NC700X is an ADV bike!

[FCAsheville]

Just completed the Smokey Mountain 500 in sometimes sloppy muddy conditions in 3 days and 2 nights. I put my NC through some places it had no business being and it did just fine. I was a little slower than my buddy on his KTM, but we did it together. Only one slow speed drop. My biggest wish along the way was more aggressive tires. I have Shinko 705s which are great.... until the mud! Suspension, ground clearance and weight were not ideal, but it can be done. Pick good lines, remember what bike you are on and slow down a bit.

There was a serious enduro style ride around for this... we turned around.


end of day 2... (fork boot was torn before the trip)


My NC....

 

[the Ferret]

you are clearly a more adventurous rider than I . They just freshly tar and chipped our street, and I don't even like riding on that lol.

 

[670cc]

Oh, the mud! Just be careful how much of that you get into. It can pack up in the close fitting fender and darn near break the plastic. In the case of my aftermarket rear hugger, the mud did break the hugger.

Adventure bikes, which are mostly driven on road, have close fit fenders, while dual sports have high mount fenders. I pretty much quit using the NC off pavement, favoring a dual sport instead.

 

[vinay]

So many different types of mud. Some sticks and jams, other types don't. Tires matter as well. An open profile releases mud more easily (hence wouldn't pack up that much) whereas a more closed profile rolls more smoothly on even surfaces (like tarmac). As for the fender, I'm surprised to learn that even Beta has a close fitting front fender on their Alp models which should run fairly well in the dirt. Similar with the Royal Enfield Himalayan. Apparently very often it isn't that much of an issue. Either way, I'd say a more open tire profile will probably go a long way.

 

[670cc]

So many different types of mud. Some sticks and jams, other types don't. Tires matter as well. An open profile releases mud more easily (hence wouldn't pack up that much) whereas a more closed profile rolls more smoothly on even surfaces (like tarmac). As for the fender, I'm surprised to learn that even Beta has a close fitting front fender on their Alp models which should run fairly well in the dirt. Similar with Apparently very often it isn't that much of an issue. Either way, I'd say a more open tire profile will probably go a long way.

To get an understanding of your definitions, would you consider my attached tire photo an open or closed profile?

 

[vinay]

Being fairly new to motorcycling and with more of a background in mountainbiking, I'm definitely not an authority on the matter. But I'd definitely consider this quite a closed profile. Obviously the most open patterns can be had in 21" front and 18" rear sizes, but for instance something like a Maxxis M6006 is already a good bit more open and available in 17" so it might fit. Thing is that these gaps don't really have a release angle which you do have between a pair of wider spaced blocks. The mud gets compressed in and it doesn't drop out easily so from then on your tires won't do much for grip. Think of it like when baking a cake. A cake shape has this typical wedge form that allows you to release the cake after baking with as least effort and damage as possible. If the walls would have been parallel, you can imagine getting your cake out would take a whole lot more effort no matter how many swear words you dedicate to job at hand.

So yeah, hopefully this has helped you illustrate my suggestion of what an open thread pattern would be. The opposite (a more closed pattern) again has the advantage of more tire stability, less tire wear, less noise (on tarmac) and obviously a too open profile (so too widely spaced blocks) leave fewer blocks left to actually grip the dirt. Hence there is a spectrum. Either way, my point is: if the tire gets caked with mud, a more open profile could have helped. For that section of trail that is as whichever tire you choose, it is always a compromise!