Tires (knobby tires on the Interstate)

When it comes to tires, I am always searching for something with off-road grip and longevity.  The bike came with Michelin Anakee 3 Tires and the back one wore out extremely fast and it was not all that great off road.  I think the bike may have been a bit overloaded and causing excessive rear tire wear.  The BMW Vario cases are very heavy, ugly and not all that usable. I switched the Vario cases out with the much lighter Aluminum paniers to help reduce the amount of wear.

The tires I really thought where long lasting, not loud and had good off-road / on-road capabilities was the SAVA GETaWAY MC 60.  The downside of the MC60 is that the tires blistered and were the wrong size and air pressure for the water boxer.

My problem with these tires on the 2014 GS with TPS is the max air for the tire is right at the alarm rate for the minimum air pressure on the GS and that makes for red-blinking lights.  Some people have said they will just put tape over the dashboard – but then why have the sensors.

I then tried the TKC 70 rear with the MC60 front and that worked very well.

I then tried TKC 70 rear with TKC 70 front and while the TKC rear was good the TKC 70 front has a high speed wobble and not that great at off road.

I then tired the TKC 70 Rear with a Anakee Wild Front which worked very well for wear and grip but the front did make some noise but all the sizes and pressures were accurate.

I then tried the Anakee Wild front and rear and the rear runs down rather quickly and both of them are very noise.  I used this combo at March Moto Madness and found that even with the best knobby deep mud is extremely difficult.

My plan from here on out is to use the TKC70 rear for the fantastic range and the good enough off road use and the Anakee Wild front for the very good off road use and extremely good wear.  And just to avoid deep mud on my cross-country journeys.

Here are the data points on why I like that combo
Date  6/22/16 Millage 19,189
TKC 70 rear $ 186.71
Anakee Wild front  $169.62
Date  2/22/2017 Millage  26,705

These tires took me from Kansas City to Seattle (over Pikes Peak) then back to Kansas City (via Beartooth pass), and then I rode them from Kansas City to Atlanta and back.

7,516 miles and still had lots of tread left but was starting to cup.  The 7,500+ mile range number is very interesting because it means you only need to change tires when you’re doing your scheduled maintenance and still have off-road capability.  Some people might say you should not mix and match tires but you absolutely can and I have found this is an outstanding combo – for my riding style.

 TheMotoLizard