Dual sport tire for the R

[towerworker]

I've been running Shinko 009 Ravens for the past 40K+ and have been very happy with price, mileage and grip. But in the last year I've found myself frequently on county gravel roads. I've never been a fan of gravel with standard street rubber. So recently discovered the Shinko 705 which surprisingly comes in the R's sizes. So just mounted a front today and debating on replacing a 009 Raven on the rear that has roughly 1000 miles on it. There's a lot of local gravel roads in this area and I found myself tired of being hesitant on many of them. Hence the decision to try a dual sport tire. I've only about 100 miles on the front so far. I can feel the difference with a bit vibration thru the bars from the more aggressive tread but giving some thought to going ahead and ordering a rear. Curious as to whether anyone else has tried a dual sport tire and their thoughts.

[riceburner]

The only 'dual-sport' tyre I've tried was the Pirelli Scorpion, which was more of a styling exercise than a genuinely capable off-road tyre.
(that was around 7 years ago IIRC).

THAT SAID - it got the Rockster across Salisbury Plain with no issues, and was perfectly well behaved on the road.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rockburne ... 374436807/

[sykospain]

Hi James,
I like the idea of mounting a top-box support plate on the 'teatray' behind the seat.
A question for you...
¿ Is the click-fixing of the teatray strong enough to secure the load of, say, a Givi 29 litre in that position ?, instead of the usual place further back and annoyingly outside the wheelbase, a location that I've never liked, hence my range of pillion-seat bags.
AL in s.e. Spain

[Bogdan]

In my time with a klr - 80K + miles - I tried various tires, mostly a variety of dual sports. As you know, dual sport tires are by definition a compromise - they vary greatly depending if the tread is designed more toward pavement or off pavement. On gravel, tires make a huge difference but just mounting dual sports may not help you fee secure. For example: The popular Avon Gripster was called the Avon Slipster because it felt squirrely - especially on gravel. Not hard to know why; it was designed as an 80/20 - 80 pavement, 20 dirt/gravel. My ride only felt planted on gravel when I went to a more aggressive 50/50, Kenda 270s. Predictably, the down side was on pavement - horrible on rain grooves. I ended up using the Gripster on the front and the Kenda on the rear. With my present oilhead, with Perelli Angel GTs, I mostly avoid gravel - oh i might do a short distance if it isn't too loose.

[riceburner]

Hi James,
I like the idea of mounting a top-box support plate on the 'teatray' behind the seat.
A question for you...
¿ Is the click-fixing of the teatray strong enough to secure the load of, say, a Givi 29 litre in that position ?, instead of the usual place further back and annoyingly outside the wheelbase, a location that I've never liked, hence my range of pillion-seat bags.
AL in s.e. Spain

Highly likely. Not sure what the largest mass I ever tied down onto mine was, but I'm pretty sure I once put at least 50l of camping gear (including tent) on it. If you're in any way uncertain you can always put a secondary strap* over everything and tie to the pillion grab handles to hold the whole lot down.
https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/ ... e=5A6836F2
(that's not the largest load I've had on the rack, but it gives an example).

BTW - I spread the load into the plastic try by using a bread-board underneath - see photos here : https://www.flickr.com/photos/rockburne ... 4018241303

I suppose having the topbox to 'press' the load back against might have helped, but there wasn't any direct tying to the top box.


* I detest bungee cables, so I use 1 inch buckle straps for carrying stuff on the bike - much, much safer.