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Best tire for gravel roads?

I

iowa roy

Total noob
Location
Iowa
At 72, and after 40 years, I bought a motorcycle, a 350 Classic. I enjoy it. Live in rural northern Iowa, lot of quiet two lane black tops and the occasional gravel road or two.

Two things I would like to better, one, on gravels the front tire skitters around a bit. I hold my speed down, maybe twenty five to thirty, to be on the safe side. Also, if I hit fresh gravel a couple inches thick have to be very careful. The second issue is cracks running lengthwise down the center of the blacktop, when I hit them the front, factory, tire throws the bike around a bit.

I should point out the gravel issue is not with well packed gravel but freshly graded roads where the up to 3/4 inch gravel is laying loose on top.

So there are Shinko 705 tires, are they the answer? Or, would a radial road tire help.

Been reading reviews on the 70/30 tires but is unclear how they would do on loose gravel, also unclear on how radials would do.

Your thoughts.
 
I'm running Shinko 244 on my Interceptor, they handle quite well in every condition I've ridden in (including cold, wet pavement) and are a 50/50 tire. I run 24psi front and rear.
 
iowa roy said:
At 72, and after 40 years, I bought a motorcycle, a 350 Classic. I enjoy it. Live in rural northern Iowa, lot of quiet two lane black tops and the occasional gravel road or two.

Two things I would like to better, one, on gravels the front tire skitters around a bit. I hold my speed down, maybe twenty five to thirty, to be on the safe side. Also, if I hit fresh gravel a couple inches thick have to be very careful. The second issue is cracks running lengthwise down the center of the blacktop, when I hit them the front, factory, tire throws the bike around a bit.

I should point out the gravel issue is not with well packed gravel but freshly graded roads where the up to 3/4 inch gravel is laying loose on top.

So there are Shinko 705 tires, are they the answer? Or, would a radial road tire help.

Been reading reviews on the 70/30 tires but is unclear how they would do on loose gravel, also unclear on how radials would do.

Your thoughts.
Click to expand...
I will add, back in the seventies I had a little 1200 Datsun car, 12 inch tires, handled terrible. Put a set of Michlen radials on and what a difference. Also, when a teen, about 1968, had one friend had a Suzuki 500 twin road bike, another had a CL450 Honda. I had a chance to drive both on gravel roads. The 450 was terrible, had to drive very slow, and carefully or it would dump you off. The 500 Suzuki drove great on the gravel, could go 50 or 60 and felt rock solid. I always figured it was the difference in wheelbase, steering angle and thar the Suzuki likely had a lower CG.
At any rate, dont mind spending some money on a new set of tires, just hoping if I do I can get a set that tracks better on gravel and those pesky seams run lengthwise down the road.
 
Dry and dusty here with lots of gravel (and lousy) roads. I have 705's on two bikes and they work fine for gravel. Kind of my go-to tire, actually.
 
iowa roy said:
At 72, and after 40 years, I bought a motorcycle, a 350 Classic. I enjoy it. Live in rural northern Iowa, lot of quiet two lane black tops and the occasional gravel road or two.

Two things I would like to better, one, on gravels the front tire skitters around a bit. I hold my speed down, maybe twenty five to thirty, to be on the safe side. Also, if I hit fresh gravel a couple inches thick have to be very careful. The second issue is cracks running lengthwise down the center of the blacktop, when I hit them the front, factory, tire throws the bike around a bit.

I should point out the gravel issue is not with well packed gravel but freshly graded roads where the up to 3/4 inch gravel is laying loose on top.

So there are Shinko 705 tires, are they the answer? Or, would a radial road tire help.

Been reading reviews on the 70/30 tires but is unclear how they would do on loose gravel, also unclear on how radials would do.

Your thoughts.
Click to expand...
Well, this may be resolved. Went shopping and bought a 2022 Honda CB500X Adventure bike. I like it, very much. No more tramlining on the highway. Really have only used a bit on the gravel, not sure that issue is much improved. Will need a rear tire soon so a set of Shinko 705s may well be going on it.
The biggest plus of this bike? The suspension. My 350 Classic, although I loved it, would drill my back when I would hit a heave or dip in the road. A pot hole you can see, these bumps however sneak up, gave a sharp pain in my back when I hit them. One stretch of road south of town I simply avoided. The 500X just floats over those bumps and rough spots.

Will keep the 350 for now but suspect after a week on this new bike there will be no going back. Thank you all for your good advice.
 
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