Hey guys,

Here's the situation. In 2023, I started experimenting off road. So I installed a set of Michelin Anakee Adventure (80/20). I had some fun. Now I want a tire that will give me a little better grip but I'm hopping for some confidence as a beginner in the dirt.

I'm not looking to do crazy stuff, I really plan to stay out of deep mud and deep sand.

I come from the sport bike world and a lot of track days, so on the road to get to the dirt roads and tracks, I enjoy to carry corner speed and 45 degree lean angle is regular.

I'm looking at 50/50 tires and I'm confused.

JFS.

JFS, I have not read every response, due to time (and partly to save my sanity (what little I have left)) but consider the Pirelli SCORPION RALLY STR. More of a 60/40 than the 50/50 you are looking for, but so far in 45K miles they have handled everything from daily work ride to back forest fire trails to Florida sugar sand. The compound is softer than the TMM's so the 10K+ a TMM rear will get is more like 7-8K miles (your milage may vary) and I typically get a 3-1 life for the front. (3 rear's to one front). Street performance is very good and being in Northern Florida, I demand a tire that performs in the rain, because I expect it to rain every day on the way home between April and November, and just about any time the rest of the year.

I ride a '18 GSA and I'm about 260 lbs. I can load up the bike for a multi day trip and not worry about my tires.

 

Interesting. I have never yet seen a front tire outlive a rear on my 2009 GS, and I have been through a handful of pairs. They all scallop themselves to an early grave. The knobbies especially, but even a more road oriented tire like the Anakee 3 was used up in the front well before the rear.

 

Trailmax missions are horrible when cold and worse when wet and cold.

Hmm. not been my experience but maybe I don't push the limit as hard as you when in the rain and cold. What you say kinda makes sense but in practice I've never noticed, for example, the traction control kicking in on hard acceleration in the cold. Of course this bike would spin up any tire in the wet or when there's a lower traction surface.

For some perspective on my experience, I never run the pressures as high as recommended - usually 34 front, 36 rear unless I'm doing a lot of riding that day off the pavement when I'll drop to 30/32 or sometimes less. Maybe for road riding that puts a little more heat in the tires for me and results in better grip?

I somewhat agree with GrayBeard on this. It's also not been my experience, I've just done 24K km on a set of TMM, no issues in the wet, cold, dry and of course on dirt roads. I did find the less than ideal in mud and sand. More so when they were nearing their end of life.
However, I've now replaced them with Dunlops Trailmax Raids and it's been a revelation. The Missions are fine but they pale when compared with the Raids. Traction and handling, on and off pavement is a big notch above, they feel so much more inspiring in the twisties that when I look back at the Missions I had gotten used to the way they handle.
I'm not sure they'll last as long as the Missions but I don't regret the change.

Regarding the lower pressure with the Missions, I don't see the the point with our heavy bikes. I've tried it and didn't see any improvement in handling or traction. I'm more afraid of damaging a wheel.

 

However, I've now replaced them with Dunlops Trailmax Raids and it's been a revelation. The Missions are fine but they pale when compared with the Raids.

I'm also intrigued by that option but would love to hear more about how they compare in terms of tire noise? For me, a big part of my affinity for these tires is how quiet they are while providing adequate performance on and off the pavement. Of course the other advantage is that there just aren't that many tires out there that will last 10,000+ miles that could handle the ride up and back on the Dempster.

I'll be watching for information here on how long these last on mixed on/off-road performance. There was a time when I ran set after set of TKC80 tires that would barely last 3,000 miles.

 

I rate quietness more important than longevity.

 

I think you'd really like Trail Attack 3 and Pirelli Scorpion Trail 2.

Bridgestone A41 came on my new GSA. The front tire made more tread noise than any I'd ever heard. Based on my personal experience, they're good tires otherwise but I can't recommend them due to that insane front tread noise. The rear seemed fine. I read now in the posts that people like the A41 and don't hear front tread noise. Seems impossible to me. The one I had was truly awful.

This is my first GSA. I had 4 RTs before this bike and only bought sport touring tires. I thought the A41 noise might be part of the GS. Tried a lot of things to mitigate the tread noise. Nothing really worked.

I changed to TA3 and the noise completely went away.

I have a tire changer. A local club buddy wanted me to put some tires on his bike. They were Michelin Road 6. The rear tire was the same size as my GSA and I had a new TA3 sitting. We compared the two before mounting the Road 6. The difference in heft is amazing. I love Michelin road tires but they are so thin! I've had several premature punctures with Michelin Roads. I feel like the TA3 is every bit as good without the high risk of punctures.

I have Scorpions on my GSA now. I got a slow leak on the road on my TA3s in the Fall. I replaced it with a Scorpion rear, then bought a front to match. They're OK, but TA3 is a better tire for me. The compound seems to stick better in corners. They just feel great on a GS. If I go off-road, it's by accident when exploring paved roads or because there's construction. I don't purposely seek out unpaved "adventure" roads. TA3 does just fine on that stuff and...again, less chance of a puncture with the

It's great to have the absolute best handling, best accelerating and best braking lightweight touring tires out there but not at the risk of spoiling a great riding weekend with a puncture. I'm just not going back to Road tires again. I can't say the Roads on my RT's feel any better than these TA3s on paved roads.

 

I run a "real A41" and not what OEM version that came on some of your GS bikes, I have found it to be one of the best handling and confidence inspiring tires I have ever run on and is (very quiet) unlike what some strangly mention about it. Now if you want to talk about a loud tire that howls, then that would be the Anakee III and Mitas E07.

 

See? This is what I'm referring to.... There are, apparently, A41s and A41s.

Freedomrider, if you experienced the A41 that came on my GSA, you would not believe how loud it was. It seemed like a fairly normal 80/20 or 90/10 tread but OMG it was LOUD. Maybe it's just the OEM version? I don't know, but mine was horrendous. ...and just the front. I changed to TA3 after my free first service at the dealer. After running through my first set of TA3, I put the A41s back on and did a 1000 mile trip with the bike. It was really loud the whole trip. Other than tread noise, they were fine tires (not better than TA3, but nearly as good) I changed the front back to my old TA3 when I got home. The rear A41 was just fine and I used it up. I think I still have that noisy front A41 sitting around here. Looks normal. Isn't.

 

Gmachine, I run a set of TA3 on the bike now. Far quieter that the tires that came with the bike. And they are sticky as well. Pretty pleased with these. Had a set of scorpions on a different bike. They were good too but the TA3 is working for me.

 

I've run TKC80, Michelin Wilds, and Dunlop TMM on my GS and the loudest tires by far were the Wilds. I wear custom molded in ear monitors for noise reduction and they were incredibly loud even with that hearing protection - so loud people would tell me they though they were riding along side a lifted 4x4 with 35" mud tires. I ditched the Wilds no even half worn for the Dunlops and have never looked back.

 

I'm running the Trailmax Raids. They're my first set of knobbies, and I'm amazed at how "normal" they feel. I've pushed them on the twisties every bit as much as I did my A41s, with no discernible difference. Off road I may as well be on a different bike, though. My A41s got the job done on mild stuff, and even then there was a fair amount of slipping and sliding. The Raids are absolutely magical. They make me feel like a much better Glande rider than I really am.

As for the noise, not to damn them with faint praise, but it's not nearly as noticeable as I would have thought. I rode a friend's KLR650 with TKC 80s a while back, which was deafening loud, so I was expecting something similar. Not anywhere close. I can hear them up until 35 mph, then the noise disappears. I wear foam earplugs fwiw.

I'm at 4k and the wear shows, but I probably have 50% or more of the tread left. Miles (or hours, really) have been 60-40 road-dirt.

I will absolutely put them on again when this set is done.

 

Another vote for the Trailmax Raids. They may not last super long, but the they do great on the twisties. My Tuareg came with Pirelli Scorpions and they are comparable to the Raids. Bigger tread while being quiet and sticky on pavement. I'm a fan of traction at the expense of tire life.