Stornello Replacement Tires?

[adventurelounger]

Greetings all. Given that my Storny is still on 8-year old OEM rubber—and the rear is squaring off—I think it’s time to invest in some new shoes.

Bike came with the Golden Tyre “kind of” knobbies. Wondering what other Stornello riders have replaced them with. Same thing? Other mild 70/30 or 60/40 on/off road tires?

And has anyone gone full road tire on their Stornello? Happy? Regrets? (FWIW even though I do 90% of my riding with this bike on pavement, I like playing around on New England dirt and fire roads, and the current tires have served me well for both).

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. Gonna take her to Jim Hamlin to get re-shod.

[Dirk_S]

Golden Tyre, or do you mean one of the Golden Boy tires produced by Shinko? I thought most Golden Tyres were pretty aggressive.

I’d be willing to bet that a significant majority of Stornello owners treat their Guzzis like any other V7 and stick to the road. Also—I wouldn’t just ask the Stornello community—after all, aside from a high exhaust, minor map and shock difference, the bike is pretty much the same as all the other V7 IIs, and there are those of us cheaper bastards who probably do more dirt on our Stones than most do on their Stornies. That said, I’m curious about your desire for 60/40s. Is it cosmetic mostly, or do you indeed hit some quasi-junk occasionally? Because that type of knob and compound will wear down fairly quickly. For what it’s worth, I also tend to run 60/40-70/30 usually, and admittedly ride my bike on the road 90% of the time. But then I go out and do an unmaintained road with rocks, ruts, roots, and mud from time to time.

Because I’m cheap, I like the Kenda 761 for more road bias or the 270 if I’m doing a more funky trip like one of the BDRs—I used the 270 for the MABDR and it worked for me. Shinko has comparable tire models— 705 and 244 respectively. I haven’t ridden enough on all of them to say which comparative model I prefer over the other.

For a little less dirt than the 761/705 style, I’ve used the Pirelli MT60. it looks the business and does a fine job on packed dirt until it it reaches 50% of its life, I’ve found. After that, the rear grooves are just too shallow and the rubber too hard, and it begins to slip on dirt fairly easily. That’s at least what I found on my first MABDR attempt. They’d still be good on pavement, though. Also, either the front or rear was an absolute hellion to remove and reinstall once it’s begun to age.

That’s pretty much my experience. I’m building a 21/18 set of wheels to throw onto either my V7 II or III (if I get it titled in time) for parts or all of the NEBDR in June. I’m planning to use the Kenda 270 for the job, since the route description advises at least 50/50.

[adventurelounger]

Yep…OEM’s are 100% Golden Tyre.






I can’t really say whether I’d prefer a 60/40 or 70/30 tire…but I do want some dirt grip because I tend to ride a number of dirt/gravel roads, and also because optically, it’s a scrambler, and would look weird (to me) with plain road tires.

Will look into the MT60s…they might be the ticket.

You’re a brave man to tackle the NEBDR on a V7. Not that it can’t, but personally I’d be more comfortable on something like a dedicated ADV bike.

A friend of mine and I did a Vermont adventure a few years back (I rode my Super Tenere and my friend rode my Stornello) and the lil’ Guzzi did fine…would just recommend a burly bash plate for the occasional rocky sections. If you’re curious about our ride, I posted a report about it on my motoblog here: https://longitudeandgratitude.blog/2016/08/25/idiots-delights/

From that trip…

[Guzzistajohn]

I run Shinko 705's on my T7. Don't see a reason to change

[Dirk_S]

You’re a brave man to tackle the NEBDR on a V7. Not that it can’t, but personally I’d be more comfortable on something like a dedicated ADV bike.

Ha, I totally believe it can’t do the whole NEBDR…without modification.

I’m in the middle of building a set of 21/18 wheels, and will hopefully have the NTX 650 forks thrown on as well. At that point it’ll essentially just be an overweight NTX 650, or as the Germans call it—an R80 GS. Similar torque and power, albeit a wimpier driveshaft for the Italian. I’m basically going for the same build that Guareschi did with their V7 II, seen here:





Weight-wise, it should be lighter than the Triumph 1200 Scrambler, maybe in line with a fat KLR…we’ll see. Bash plate will indeed be back on. I had the Agostini sump protector on the V7 on my first MABDR trip, and it was crucial for the expert sections. Last year’s MABDR trip was without the plate (I sold it and was hoping to have another installed by then), which kept me from doing the rock garden climb up Poe Paddy again.

I know I tend to stay cheap with my tires, but I’ve also been considering trying out some Anakees or Motoz at some point. That Tractionator looks the business.

[Dirk_S]

I run Shinko 705's on my T7. Don't see a reason to change

I was actually going to advise against the 705s. I found they just wore down too quickly on pavement, and once you got out onto dirt, the big block design seems to hurt with only 50% of the groove depth remaining. What has your experience been?

[Guzzistajohn]

I was actually going to advise against the 705s. I found they just wore down too quickly on pavement, and once you got out onto dirt, the big block design seems to hurt with 50% of the groove depth. What has your experience been?

I'm getting 5500 to 6000 miles out of the rear. I don't get too far off the beaten path. Rarely single track. I like the price, (I am still a Guzzi rider)

[Dirk_S]

I'm getting 5500 to 6000 miles out of the rear. I don't get too far off the beaten path. Rarely single track. I like the price, (I am still a Guzzi rider)

Ahhhh, my mistake. I actually meant the Shinko 805 tires—they’re the ‘big block’ Shinkos. I didn’t have too good an experience in mud at half-tread. Pic for reference:

[Guzzistajohn]

Ahhhh, my mistake. I actually meant the Shinko 805 tires—they’re the ‘big block’ Shinkos. Those are the ones that I didn’t have the greatest dirt experience. Pic for reference:

YES! they look like the Pirelli tire that came on my Yamahammer. That big block does kinda suck in the mud

[BoatDoc]

I've got a Stornello that I've lightly modified for off pavement riding. Have done the MABDR and ACT Portugal and perhaps 5K of the 40K on the bike is off pavement. After the Goldens wore out I've used the Shinko 705, 4.10-18 up front and 130/80-17 rear. Certainly an 80/20 type of tire but they worked fine in everything but soft sand and deep mud, but then again, that could just be my lack of skill in that stuff! I get about 6K on the rear and 11K on the front. A bit of vibration on the road, so I found a pair of Bridgestone AX41S on sale that are the stock sizes and picked them up for the next try. They are 90/10s.

There are obviously much better bikes out there for the NEBDR, but if you take it slowly...!
I'm in CT so might see you. We plan to do the VT PDR in late July.

Have fun!

Cheers,
Paul

[rocker59]

You might look at the Heidenau Scout K60