Metzler Karoo 3 tyres: 1150GS

[Anonymous]

#4372

I stuck a pair of the (new, or newish anyway) Karoo 3 tyres on to my 1150GS a few months ago, and I've now ridden on them enough to form some opinions.Background: I like to make smooth progress (or so I delude myself), have fun on corners, but I'm not hard on brakes. I ride a bit of gravel and the odd 4WD road; some I use because I have to, others I like to see where they go. For nearly 75,000 kms I used Tourances 'cos they worked fine and I was getting 13,000 or more out of a back. Then a pair of Tourance EXP's ('cos at the time there were no "old" Tourances in NZ) which lasted 11,000 kms, were worse on gravel and probably better on tarseal (but the older ones were good enough on blacktop so I wasn't excited by the tradeoff). I've never tried TKC80's because they're crazy expensive over here and have a reputation for not lasting long.The Karoos went on just as the council sent a grader up the gravel road past our house and left a deepish loose surface layer; they were much nicer on this than the (worn out) EXPs. That's been confirmed by a fair amount of use on gravel and a little bit beyond: the GS is still a big, heavy bike but it's much more reassuring and much more relaxing to make reasonable progress. And there is some grip on softer surfaces, muddy bits that would have been a drama on Tourances have been no hassle. I haven't explored the limits for getting stuck: I've got an XR250 on knobblies for that, and neither my (lack of) skill nor the tyres will get the GS to the places it goes easily.On tar the Karoo 3s are pretty good, I haven't felt the need to slow down in the dry. They work well enough in the wet, too (they haven't done anything scary, but I've perhaps been a little more conservative out of respect for their fairly knobbly tread).I've done about 5000 kms, and the back tyre is down to 4mm in the centre (11 when new). It's looking like it'll do 6~7000. The front still has 6mm (of 8) left, so will probably last for two backs. But the back tyre is the expensive one...There is a bit of howling at cruising speed, particularly when new (or maybe I just got used to it), but I'm wearing earplugs most of the time so I don't care. And the knobbliness is noticeable when wheeling the bike around the garage (and can be felt when riding really slowly, if you look for it). But nothing that intrudes  on 600+ km days.Overall, for the mix of riding I do, the performance on sealed roads is plenty good enough given the extra ability on the looser stuff. The tradeoff is in the life of the rear tyre, I can probably live with that if I can put the bulk of the commuting miles onto the cheap Kendas on the XR. I wonder how a Karoo 3 on the front and original Tourance on the back might work?Just in case a subjective opinion helps anyone...

[aegis4805]

#18076

Hi AndyH – thanks for posting your impressionsUntil a year ago I had an 1150GS and ran TKC 80 fronts and Tourance rear - quite okay for gravel riding IMO. On my current 1200GS I'm currently running a TKC80 front and a Mitas E07 (tubeless) on rear. Very happy with this combination. Will probably try a an E07 on the front when the current TKC is done. Also I may consider the Heidenau Scout - simply becuase the Mitas are becoming more expensive relatively to their earlier pricing.Like you I use a ligher machine (DR650) for serious advenutre / dual sport riding

[Clive Lawrence]

#18077

Hey all,Update on the Heidenau K60's that I'm running on my 1150GS.. still bugger all wear. Only doing commuting mostly and open road k's. Done about 6k on the set and still near new... may be down to 9mm on the rear (10mm new). There is that extra road noise and the feel when you are slow. Just need to get off the seal and enjoy the loose stuff.Dave

[Author]

Posts