Actual tire mileage

epyles

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I have read many posts since joining this site and I have been trying to get a good idea for a set of replacement tires for an upcoming trip. This trip will consist of probably over 10,000 miles altogether so tire longevity is a must. So I'm asking for opinions on which tires last the longest. Now take in mind that I will be traveling mostly paved roads with maybe some broken pavement and maybe very little gravel roads (probably during road construction areas). My brother and I have planned a bucket list trip to Prudhoe Bay, AK from Louisiana this coming July and we figured with some side stops that it will total a little over 10,000 miles round trip. The reason I'm looking for a long lasting tire is the fact I really don't want to have to carry a spare unless I have to. At the least, I figured I would have to carry a rear spare, but if I can avoid it, it would be helpful. Presently, I have about 8000 miles on the stock tire (BattleWings) and they probably have about another 1000 miles to go before I get down to the wear bars. These tires are good street tires, but are not much good in dirt especially gravel (I have a 2 mile gravel driveway before I hit the first paved road, so I know how they handle in gravel).

So let's hear from the masses!
 

Anwar Namtut

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Shinko 705s. I probably got 8,000 to 10,000 from the rear tire and will get double that from the front. Most reasonably priced tire there is and I have not had any problems with performance, but I am probably not as hard on tires as others.
 

bob dirt

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I know Heidenaus last over 10k as long as you keep the pressure right. My buddy left Phoenix with new ones on our Alaska trip. There is a guy in Fairbanks that if you pre order will have new tires in stock. He will mount/balance them AND do an oil change if needed. I rode to his house on the way to Prudoe Bay and got new tires and hit his place again for our oil changes on the way home. We did almost 9k miles with about 650 on dirt/gravel. I have Mitas E07's now which are supposed to get same millage.
 

WJBertrand

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The OEM Battlewings or the Michelin Anakee III seem to last past 10,000 miles. With the Michelins you'll wear the front out first at just about 10K. The OEM 'wings will both go past that mark in my experience.
 

EricV

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Heidenau K60 Scout or Mitas E07 Dakar. I've run perhaps 10 sets of K60s, (on the Super Ten), including an 8k Alaska trip. I rode it for another 2k plus after that trip. I'm a smooth throttle user. I typically saw 12k miles from the rear and 22k from the front under normal mixed riding with much more bias on pavement than gravel. Alaska was a bit harder on them, but still got 10k from the rear w/o drama. Or a single flat.

The Mitas E07 Dakar wears even better. I have over 16k on my rear now and while I would't take it seriously off pavement, it will burn up more pavement miles easily. I'll take it off when it's really worn out and down to the wear bars, not before.

Yes, these are bias ply 50/50 tires. No, you're really not going to notice much difference with 80/20 tires, except hating life and learning new swear words when you ride the 400 miles of gravel to Prudhoe Bay, especially crossing over Antigun Pass if the conditions are marginal. The Haul Road is full of sharp rocks. It can take a toll on tires. Lots of people simply rent smaller bikes in Fairbanks and leave their big bikes there until they return.

The Shinkos have softer side walls. I've run them and personally did not care for them. I wouldn't consider them for Alaska/Yukon and the Haul Road for several reasons. Cheap is fine where you can easily find a replacement tire. The heavier plys of the Mitas E07 Dakar are worth the expense. (the dakar version has an extra 2 plys over the standard version of the E07)
 

TenereStreets

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Check out the Pirelli Scorpion Trail II's. I'm on my 4th set now. Got 10,426 miles out of the 3rd set. Mostly highway and canyon usage with some dirt (fire road) action. For comparison the stock BattleWings lasted me 7,500 miles.
 

Ramseybella

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I must be the only person that has never came close to 8000 miles on a rear tire on all the bikes i have owned, and i have run a few including Heidenaus..
I keep the pressure consistent as well.
 

RIVA

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Ramseybella said:
I must be the only person that has never came close to 8000 miles on a rear tire on all the bikes i have owned, and i have run a few including Heidenaus..
I keep the pressure consistent as well.
Same here Ramseybella. I own an FJR and an XT. 7500 to 8000 km per set either motorcycle. This mileage is very low by comparison to most on here but is average for most motorcyclists here in Éire. I am using Avon Angels GT on the FJR and Metzeler Tourance on the XT. 90% ridden 2 up and on secondary or link roads.
 

fred-houston

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Ramseybella said:
I must be the only person that has never came close to 8000 miles on a rear tire on all the bikes i have owned, and i have run a few including Heidenaus..
I keep the pressure consistent as well.
You're not the only one. I am thrilled when I get 8000 miles on a rear tire.
 

Cycledude

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Rear Bridgestone last me about 8,000 miles give or take. We rode to Prudehoe in 2016, total miles round trip was a little under 10,000 miles, replaced the rear tire at a Yamaha dealer in Whitehorse on the way home, it was completely worn out with a little over 5,000 miles on it. There are only about 250 miles of gravel to get to Prudehoe Bay the rest is paved, at least it was in 2016.
We will be riding to Inuvik this year and I’m seriously considering buying a set of Mitas EO7’s for the trip, many folks claim they last 12,000+ miles.
 

RIDEMYST

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You are going to get a LOT of answers on this one! However, there are several factors to consider, that being how heavy will your bike be loaded (and include your body weight), how you ride and how much you twist your throttle, just to name a few factors. One rider may get over 10,000 miles on a particular set of tires while another may not safely reach 8,000.
I ride between 20,000 to 30,000 miles every year and have over 70,000 miles on my less than three year old Tenere, so I've gone through a lot of tires already.
My advise is to put on a set of good touring tires like a Pilot Road Trail (there are many to choose from) as you are planning a 10,000 mile trip so your bike will be primarily a touring bike. Then simply plan on having a set waiting for you somewhere along your route around 8,000 miles. If the old set still has some meat on them when you reach that point....well you did good and it's simply a cost of the trip.
What you DON'T want to happen is to stretch a set of tires to far and at the very least be worried when you are in heavy rain or on twisty roads as that will detract from your trip or worse.
Sounds like you are giving this trip some good thought so it should be a great trip for you!
Ride safe and post some pics! :)
My 2-cents. -JEP-
 

Propsoto

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My OEM Battlewings were to the wear bars a bit over 6000 miles. I replaced them with Heidenau K60's which currently have 9000 miles on them. My rear could easily go another 1000 or 2000.

I ran the Battlewings at 33F/42R and the K60s at 38F/40R.

FWIW I do accelerate and brake harder than most and I weigh around 300#.
 

raynchk

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EricV said:
Heidenau K60 Scout or Mitas E07 Dakar. I've run perhaps 10 sets of K60s, (on the Super Ten), including an 8k Alaska trip. I rode it for another 2k plus after that trip. I'm a smooth throttle user. I typically saw 12k miles from the rear and 22k from the front under normal mixed riding with much more bias on pavement than gravel. Alaska was a bit harder on them, but still got 10k from the rear w/o drama. Or a single flat.

The Mitas E07 Dakar wears even better. I have over 16k on my rear now and while I would't take it seriously off pavement, it will burn up more pavement miles easily. I'll take it off when it's really worn out and down to the wear bars, not before.

Yes, these are bias ply 50/50 tires. No, you're really not going to notice much difference with 80/20 tires, except hating life and learning new swear words when you ride the 400 miles of gravel to Prudhoe Bay, especially crossing over Antigun Pass if the conditions are marginal. The Haul Road is full of sharp rocks. It can take a toll on tires. Lots of people simply rent smaller bikes in Fairbanks and leave their big bikes there until they return.

The Shinkos have softer side walls. I've run them and personally did not care for them. I wouldn't consider them for Alaska/Yukon and the Haul Road for several reasons. Cheap is fine where you can easily find a replacement tire. The heavier plys of the Mitas E07 Dakar are worth the expense. (the dakar version has an extra 2 plys over the standard version of the E07)
Back in June of '06 I rode a bicycle from Prudhoe Bay to Fairbanks and on. That haul road is nasty and there was plenty of cold and snow. The support vehicle following sustained a broken windshield from the rocks kicked up by the northbound trucks. Once over Atigun Pass and down to treeline, things get a *lot* nicer. I saw a couple BMW's and KLR's up there (probably what re-ignited my motorcycle jones) and took the ferry from Skagway to Prince Rupert. Met a guy on his BMW on the ferry and he'd had some road induced problems.. don't remember what now, though. I've also driven to Fairbanks on the AlCan and cracked the windshield in my van. Prettiest part of the trip I remember is the Canadian Rockies, I wouldn't mind looking around that area for a while. There are also some nice hot springs on the way. Sounds like a fun trip. Best of luck.
 

epyles

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Well been researching some on the Mitas and can get a set of the Dakar E-07 or the Terra Force R for around $290. But I've noticed they make an E-08 which is in between the two aforementioned, but no one sells them in the U.S. Does anyone know why?
 

Checkswrecks

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I got 17,000 out of both the Heidenau K60 and Anakee 3 rears. Did 10,000 miles on the K60s to Alaska and back 5 years ago with no problem. The Heidi wears very square and gets pretty slick in the wet, which is inevitable in Alaska and NW Canada. The A3 front wore out first, it howled, and sucked off of pavement. Lots of miles but I won't buy any more of either.


The Shinkos have their place when a cheap tire is needed that does well in the gravel for a short while. They do well for as long as they last but the mileage we've gotten on the Shinkos has been half of the Mitas E07. We had to delay a trip to replace a set mid-way and I've personally seen them with torn tread blocks on the big adventure bikes. Even so, I have another new set on the old Strom in the garage right now just to sell it in the Spring.


I'm about to install another set of the E07s on the Tenere and again am at 12,000 miles.
 

HeliMark

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epyles said:
Well been researching some on the Mitas and can get a set of the Dakar E-07 or the Terra Force R for around $290. But I've noticed they make an E-08 which is in between the two aforementioned, but no one sells them in the U.S. Does anyone know why?
A quick guess would be that Mitas never set up or initially intended the tires to be sold in the U.S. as they are/were and "off" brand, and plenty of competition already. They were sold in Canada, and with the reviews for the E-07 saying how good they were, people here started buying them, and through demand, distributors in the U.S. started stocking them. The E-07's are just becoming widely available here over the last two years. Before you had to buy from Canada.

I would think the E-08's will follow the same path.

Mark
 

epyles

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Thanks for the replies! Well going to get the Terra Force R's for now and try them. My brother has decided he can't make the trip this year so plans have changed. I'm going to see how much abuse these can take and then decide if I'm going to use them or the E-07s for the trip to Alaska.
 

bob dirt

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Just my opinion, but running a 90/10 tire on Canadian construction zones and on the haul road to Prudoe bay may not be he best choice. Probably should research some stories riding that road when its raining...just sayin. Unless I read it wrong, that's what the terra force r is
 
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