On/off road tires

concours said:

Do you charge money for riding lessons? Or are they free to anyone who can keep you within sight?

Just teasing Schwany, carry on.

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Ha, I wouldn't know where to start, or finish. My BS only gets me so far.

I get the humor. We good as usual

It is a long time since I was involved with off-road bikes, however it seems to me that using a Commando off-road is not sensible. I can remember playing with such things as suspension travel, and power characteristics. Also the steering geometry for a dirt bike is usually different because dirt bikes are usually more situationalist.

Sometimes we run out of pavement Al. Doesn't happen on the racetrack, but it do happen in the woods.
Just here to talk about tires that can do both.

I've had my N15 off-road a few times, typical SoCal stuff, sand, and sand over rock. The K70s I fitted are surprisingly good there! They are not terrible on the road either, but before I rode dirt, I was thinking I'd made a mistake. Now I see they are sort of a 50/50 for the speeds and terrain I ride. They do the job and look the part as well. I have fitted a disc to the front and I can lock it up on pavement at any legal speed. That's my main beef with them. The compound is soft and it's got decent 'blockiness' to possibly coin a term. By soft I mean I can almost feel the tire shedding rubber as I brake hard on pavement. I talked to my older brother, who had a '68 and '71 Triumph when new. He said he'd win hill climbs in the woods on his bikes using K70s, even in the winter on snow, they grip damn well! Of course, his competition was rat-bike stuff ha!

I am currently running Dunlop TT100's (very similar to K70's) and they are squirrely on rain grooves and metal bridges. Just FYI

gpzkat said:

I've had my N15 off-road a few times, typical SoCal stuff, sand, and sand over rock. The K70s I fitted are surprisingly good there! They are not terrible on the road either, but before I rode dirt, I was thinking I'd made a mistake. Now I see they are sort of a 50/50 for the speeds and terrain I ride. They do the job and look the part as well. I have fitted a disc to the front and I can lock it up on pavement at any legal speed. That's my main beef with them. The compound is soft and it's got decent 'blockiness' to possibly coin a term. By soft I mean I can almost feel the tire shedding rubber as I brake hard on pavement. I talked to my older brother, who had a '68 and '71 Triumph when new. He said he'd win hill climbs in the woods on his bikes using K70s, even in the winter on snow, they grip damn well! Of course, his competition was rat-bike stuff ha!

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I forgot I had a pair of K70's on my P11. The rear went away so quick I forgot I had it on there. The front one literally lasted until 2020 from sometime in the 1980's. I was not riding the Norton all that much anyway since I was more into off road with lighter 2 strokes. However the K70 was on the front with a spent Avon Venom on the rear when I sold off all my other bikes and resurrected the P11. All it took to start the P11 was fresh gas and a lot of leg after sitting for 27 years. Then after getting on this site and becoming a member so I could use the search function to look for clutch ideas (mostly got crickets chirping and zero info) I found JS Motorsport on my own. I got a bug up my arse to see how much I could get out of the Norton 750 engine without making it unrideable on the street. I did it for myself, I doubt it would be considered ridable by too may other white hairs. Sucks if short shifted climbing a hilly road. Point is the rear K70 didn't last. I couldn't feel it shredding but I rode a lot in the dirt so on the street any tire kind of worked until it was worn square.

Still waiting for me to load them in to the El Camino to go to the dump/recycler.



By the way, K70's follow rain grooves because of the continuous centerline cut into the tread. Most front tires with that centerline cut tend to follow rain grooves in my old man experience. I'll insert a thumbs down for my own self.

Schwany said:

I forgot I had a pair of K70's on my P11. The rear went away so quick I forgot I had it on there. The front one literally lasted until 2020 from sometime in the 1980's. I was not riding the Norton all that much anyway since I was more into off road with lighter 2 strokes. However the K70 was on the front with a spent Avon Venom on the rear when I sold off all my other bikes and resurrected the P11. All it took to start the P11 was fresh gas and a lot of leg after sitting for 27 years. Then after getting on this site and becoming a member so I could use the search function to look for clutch ideas (mostly got crickets chirping and zero info) I found JS Motorsport on my own. I got a bug up my arse to see how much I could get out of the Norton 750 engine without making it unrideable on the street. I did it for myself, I doubt it would be considered ridable by too may other white hairs. Sucks if short shifted climbing a hilly road. Point is the rear K70 didn't last. I couldn't feel it shredding but I rode a lot in the dirt so on the street any tire kind of worked until it was worn square.

Still waiting for me to load them in to the El Camino to go to the dump/recycler.

By the way, K70's follow rain grooves because of the continuous centerline cut into the tread. Most front tires with that centerline cut tend to follow rain grooves in my old man experience. I'll insert a thumbs down for my own self.

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I see one K70 there. I am not endorsing them fully. I'm sort of like Mark Twain upon first hearing Wagner.... "It's not as bad as it sounds."

gpzkat said:

I see one K70 there. I am not endorsing them fully. I'm sort of like Mark Twain upon first hearing Wagner.... "It's not as bad as it sounds."

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Right I did mention there was a Avon Venom on the rear when I resurrected the P11. The rear K70 went to the dump 40 years ago.

By the way I sort of endorsed them first in this thread, but as usual got no credit for it. And people wonder why I'm not a VIP member. Oops did I say that out loud?

Schwany said:

Right I did mention there was a Avon Venom on the rear when I resurrected the P11. The rear K70 went to the dump 40 years ago.

By the way I sort of endorsed them first in this thread, but as usual got no credit for it. And people wonder why I'm not a VIP member. Oops did I say that out loud?

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They sort of deserve an endorsement, as you sort of deserve credit! Just messin' with you.

400-19 K70 is unavailable. Maybe end up with TT100s or just buy a KLR and be done with it.