Tires for a long road trip

Lots of tire info here but most involves true dual sport information. My question is what to get if the road traveled will be lots of pavement and good gravel roads. I am planning a trip from Washington State down into Mexico and around. Everything is up in the air as to specifics. I want a good long lasting tire that can do OK on a number of different road surfaces and last for a good long time mileage wise. I am not adverse to swapping rubber just before entering Mexico for something that is more suited to less than ideal pavement.


From what I have read it seems like the Mitas E-07 may be a good choice....I have used these on my big bike and they seem good. I am open to suggestions.


I am in no way new to travel on two wheels but this is the first trip on the WRR. What kind of mileage can I realistically expect from a set of tires, on the WR while touring.

Shinko 244's

+1 on the Shinko 244.

If you were going to be hitting a lot of mud then I would opt for a Dunlop 606 rear and an MT16 front tire.

Gotta say the Mitas E-07 clobbers the Shinko 244 for wear and ride smoothness and traction on most (all?) surfaces. Is it worth the extra cost? Until I got some miles on them I wasn't sure about the wear, but now it's looking like that's the case. I really love these tires.

I'd run kenda 761's or shinko 705's for a trip like that, these tires last 10000ish kms on bigger heavier bikes.

They will last way longer than the trip and work fine on dirt roads and awesome on pavement ofcourse, you will have to take it easy in sand or mud tho.

Its been a while since I have visited the site.

Regarding the Mitas E-07  They worked great I am approaching 13,000 km on the tires now, they still have some life left.  They wear great and ride good on road and fine on gravel roads.  


  Mitas are good but I have a set of Scouts waiting in the wings for when the 07's  wear out.  For a high milage tire I suspect on of these two will be the best.  Milage varies but I wonder if anyone has a posting listing results of the various tires.

Unfortunately the Mitas E-07 tires are not avail for our size until fall 2016 as they are being redesigned

Thats too bad. Are you in the States or Canada? I am pretty sure you can get them in Canada from MX1.

drbike wrote:

Thats too bad.  Are you in the States or Canada?   I am pretty sure you can get them in Canada from MX1.

I am in the states