« Reply #5 on: January 29, 2018, 09:47:57 »
I'm with Wurzel on this. I'm a big fan of the PR4 tyres, but I've never used a strom on off-road or 50/50 tyres. I've ridden other bikes fitted with 50/50 tyres and personally didn't like them but I'm sure I'd have enjoyed their fine qualities in the rough stuff. No plans to venture into the wilds on my current bike, well, not intentionally, so it's PR4 all the way...
Old enough to know better, but still too young to care...

Offline Rich:-)

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Re: Road v Adventure tyre choice
« Reply #6 on: January 29, 2018, 10:17:07 »
I wouldn't take a wee or vee on anything more rough that a forest access road (gravel or hard packed dry ground). The adventure tyres being discussed here are not what I would call "dirt tyres". They don't have large enough gaps between the thread blocks so are really just odd looking road tyres.

For an experiment I tried my DRZ with TKC's on it and took it to Wales loaded up with camping stuff. TKC80's are way more dirt orientated than any Anakee type tyre... it was fine on the rocky stuff but useless on the muddy sections or wet grass.

I basically think the popular adventure tyres are just fashion accessories for adventure style bikes, which are actually just upright road touring bikes for the most part.

Offline Strommerboy

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Re: Road v Adventure tyre choice
« Reply #7 on: February 03, 2018, 20:44:41 »
Thanks chaps for those contributions. Think I'll give the road tyres a go next. But which? Metzeler Roadtec 01, Pirelli Angels or Pilot Road 4? These would seem to be the most popular suggestions.

Offline kwackboy

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Re: Road v Adventure tyre choice
« Reply #8 on: February 03, 2018, 20:54:51 »
Before I sold my vee I was given a set of Roadtec 01's by metzeler to use around Italy. Personally I couldn't fault them in any way, they had tons of grip, great in the wet and got up to temp very quickly. I was fully loaded 2up and covered around 3500miles and by the time I got back the the UK the rear was around half worn. They are expensive but in my opinion you get what you pay for .  :thumb: :thumb: 
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Offline mrp192

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Re: Road v Adventure tyre choice
« Reply #9 on: February 03, 2018, 23:52:42 »
Kwackboy have you used the Michelin PR4s at all? Just wondering if you can compare them to the Roadtec 01s as I am very impressed with the PR4s on my Glee but will be looking for a new set soon and wondered how the Roadtec 01s compared?

Offline kwackboy

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Re: Road v Adventure tyre choice
« Reply #10 on: February 04, 2018, 08:54:15 »
I have PR4'S on my CB500f Honda which are great but it's a different bike so I can't compare .
On the Honda which is alot lighter bike they perform great , grip very well even when cold and wet weather riding is easy.
The only thing I've found is they are a bit vague in fast corners but that could be my stock suspension and are very susceptible to punctures if the pressures are low .
With PR4'S , it's always good to run slightly higher pressures which helps , I was advised this by Michelin themselves.
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Offline mr_diver

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Re: Road v Adventure tyre choice
« Reply #11 on: February 04, 2018, 09:07:01 »
I've used the Roadtec 01's - again from Metzeler to test.

Initially they were great.
After 1k miles they started to wear oddly - nothing to do with the bike and the tyre pressures were set correctly.
By 6k I couldn't wait to get the things off the bike.

In work I've priced up Bridgstone T30 evo's, BT023, Roadtec 01 and PR4 for a customer for his Veek.

from cheapest:
BT023
T30 evo
PR4 (trail)
Roadtec 01

Personally I have the BT023 on SWMBO's GSX1400 and I can't fault them even on a big heavy torque monster like the GSX.
We got 5.5k (with a little left before the marker) on the last rear- not bad for a bike with 240kg and 93 ft-lb and 105bhp.



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Offline paulja

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Re: Road v Adventure tyre choice
« Reply #12 on: February 15, 2018, 00:56:16 »
With regards to the Michelin PR4 or R5, is the "Trail" version  the only suitable version? I mean I also see the Regular and GT versions of these tyres and wonder if they are also suitable for the Stroms?
In my defence, she did leave me unsupervised.

Offline mrp192

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Re: Road v Adventure tyre choice
« Reply #13 on: February 15, 2018, 05:54:40 »
In the PR4 the trail version was the only one available in 19” size for the front. I use trail front and road rear which is fine. Don’t know if the PR5 front sizes are the same.

Offline wurzel

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Re: Road v Adventure tyre choice
« Reply #14 on: February 15, 2018, 07:20:07 »
Mrp has it nailed, lovely combination.

Offline Freddyfruitbat

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Re: Road v Adventure tyre choice
« Reply #15 on: February 15, 2018, 11:31:43 »
In the PR4 the trail version was the only one available in 19” size for the front. I use trail front and road rear which is fine.

I know a lot of riders choose this option.  FWIW I looked into it last year when shopping for PR4s for my Strom, and learned that the recommendation from Michelin was that you shouldn't mix the two (they have different tread patterns).  I can't remember now whether I contacted Michelin myself in the end, or found this info online somewhere, but despite being a tarmac-only rider it made me decide on fitting trails fore and aft (and I love them!).  I think the downside is the trail tyres don't last as long as the road ones.

There's been loads of discussion about these tyres on the forum over the years: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=pr4+site%3Awww.v-strom.co.uk

Anyway - looking out the window I see that for the first time in what seems like weeks, there's no snow, it's not raining, the sun is shining, and I'm not working today, so it's time to go and double-check those PR4s are as good as I remember!                                               :dl_bike:
KC100->CB100N->CB250RS--------->DL650AL2->R1200RS

Offline tallpaul

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Re: Road v Adventure tyre choice
« Reply #16 on: February 15, 2018, 11:49:36 »
Front and rear PR4s have different tread patterns anyway...
Old enough to know better, but still too young to care...

Offline mrp192

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Re: Road v Adventure tyre choice
« Reply #17 on: February 15, 2018, 12:17:43 »
I saw this not mixing thing written on forums and the Michelin website but my tyre place contacted the Michelin trade people who said they were compatible. I’ve had no problem and apparently the road rear will last a lot longer.
I think there is something in this as I usually wear through two rears to one front but with these the wear is pretty even. Now down to about 3mm front and rear so to be replaced with like in the near future.

Offline vstroman

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Re: Road v Adventure tyre choice
« Reply #18 on: February 16, 2018, 16:28:52 »
The biggest trouble I have with tyres is the rear squares off and the front gets scalloped long before I'm near the wear bars, going to try Pr4 or R5 next time, not sure if there's a road version of the R5 in 150/70-17.
currently on Metz roadtec and getting a bit worn at 8k miles, might hold on till 10000.
as soon as they start to feel squirrely I'll change them.