New Dunlop Trailmax Mission tires on my V-Strom 800DE, and this video explains why.

[@ne-adv]

FYI, a really good way to start camping, if your family members are agreeable, is to camp in the house. Literally pack up your camping gear on your motorcycle and at 6PM, set up camp in a spare room, or your living room. (Little kids love it) Yes, if you are planning on using your motorcycle as part of the tent set up, this gets complicated, but just unpacking the bike, setting up the tent, going in the yard or out on the balcony to cook your food with your cook gear, clean up using a set amount of water, sleeping in that tent on your matt, making breakfast, and packing it all back on the motorcycle, is a great way to work out what to pack, how to pack, and get used to setting up and tearing down. Once you have that comfortable feeling, then try setting up and breaking back down in the dark, using the lighting sources you will take with. Even test your toilet gear (no, don't dig a hole in your house) but make sure what you need you have, its together, easy access, and it has everything you need, and the right amount. Even if you plan to use campgrounds, sometimes nature doesn't. And that really great freeze-dried food you want to take? Eat it a couple of times before your trip, while at home. Some is icky, some is great, and some will make you...irregular or too regular. Better to find out ahead of time. And carry about six ways to start a fire. One can be the flint and steel, but a disposable lighter or three, is my go-to. And a couple more in a waterproof container. And spend some real time thinking about the trauma kit you are planning on carrying or were not planning on carrying until I mentioned it. Tourniquet, clotting gauze, splints, some of that ace bandage looking stuff that sticks to itself for the splints, some electronic road flares, a satellite messaging system like an Inreach (I know for a fact that on some of the NEBDR, there is no cell reception in many areas. And a first aid book that explains how to use the equipment. Then take a first aid class or two. Remember, the trauma kit you carry, someone who finds you may be using on you. Don't lock it away, make it visible where it is. My kit has 2x tourniquet, 2 x splint, along with that other stuff, and its 6"x4"x2". NOT wasted space. And I guess a first aid kit with bandaids and tweezers can be packed. Same for the tool kit you will use. Normal maintenance you do, you should be able to do with the tools you carry. Spare light bulbs, tire spoons, spare tube(s), air pump. Duct tape, stainless steel wire. Spare fuses. And pack that all on the motorcycle and camp in your living room a couple times. Then you can go do an overnight somewhere near you. One last thing. A lot of folks want to carry electronics and plan on charging things from the motorcycle. Your stator only puts out so much wattage and is really designed for running the bike and maybe running a GPS and a phone. And some people hook up things directly to the motorcycle's battery, rather than use an accessory fuse or a relay to kill power when the bike is off. The 500-pound motorcycle can be difficult to pop-start. And killing your battery, even once, let alone multiple times, just isn't good for the battery. And if you are fuel injected, no power means no gas being pumped, meaning you can push forever and may not get it to pop. Make sure your charging system can handle the load and make sure that, should you do the dumb thing and go directly off the battery, you have some way to get the bike running after you drained the battery.

[@kentuckyadv]

Wow! You have provided so much good information here, many things I've not considered. You just wrote the perfect guide for first-timers like me. Thank you for that fantastic advice. The ideas for trying everything before being away from home are spot on. Again, thank you for stopping by and giving some rock-solid advice.

[@svenhofstede]

These videos are very relaxing. Especially the location where you ride and your beautiful bike. Thanks for uploading!

[@gabrielkopp2036]

I'm still running the stock tires on my 800de and am taking a hard look at the trailmax raid tires.. better for my environment. I live in the idaho panhandle. Also agree with you on gear ( dress for slides not the ride)

[@MotoOffroadAdventures]

I am all ears my friend. I am trying to figure out my next tire on the Himalayan.

[@stevefjordan]

I have the dji mini 3 pro. Bought it last year on Amazon prime day. It's coming up again in a couple of weeks. They'll probably have great deals on them or the action cam and you can do the monthly payments option to help ease the financial situation.

[@vincenttarquini4235]

I own a 2017 BMW R1200 GSA which currently has Michelin Adventure on it. They are great on the street, but so-so off pavement. On my previous Victory Vision, I always went with Dunlop and was never disappointed. My next set will most likely be the Trailmax Mission tires. Since most of my riding is on pavement, good highway manners is important, but you need a tough tire when the pavement ends, especially on a heavier motorcycle. The Mission was designed especially for such duty, so I am leaning on past experience and will order a set.

[@tieoneon1614]

Its nice to hear people buying tires actually aimed at their riding style. These and the Shinko 705 are similar and great options for mostly street riding and gravel roads. Far too many people listen to Bro on Internet that thinks D606 or DSports are best for everyone and they kill your enjoyment riding on pavement where 90% of people actually ride.

[@john0270]

I have put the motoz dual venture front, adventure rear on my 800de.... haha like riding on wet noodles compared to the oem tires. will definately try the trailmax raids, or the ax41's next time.

[@joebukrey2187]

I put the raids on my 800de. So far about 400 miles and I really like them, smooth on the road and corners, cruise 90mph on the highway no problem, had them up to 120+mph, and have been great on the dirt and gravel roads, like really good on gravel, they seem far better then the shinko 805/804 i had on my klr off the pavement ,waiting on an extended shifter show up so I can try them out on some rougher trails with some moto boots.

[@gray-stromer-pt]

Just subscribed. Got the exact same bike in that colour. Got the Shad TR55, amazing quality. What barkbusters model are those?

[@kentuckyadv]

Hey! Thanks for stopping by and subscribing; I do appreciate you being here. I may get the TR55 eventually to help with carrying work-related things; it was a hard decision on that vs. the TR50. Anyway... the Barkbusters I got from Cycle Gear, www.cyclegear.com/parts/barkbusters-aluminum-handguard-kit-suzuki-v-strom-800de-2023-2024?sku_id=10384872 with the VPS plastics.

[@lukecruse6822]

Nice overview and nice bike! Did you also replace the tubes when you got these tires? I have these Missions about to be put on my Transalp 750, and I went ahead and ordered new tubes and rim strips to go with them. This is the first bike I've owned that needed tubes. Hopefully it'll all come together , as I plan to have my dealer install them. I'm going to tell them I want to keep the old tires (Metzeler Karoo Street) and the old tubes.

[@kentuckyadv]

Thank you! I did order new heavy-duty tubes when I swapped the tires, I kept them as spares. How are you liking the Transalp? A friend of mine loves his.

[@lukecruse6822]

@@kentuckyadv I'm loving it! I live about 3.5 hours from the North Georgia mountains/ Cherohala Skyway / TOTD and have riden up there and camped a couple of times. It does great as a tourer and does well on unpaved roads; I don't do alot of aggressive offroad riding. I've done a few mods including a full exhaust with a K&N air filter, and had the ECU flashed by 2 Wheel Dynoworks. That really opened the bike up and brought it to its full potential. Gave it proper fueling as these new bikes are restricted to run lean from the factory, per the EPA and Euro 5. The throttle response is way smoother with no jerkiness. Quickshifter is way smoother. Had no issues during shipping or reinstallation. If that's something you're interested in, I think they have a flash tune for the GSX8S which might be compatible with the 800DE. I wouldn't recommend anyone else for flash tuning, 2WD are professionals. I also just got my Missions put on. I ordered the OEM Dunlop tubes, which I think are 2mm thick? So not the heavy duty type, which I think are usually 3-4mm thick. Regardless, I believe they'll be awesome tires. I've only had time to ride them down the street to make sure they were in balance and aligned. I'm looking forward to getting some miles on them!

[@ne-adv]

Deep mud and deep sand, the mission sux. Dry, they work well. I want to give the Raids a try, but that will have to wait. Had to make a 2100 mile freeway trip, and not knowing how a Raid on the front end was going to behave, I ended up just putting another Mission on the DL1000XAL8. As far as wear on the Mission, the front scalloped at about 9000 miles bad enough they needed to be replaced. Strangely, the rear has 9000 miles and it's about halfway thru to the wear bars. Usually, my front lasts longer than the rear. That 9000 miles was about 4500 miles freeway, and 4500 miles gravel/dirt/dual track/single track. Haven't looked at them since I got back, with an additional 2000 miles on the rear, knowing I am about to replace sprockets and chain and wheel bearings soon as the parts arrive.

[@kentuckyadv]

That's odd about the scalloping and the wearing more than the rear, very strange, but 9000 miles would make me happy. 😁

[@AT2021Rocker]

Never never again shall a set of Trailmax missions touch my bike!

[@kentuckyadv]

@AT2021Rocker What happened to make you not like them? I just want to know what to watch for. Thanks for stopping by.

[@CycleGeezer]

Those are the tires I am fixing to get for my Tiger 1200.

[@kentuckyadv]

Should be a great choice. Let me know how you like them on your Tiger once you've ran them for a while.

[@AT2021Rocker]

No, don’t do it!

[@Wrong-Way-Round]

Ytube 'LAVIE & OLLIE', a German/ English couple, on their Guiness Book Record, RTW youngest couple two up on a m/cycle (Suzuki 1050 Vstrom) started on Dunlop Trailmax Missions and changed them in Chile after 16k mls (25k kms).

[@kentuckyadv]

That's awesome. I'll have to check out their channel. It's good to hear so many folks getting high mileage from the TMM tires. Thanks for stopping by!

[@666dualsport]

terrible tyres for gravel

[@kentuckyadv]

@666dualsport I have had nothing but good experiences on gravel thus far. There are compromises when selecting tires for each rider's requirements. These are nowhere near as good as knobbies on gravel or dirt, obviously, but they get the job done. I needed a more street-biased tire because I am an hour away from decent dirt/gravel roads. Also, they are far superior to the OEM tires. Those tires were sketchy off the pavement.