Has anyone put knobbies (not hybrid) tires on a Tiger Sport 660? Something like a Continental Twinduro TKC80. The factory Michelin Road 5s are useless off pavement. Good street tires, but that is all. Thanks for any replies.
What are you actually trying to do with it? Obviously it's not a real offroader so limitations on suspension etc are in the design. If you just want to do fire gravel roads then Mitas Enduro are a good option and last for a good mileage. The plus version is more road orientated with smaller gaps and a harder compound (more mileage). I opted for the none "+" version and I do like them on the road, gravel tracks and summer use. However, in mud they are useless and a liability. Define your use and expectations in more depth and we can maybe better advise?
Thanks Eldon. I have tried to explain my use case on other sites and the replies are usually "I don't understand, tell me more." I want a tire that works better offroad than the Michelin Road 5s which are the equivalent of smooth inner tubes on gravel. Looks like Mitas does not have a 180/55R17 tire that is not a glassy smooth road tire.
Umm, that is an awkward size, my Kove 450 is a 140 which is quite wide for an off road rear tyre. You may have to look at alternative sizes to broaden the range of options.
I may be wrong here but I don't think the Tiger Sport has any off road pretentions. The 800 was described to me as a Street Triple with a fairing and the 660 is similar to my eyes, especially as it comes with Road 5's fitted.bis the clue not in the name?
Pirelli MT60 RS is an off road style tyre fitted to Triumph and Ducati Scramblers - not a serious off road tread, but should be ok on gravel. They describe it like this - "Available in the most common sizes of 120/70 ZR17 & 180/55 ZR17 if you fancy green-laning your Honda CBR600RR or similar." Michelin Anakee is another 80/20 knobbly tyre in that size.
Thanks all. Yes, the replies are consistent across all motorcycle discussion forums. That's OK. Most people don't understand. A few do. I am looking for the few.
I had a new Honda CB500X which came on 80/20 tyres. When it came to needing new tyres I went for road tyres because I don't off-road. There is no reason why you can't go the other way and fit knobblies to a "road" bike, the problem will be the tyre sizes. You may have to fit a non standard tyre size - for instance some 500X owners fit a 120/70 instead of a 110/80 on the front and 170/50 instead of 160/60 on the back to get the tread they are looking for. My point is, you could be the first person to want really chunky tyres which are not available for that bike's wheel size, so you may have to experiment! Edit: that 17" front wheel isn't optimal for serious off-roading, you really want a 19" or 21" wheel.....
Excellent - I only did a quick search, but those look good! You are very lucky with the trails and access you have - offroad riding is illegal in Scotland unless on private land or a few permitted trails. England is better, but some councils are trying their hardest to limit access there too.
I would suspect mainly because you haven't actually described the type of riding you want to do. Is it just gravel, or is mostly mud, sand, full on trail? Is it all off road, mostly, half and half, 80/20? People can only understand if you furnish them with all the facts I find
Questions are a good and valid. The video above is the best example. Here is another one. Do not be misled by the video title - the language (I think) is Portuguese. What are your suggestions after watching the two videos in their entireties? Thanks.
The truth is (in my opinion) all of the 660's are Tridents in new clothes so just because it has Tiger in the name don't expect it to be any good at off road/ trail type riding, or at least no better than any other road bike. To that end, as has been stated above I would look at something like the Michelin or Pirelli but you could also consider the Continental TKC 80 or Avon Trailrider AV53 and 54. I know these are all UK based tyres but I am sure there must be US equivalents out there.
In your view what are the top 2 or 3 characteristics or specifications that make a bike good at off road / trail type riding?
As @Eldon has said, suspension is the absolute key to any off road/trail type bike, added to that for me would be a minimal amount of plastics and parts to break when dropped but that is only because of the replacement costs. For example I would class my Ducati Multistrada as a sports tourer, if I had wanted to take it off road then I would have bought the Multistrada Enduro.
19 or 21 inch front wheel, ground clearance (with a bash plate) and a footrest to handlebar position which allows an easy standing position. Oh, and a high mudguard to avoid getting blocked up with mud, a radiator guard and a high exhaust/silencer. Damn, that's six.
