Mid - Tour Tyre Thoughts

 

I have ridden approximately 10 800 kilometres(6720mi) so far on this tour of south eastern Australia and thought I might break the trip blogs up with some thoughts on the tyres I have used or am currently using. For reference, the bike is a 2018 Africa Twin Adventure Sports (243kg wet) that is loaded with my camping gear (approximately 25kg) and I weigh about 95kg in my riding gear.

 

I left Brisbane back in early February with the bike sporting a moderately used (4500km) Mitas EO7+ Dakar on the rear and a near new (2000km) Bridgestone AX41 Adventurecross on the front. I had run AX-41s front and rear previously and quite liked their performance/handling both on the sealed stuff and in the dirt. On the road they felt rock solid and I could push along quite quickly, surprising some mates on road bikes with road-going rubber. The down side was that the rear AX-41 was worn out somewhere between five and six thousand kilometres (depending on your definition of worn out).

Whoa!! Lets back it up a bit here....

Before I go any further I think I should address the elephant in the room which is the "which ADV tyre is the best?" that gets asked endlessly on various internet forums and clearly, mostly by folk who have only ridden on the road all of their lives. (I say this because they struggle to understand Point 3 below). Well, there is NO tyre that is the "best" because we all want something different from a tyre. The best thing any rider with an ADV bike can do is ask themselves honestly what type of riding they will do and what level of safety margin of grip they are willing to accept on the sealed road or the dirt. This is fundamental to understanding what type of tyre will suit YOU. There are dozens of these "best tyre" videos on YouTube and I recently stumbled across this one (posted below) where I think he explains the sometimes subtle differences between tyres, that just look the same to the uninitiated, very, very well. (yes, he may be sponsored but he seems quite balanced in his opinions)

The key to all of these videos is to -

1. Be wary of anyone who suggests a particular brand/model of tyre. They are likely being paid to say that.

2. LISTEN very carefully to what the reviewer is actually saying and understand what they are saying. I saw this exact fault in action very recently after a riding buddy and I watched the same video and he made a crazy tyre choice off the back of it, because of not LISTENING.

3. Understand that every ADV tyre will be a compromise between grip, both on and off road, noise on sealed roads and mileage. 

Now, with all that in mind, lets move on...

Fitting the Mitas on the rear seemed to change the handling of my bike slightly as I didn't feel as confident pushing it hard, at full lean on the backtop. Not a huge issue as I have sports bikes for that style of riding - more just an observation. Both the AX-41 and the EO7+ seemed perfectly fine for my level of off road riding. I mean, no tyre can cope with the power of the Africa Twin on gravel if you just want to spin it up but all aspects of handling and braking performance were fine for me in off road use(gravel roads/forest tracks). I would be happy to use either again.

Mitas EO7+

Bridgestone AX-41

Once my rear tyre had almost reached the end of it's life, I tried to organise a replacement of one or other of the Mitas or the Bridgestone. Who would have thought that you can't get a specific tyre delivered to Tasmania from the mainland in under a week?! 

EO7+ with 9370km(5820mi) on it.

As a result I was a beggar, not a chooser and had to be content with a Michelin Anakee Wild for the rear. Reviews said it gripped well in the dirt and was okay on the tar in the wet but high speed stability wasn't great. As I had just put 4500km under my tires in the previous two weeks I knew how the bike felt. Thus, I was quite disconcerted by the way the bike handled immediately after leaving the bike shop. Tipping into a corner, the solid feel was gone and a sort of  "walking" of the rear end followed the tip in. This necessitated a steering correction out of the corner to hold your line. Grip never seemed to be an issue thankfully with full lean angle still being easily achieved - just with a less assured feel. The bike also wove around in a straight line as the tyre/knobs flexed and followed undulations in the pavement. The Africa Twin now felt like a big dirt bike on this dirt bike tyre. 

I wasn't happy.

Michellin Anakee Wild

On the dirt though it was a completely different story. It gripped well and felt good. If I was doing an 80-90% off road ride I would have no problem using the Anakee Wild again but as a mostly sealed road riding tyre, NO. Like I said above, it is a dirt bike tyre. 

The down side is that like the AX-41, the Anakee Wild mileage was on the low side at 5965km(3700mi). It was completely worn out at that too. I was actually starting to ride on the tyre carcass by the time I got to a bike shop for a replacement!

The front AX41 was really scalloped out on the side knobs as I had been pushing it pretty hard into Tasmanian corners for a few weeks now(no photos unfortunately). The last week the bike had been difficult to turn on the asphalt, with running wide mid corner being an issue if I was trying to push on. So, I just backed off a bit and enjoyed the ride. I knew I wouldn't be able to source a new front in Tassie. 

I did do 400km of dirt on it at about the 11 500km tyre life mark and it felt completely solid with zero front end nervousness. By the time it was removed it had done 12 672km(7700mi). Very acceptable considering it's performance both on and off road.

So, rocking into Adelaide after a straight sprint across from Melbourne and Tassie (via the Spirit of Tasmania), I had the bike at GC Motorcycles first thing Monday morning where I had them fit a set of Bridgestone AX-41s.

Why the AX-41 I hear you ask? 

Well, as a matched set I really like how they handle on the sealed roads and lets be honest, after the almost 11 000km I have done so far, I would guestimate I have done about 800km off road. The bike will be in Adelaide for a couple of months and we are going into winter here in Australia so I want better grip from the rear and I will sacrifice mileage for the safety the stickier AX-41 rear will give me on damp, mossy Adelaide Hills roads. Plus, I know the off road performance of this pair is more than able to outperform my limited off road skills.

AX-41 again.

A quick scrubbing in ride in the Adelaide Hills confirmed how shagged the old front tyre was as normal, sweet steering was restored to the Twin. 

As a foot note a couple of the guys were running Metzler Karoo 3s on the front of their Africa Twins in Tassie and I can report that these tyres handle extremely well on the sealed roads as well as handling good gravel roads no problem. I would be happy to try them on my bike at some stage. 

I am also interested in trying a set of the new Heidenau K60 Rangers when they become available in Australia. They seem a new development on the K60 Scout's main weakness of being a bit slippery in the wet due to the rear tread design and a hard compound rubber. It will be interesting to follow some reviews once the tyres are in circulation.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts on the tyres I prefer. You need to figure out what your needs are and then research various manufacturers products to see what fits those needs. 

Notice, I haven't mentioned price in the considerations? That is just a whole other can of worms but my take is that ~$500 worth of rubber is keeping $30 000 of motorcycle upright and me in one piece. Cheap - arse at your own peril.......

Cheers.