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ADV tires on an R1200RT

DSXMachina

DSXMachina

Member
I ride as often as I can. Here in New England at this time of year the leaves are beginning to fall and the roads can be slick in spots as a result. Also, I like going off the pavement and ride hard packed dirt and gravel roads for miles.
I wondered whether I might trade off a little of the smooth and quiet touring ability I have with my OEM tires. I'd give up some of their attributes for a significant gain in off road and leafy road traction by switching to a mild ADV tire. Anyone have any experience in doing that? It seems that at their hearts the GS and RT are very similar in terms of where the rubber meets the road. GS's get ADV tires and that really works for them on the tough stuff.
I'm not planning on turning my RT into a GS, I just want to upgrade my grip on smooth, non-paved or leafy surfaces. I'm willing to give up some street/sport performance to get it.
 
The issue might be the sizes available but do check it out.

I did it with an R1150R and liked it. I forget which 80/20 tires I used.

That said, I don't think anybody makes a tire that sticks to the pavement in a pile of wet leaves.
 
Was going to suggest Mitas E-07, but the smallest front they have is 19"... GS size.

Shinko is a fair-to-middlin' tire (imo) and they have a 17" front.

Nothing is going to help you in wet leaves.
 
Just for the record I know that no tire is going to eliminate the wet leaves hazard. That said, I know from experience with tracking cars that knobbier (or aggressive treads) treads handle THIN layers of leaves much better than the near slicks on my RT do.
I don't plan on riding in snow (!), but I'm aware that some people with ADV bikes do ride in snow. If their tires can handle snow and wet mud and clay then I am guessing that there may be SOME help in THIN leaf coatings.
Sorry to emphasize thin, but I want to make clear I well understand that piles of leaves, or even a continuous layer of leaves make it virtually impossible to turn or stop.
 
DSXMachina said:
Just for the record I know that no tire is going to eliminate the wet leaves hazard. That said, I know from experience with tracking cars that knobbier (or aggressive treads) treads handle THIN layers of leaves much better than the near slicks on my RT do.
I don't plan on riding in snow (!), but I'm aware that some people with ADV bikes do ride in snow. If their tires can handle snow and wet mud and clay then I am guessing that there may be SOME help in THIN leaf coatings.
Sorry to emphasize thin, but I want to make clear I well understand that piles of leaves, or even a continuous layer of leaves make it virtually impossible to turn or stop.
Click to expand...

Disagree, snow and mud are completely different than wet layer of leaves. Snow and mud with knobbies are pretty straight forward. Plus you are not riding at the posted speed leaned over on either of those surfaces. No tire is going to handle a thin layer of wet leaves at speed leaned over. If you are lucky you slip a little and then get out of it or you see it in time to straighten up and slow down.
 
Last edited:
TKC 80s come in a 17 inch front. The pros and cons of these tyres have been discussed ad nauseam all over the interwebs, but they work really well on a lot of surfaces..

I seem to remember a recent photo in the MOA magazine of a 1200RT caked in Alaskan calcium chloride. The bike had TKCs.
 
ebell said:
TKC 80s come in a 17 inch front. The pros and cons of these tyres have been discussed ad nauseam all over the interwebs, but they work really well on a lot of surfaces..

I seem to remember a recent photo in the MOA magazine of a 1200RT caked in Alaskan calcium chloride. The bike had TKCs.
Click to expand...

I know a big mile guy that has taken some fairly unlikely bikes up to the Arctic Circle on TKCs One was a Victory Vison. Looked weird, but it worked.

Those would be my choice. I have a RT and I'll second the suspension and weather handling aspects of the bike.
 
ebell said:
TKC 80s come in a 17 inch front. The pros and cons of these tyres have been discussed ad nauseam all over the interwebs, but they work really well on a lot of surfaces..

I seem to remember a recent photo in the MOA magazine of a 1200RT caked in Alaskan calcium chloride. The bike had TKCs.
Click to expand...

My company is a distributor/installer of Conti’s, though only automotive and light truck. I should be able to get a set of TKC 80’s at a good price.
We got a little sidetracked by my mentioning the wet leaves. My main concern is traction at low to moderate speeds on hard packed and graded dirt and gravel. Those just might be what will work for my on and off road driving style.
 
Dunlop Mutant

Take a look at the newest crossover tire from Dunlop called the Mutant. I just removed a set from a R1200RS with 8300 miles on them.
 
The problem with knobbies or off-road tires in general is their poor performance on wet pavement. It has not so much to do with tread pattern as the actual tire compound and amount of silica used to improve cold wet weather traction. You will be sacrificing on winter road performance and safety. If it were me I would use a GS type 80/20 or 70/30 tire that has a slightly open tread for your dirt and gravel, but retains the use of a high silica wet road compound.

I happen to really like Continental Tires and if it were me I'd be looking at the TKC70's which happen to be on my GS right now. I love them. It has a 70/30 Road/Trail rating and they recently improved the wet weather compound. And I know for a fact they stick like road tires on pavement. I just checked and they have a 120/70-ZR-17 front and a 180/55ZR-17 rear that should be the RT size if I recall correctly. I had a 2017 so I get what you're wanting to do - I did too.

Here's the blurb on them:

Brand new Conti-tire with rugged off-road capability and a balanced street performance.
Newly developed trail-tire with a radial and diagonal design constructed for off-road use with a speed index up to 240 km/h – all radial tires are handmade in Germany.
TKC 70 is positioned for light to medium off-road use with extraordinary street performance.
Uniquely constructed tread block pattern makes the TKC 70 quiet and stable on the road while still providing good off-road capability.
Agile on streets and safe on gravel roads.
MultiGrip: Continentals own semi-dual compound technology allows different levels of hardness on the central tread and shoulder area (more mileage and improved grip).
RainGrip: New compound with outstanding grip in wet weather conditions and very short warm-up time.
The 0° steel belted construction guarantees high stability and a low kickback.
 
jbinaz said:
The problem with knobbies or off-road tires in general is their poor performance on wet pavement. It has not so much to do with tread pattern as the actual tire compound and amount of silica used to improve cold wet weather traction. You will be sacrificing on winter road performance and safety. If it were me I would use a GS type 80/20 or 70/30 tire that has a slightly open tread for your dirt and gravel, but retains the use of a high silica wet road compound.

I happen to really like Continental Tires and if it were me I'd be looking at the TKC70's which happen to be on my GS right now. I love them. It has a 70/30 Road/Trail rating and they recently improved the wet weather compound. And I know for a fact they stick like road tires on pavement. I just checked and they have a 120/70-ZR-17 front and a 180/55ZR-17 rear that should be the RT size if I recall correctly. I had a 2017 so I get what you're wanting to do - I did too.

Here's the blurb on them:

Brand new Conti-tire with rugged off-road capability and a balanced street performance.
Newly developed trail-tire with a radial and diagonal design constructed for off-road use with a speed index up to 240 km/h – all radial tires are handmade in Germany.
TKC 70 is positioned for light to medium off-road use with extraordinary street performance.
Uniquely constructed tread block pattern makes the TKC 70 quiet and stable on the road while still providing good off-road capability.
Agile on streets and safe on gravel roads.
MultiGrip: Continentals own semi-dual compound technology allows different levels of hardness on the central tread and shoulder area (more mileage and improved grip).
RainGrip: New compound with outstanding grip in wet weather conditions and very short warm-up time.
The 0° steel belted construction guarantees high stability and a low kickback.
Click to expand...

Looking at these for my gsa. The 70rock on the rear looks.like the best of both worlds.
 
I ran Pirelli Scorpion Trail II's on my R1200R on my Alaska trip. They're great on pavement and had no problems on the Haul or the Denali Highway, both roads notorious for gravel and loose surface conditions.

Doug
 
Thanks to all for your informed opinions and recommendations. It’s getting late in the season and I’ve decided I’ll wait until Spring before going with one of the suggested sets.
I’m glad to infer from the discussion that it’s ‘do-able’. I really would like more grip on the hard pack gravel and groomed dirt roads and it looks like I have several good choices over the stock RT tires
Next topic: Will a set of chains help me in the snow, or should I just go with studded tires?
*
*
*
Juuuuust kidding. ;)
 
I have a long mud and gravel driveway and ride all year, so I put a pair of TKC-70's a couple years ago on and they have been good winter tires for me. I change 'em out for Road V's when the weather gets nice and back again in December. May try Scorpion Trail II's when these TKC's wear out and see how they do.
 
zip50 said:
I have a long mud and gravel driveway and ride all year, so I put a pair of TKC-70's a couple years ago on and they have been good winter tires for me. I change 'em out for Road V's when the weather gets nice and back again in December. May try Scorpion Trail II's when these TKC's wear out and see how they do.
Click to expand...
Do you have an extra set of wheels on which the tires are mounted, or do you actually remove tires and swap each time? If you do the swap yourself how do you balance? Thanks.
 
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