Non-knobbly transalp tyres???

[chris1201]

Is this a wise thing to do? I never go off-road and have no intention of starting so was thinking of trying normal road tyres....Bridgestone Bt021's or something??? If I'm being silly then please tell me. There could be good reasons why this ain't a good idea but I don't know what they are!!

Chris

[StumpyFingers]

I think the hardest thing is the tyre sizes but Anakee's and Distanzias are more road based than knobblies and the bike handles well with them fitted.

[btbloke]

There's no reasons in the world not to.
Some people do a bit of laning on road tyres and never go for the likes of a tkc because its a dry weather thing for them. Some dress the bike up in Tkc's and live in a city never going near mud, they like the tkc handling and cope with the short life span and grab a bit of mud if it comes available it's a ready for it when it happens kinda thing.
Some people dress up in knobblies as you put it but never go near mud even though they could because they just like the look (mainly bank managers on beemers) but not the adventure.
You put on YOUR BIKE what you want to put on YOUR BIKE.it's an individual thing. As long as it's safe and you can afford it ,do it.

[leerichards]

I recently replaced my Metzeler Tourance with Bridgestone BT-45's. Im well pleased with the BT-45's, a very reliable road tyre, ive had no problems with them at all Wet or dry. Got both for £100 from black circles. Regards
Lee

[largewayround]

Hi Chris

I am in the same boat here, no off roading to be done around here. I just put on some Metzeler Tourance on the front, tourance on the back last year..

I wanted good road tyres in changeable weather conditions (Scotland) and these seem to do the job.. but everyone has there favorites..

I think they look ok, not like great big Knobbies but you should fit what works for you.

[Aubrey]

Chris,

If you do fit some real road tyres, without off-road pretention, I'd be really interested in the results. I have Distanzas on mine and they seem really good, but I would be interested if you get noticably better MPG, and confidence in the corners.

Regards

Aubrey

[Transalicante]

The good road tires use to be expensive and last little. I have Tourance on my TA and I'm very satisfied. They're cheap, last a lot and have very good grip on dry or wet tarmac, and even offroad when the surface is dry and compact. The problem is if you drive a lot on motorways or city and they get used in the middle, you will feel a lot of movements on the handlebar. The solution: drive more on mountain roads

Now I changed to the Enduro 3 sahara because I'm driving more and more offroad, but still use the bike to go work when raining. They're nearly as good as the Tourance on tarmac, but a lot better offroad, I suppose they will last half the life of the Tourance.

[rssenna]

I changed from Trailwings to BT-45's and have done over a 1000 miles on them, really like them and can't see me going back to knobbly tyres. Hope to get more mileage as well, so far they are still looking as if they are hardly worn, a back trailwing would be 25% gone by now.

[Transalicante]

Check what other people think about the trailwings, and you'll understand why you don't want to have them again.
1.000 miles and 25 % of the trailwing gone ?
My back Tourance have now 5 kmiles and is around 60 % worn.
My previous front Tourance lasted 13,5 kmiles.

I had Pirelli Dragon Corsa on my Husqvarna 610 supermoto, they were very expensive (200 €) and lasted 2 kmiles on the back (My driving was more agressive, but not that much), the grip was a little better, but not a big difference for the price, and they needed a long heating to work fine (but the husky was really lightweight).

The Tourance have an amazing grip on dry and wet tarmac, and cost 100 € for the back, and less than 80 € for the front. Let's say I'm happy with them, and I'm not returning to only on road tyres. And you don't have much choice for the 21" front wheel.

[chris1201]

Am I right in thinking the Dunlop Trailmax are as good as it gets for knobbies???