Street/Moto tires for Baghira

[GordonH]

Recently picked up a 2005 Baghira Enduro (thanks Jeff) with motard wheels installed. There was enough tread to finish the season here in Michigan so I was intending to put new skins on in the spring for a trip out to Vegas to visit my daughter and her husband. Just got back from an intended trip to the Ton-up festival in nearby Ypsilanti that was cut short by an errant nail that attacked the rear tire. Tire is ruined, ride home was interesting to say the least. Pirelli rode okay with no air and stayed on the rim. Saw a post on my searches that said you could put Skorpion wheels on a Baghira with a kit from MZ. This would be ideal for my cross country trip as a flat could be repaired (probably) without removing the tire and replacing an inner tube and I have access to Skorpion wheels. So these are my questions:
Is this kit still floating around somewhere?
If I can't get the Skorpion wheels on the bike, what tires do you guys recommend for a 5000 road trip?

Thanks
Gordon

[kman.45]

put on some Michelin Pilot Road 2 or 3 for that trip. Buy new tubes and fill them with Slime or something similar.

[Robert]

well im a metzler fan i like sport tecs BUT 99% of riding is street fighter stuff, M3's arent made anymore now M5's are the new race tire...super sticky....i would recomend metzler Z6's...not cheap but in this case you get what you pay for...also you CAN fix a flat with the rim on the bike...not a 5min job though....lay bike on side....get tire irons and remove 1 side of tire to access the tube...if your careful, take your time it can be done efficiantly...i did it once ,i was tired after but only about 1.5hours invested....dont forget your tire pump and ride safe!

[mpact]

I don't know if you can get Avon tyres in the US but I have an Avon Pro Xtreme Rain tyre on the front and an Avon Distanzia H on the back. And they're brilliant.

[chisleu]

Yes I think I'm going to get that rear so I can do some very light offroading.

[dirt_diggler]

i love my distanzias. they do well on rough dirt roads and mild jeep trails.

[Baggy-trousers]

+1 for the Distanzias, though it was fun scrubbing them in on the wet roads!

[chisleu]

Yes I think I like the Distanzia's as well. I saw a 60% on-road tire somewhere (I forget the brand) that looked nice too. Knobby looking. I thought about those, but I'm just hoping the distanzia's are enough of an offroad tread to handle dirt roads and light trails better. My current setup won't leave the asphalt again!

[GordonH]

Picked up some Michelin Pilot 2's. Also found a wheel balancer at Harbor freight for $40. Should have bought one years ago. As the weather is changing here, I probably won't be able to try out the new rubber 'til spring. I'll post an update then.

Gordon Hamilton
AHRMA #58r


'05 Baghira
'96 Skorpion x 3
'80 900SS
'78 SR x 5
'77 XS 650
'74 Vespa
'68 Wards 260
'82 Z50
'66 Black Bomber

[Bill Jurgenson]

in Michigan - I am from Mich-gan, grew up there - I would run Haidenau K66 as winter sole. I run them all year around on the Skorpion and they are great.
Haidenau belongs to Continental, so there should not be any real problem getting them. They are definitely worth looking into.
I would not ride them for that trip to Reno, tho.
I don't think I can recommend much of anything for a 5000ml (=8000km) trip which is more than just about any decent tire sold in Europe will even last.
Maybe the Metzeler ME77, a classic wooden tire as we say over here, runs for thousands and thousands and is about a hard a piece of wood. Fine for an SR500 however, whose terrible handling makes you go slow anyway. I certainly would not ride it in the wet, let alone in the winter on my bike.

[cat]

Heidenau have become popular with KTM 990 Adv riders in USA. Sold by vendors that specialise in that market.

[Bill Jurgenson]

this is the tire and it is very good, but available only in a size too large for us.
http://www.reifenwerk-heidenau.de/modules/reifenliste/view.php?point=3&rtyp=20&profil=138&pic=100

It is nearly the same as the K66 I posted earlier as far as compound and tread are concerned.
The one I posted is used in the 125 supermoto class.

[Baggy_Al]

I Have a continental supamoto specific tyre fitted to my baggy, I cannot remember what it is but is similar tread to the k68, sticks well but only done 6-700 miles so cannot comment on wear rates.


Al

[Bill Jurgenson]

like I wrote, Haidenau belongs to Continental. It is very possible that the Heidenau is marketed as a Continental in the US.

[cat]

One example: http://www.cjdesignsllc.com/HeidenauTires.html
Then try this, google: site:www.advrider.com heidenau