world How are the stock tires? Anyone venture off road with em?

[Cruizin]

The stock STR's have good reviews online, on road. As tempted as I am to go order $300 in Motoz tires, I might feel kinda foolish tossing brand new tires in the corner to collect dust. Im considering running the stock tires this summer and just airing them down a bit when i hit the gravel roads and ATV trails.  I can carry my smallish tire inflator in my tankbag. 

 

Would like to hear experiences from you folks in Europe and Australia. 

[Rich TT]

9 minutes ago, Cruizin said:

The stock STR's have good reviews online, on road. As tempted as I am to go order $300 in Motoz tires, I might feel kinda foolish tossing brand new tires in the corner to collect dust. Im considering running the stock tires this summer and just airing them down a bit when i hit the gravel roads and ATV trails.  I can carry my smallish tire inflator in my tankbag. 

 

Would like to hear experiences from you folks in Europe and Australia. 

I've written about it somewhere here. With only 15 or 20 miles on it I took it to the Pyrenees in September. Dry, dusty, rocky and a tiny bit of mud. Honestly fine. You just have to get used to it moving/floating around a lot and the front feeling like it would wash out when a real off road tyre would grip on the brakes. But it doesn't wash if you're sensible on the brakes and the usual keep the power on if you've got the balls works well! Plenty of grip from the rear in these conditions to be honest. Bonus is the standard tyres are just as good as road tyres when really pushing it. 

 

I'd do it again with the standard tyres and would consider Anakeee Wilds too for some proper off road grip and we'll behaved in the road.

 

Rich

[Cruizin]

15 minutes ago, Rich TT said:

I've written about it somewhere here. With only 15 or 20 miles on it I took it to the Pyrenees in September. Dry, dusty, rocky and a tiny bit of mud. Honestly fine. You just have to get used to it moving/floating around a lot and the front feeling like it would wash out when a real off road tyre would grip on the brakes. But it doesn't wash if you're sensible on the brakes and the usual keep the power on if you've got the balls works well! Plenty of grip from the rear in these conditions to be honest. Bonus is the standard tyres are just as good as road tyres when really pushing it. 

 

I'd do it again with the standard tyres and would consider Anakeee Wilds too for some proper off road grip and we'll behaved in the road.

 

Rich

Did you air em down offroad? 

[Rich TT]

12 minutes ago, Cruizin said:

Did you air em down offroad? 

Yep. 29 29 as per manual.

[Totti]

Very satisfied with the stock tires. Great on tarmac. In the soft sand or in the mud they are no good.

On "normal" gravel roads with some loose stuff they are good. A bit more street like that the TKC80.

4000 km with these tires and will be ordering a new rear tire soon.

[Noel McCutcheon]

Amazing tyres on the road (wet or dry) and pretty grand on dry hard-packed off-road. 

[Noel McCutcheon]

On 5/27/2020 at 9:12 PM, Cruizin said:

Did you air em down offroad? 

Agree 29 psi..... 

With the rider it’s a > 300 kg / 650 lbs Adventure Bike.

 

 

I don’t actually adjust between road and off-road as it’s not and not like a lightweight enduro dirt bike.

[WalterT]

I like them: confidence inspiring on roads in dry & wet conditions, and perfectly capable on gravel & sandy roads.  Are there better off road tires? You bet! Do you need them? Depends on you skills and where you're riding.

 

To be honest: I expect 80-90% of T7 owners ride so much within the capability of the tires (and the bike for that matter) that exchanging them before they are done, does not make a factual sense (then again if you believe your tires are better, you might feel more comfortable and ride more confidently).

 

[Yammybound88]

I like you want to get off into the dirt with this T7.  This will come when me and the bike are a little better protected when we fall, because we will fall.  In the meantime the stock tires are great to get accustomed to the bike.  They are good for everything except sand, mud and grass.  The big surprise is how good they are in the rain. No need to air down especially if you are jumping back and forth between dirt, gravel and pavement it is wiser to keep stock pressures. Air down those big old knobbies when you are off on a 5 day quest.

 

@Cruizin Hope you don't mind a Canadian point of view.  

Edited May 31, 2020 by Yammybound88
added more detail and direct to msg origin

[Cruizin]

37 minutes ago, Yammybound88 said:

I like you want to get off into the dirt with this T7.  This will come when me and the bike are a little better protected when we fall, because we will fall.  In the meantime the stock tires are great to get accustomed to the bike.  They are good for everything except sand, mud and grass.  The big surprise is how good they are in the rain. No need to air down especially if you are jumping back and forth between dirt, gravel and pavement it is wiser to keep stock pressures. Air down those big old knobbies when you are off on a 5 day quest.

 

@Cruizin Hope you don't mind a Canadian point of view.  

Doesn't matter to me which part of the world a rider is from. I look at pictures of Earth from space and see no lines separating countries.  I believe that there are two species of man on this Earth. Those who ride and those who don't.  

[Louis]

First time on these Pirelli's, so trying to form an opinion. On the tar they seem to be very good and I ride a lot of twisty hills, from very tight bends to flowing sweepers. But then, a pucker moment from nowhere! It's probably just me pushing a new toy, but I have never had So Many seat gnawing moments  from a tyre, the rear in particular. Had another one yesterday on a 100kmph on a sweeper, a joint in the tar giving me a wake up wobble! Any one else finding these moments seem to come too often?

As I  have other bikes I use offroad, I have limited dirt use with the T7 but I found that performance was good on tightly packed and loose gravel roads. Got a bit squirmish in tight mud. I'm No moto cross hero. 5000kms now  and about  half worn, should see about 10,000km.

[Noel McCutcheon]

11 minutes ago, Louis said:

First time on these Pirelli's, so trying to form an opinion. On the tar they seem to be very good and I ride a lot of twisty hills, from very tight bends to flowing sweepers. But then, a pucker moment from nowhere! It's probably just me pushing a new toy, but I have never had So Many seat gnawing moments  from a tyre, the rear in particular. Had another one yesterday on a 100kmph on a sweeper, a joint in the tar giving me a wake up wobble! Any one else finding these moments seem to come too often?

As I  have other bikes I use offroad, I have limited dirt use with the T7 but I found that performance was good on tightly packed and loose gravel roads. Got a bit squirmish in tight mud. I'm No moto cross hero. 5000kms now  and about  half worn, should see about 10,000km.

I’ve had no moments at all on road and RichTT been scrapping the pegs on road. May be your moments would happen with any tyre, may be they were road condition moments like soft tar moments. I find the tyres brilliant on road and I’ve an MT-10 with Power RS sports tyres.

[roy826]

I ran a set on my Africa Twin last summer. Not a huge fan of them. Rear lasted about 2500 miles. Very greasy and vague feedback on pavement when pushed hard in the curves. Not really that good off road but decent on just gravel.

[Noel McCutcheon]

3 minutes ago, roy826 said:

I ran a set on my Africa Twin last summer. Not a huge fan of them. Rear lasted about 2500 miles. Very greasy and vague feedback on pavement when pushed hard in the curves. Not really that good off road but decent on just gravel.

The STR seems to suit the Tenere 700 really well on the road and ok for gravel dry tracks. 2800 happy grippy miles and still plenty left. And I’ve an MT-10 with Power RS sports tyres. 

[roy826]

14 minutes ago, X Plane said:

The STR seems to suit the Tenere 700 really well on the road and ok for gravel dry tracks. 2800 happy grippy miles and still plenty left. And I’ve an MT-10 with Power RS sports tyres. 

Maybe so but a good friend mounted a set same time I did on a Tiger 800XC and same results as I ended up with on the AT.

[Noel McCutcheon]

1 hour ago, roy826 said:

Maybe so but a good friend mounted a set same time I did on a Tiger 800XC and same results as I ended up with on the AT.

Guess Riding like supermoto, yep, horses for courses.
What did you / he go with and are they for all road riding ?

Below is the way for full on road scratching / riding...

 

 

[roy826]

15 minutes ago, X Plane said:

Guess Riding like supermoto, yep, horses for courses.
What did you / he go with and are they for all road riding ?

Below is the way for full on road scratching / riding...

 

 

I went back with a set of Bridgestone A41s. I do not go looking for mud, sand or extreme off road on the AT. So for me the 41s give good paved road feed back and are more than capable off road and on gravel. Which is about the extent of any off road I am looking for on a 500# + ADV bike. Tiger owner went with the Dunlop Missions and hates them on pavement due to the flexing sidewalls when pushed. 

 

Nice looking Sumo setup you have on the T7. I have owned a DRZ400SM in the past and really went everywhere on that bike that I have done on ADV bikes. Of course mud and deep sand were a no go.

[Rider 101]

1500km on the stock STRs on a mix of tar and gravel. Rear seems ok but the front is a little sketchy in marbley gravel. Dry times here so no mud other than exiting creek crossings.

I prefer the Scorpion rally front ( not the STR ) and the same rear or a E09 / E10.

Because the front is easy to spoon off/on I tend to change it more often.

[Louis]

10 hours ago, X Plane said:

I’ve had no moments at all on road and RichTT been scrapping the pegs on road. May be your moments would happen with any tyre, may be they were road condition moments like soft tar moments. I find the tyres brilliant on road and I’ve an MT-10 with Power RS sports tyres.

I'm really happy with the way they perform, but I feel that they don't give me %100 confidence ALL the time. Your probably right it's coincidental that I have found the doubtful conditions. But these  moments  comprise my confidence. I was trying to feel out if other people have experienced the same as me. I haven't thrown out the baby out with the bathwater yet. 

Like most I'm considering my  next tyre choices for  the  T7. My thoughts  at the moment are with the Motoz tractionator GPS. For the application that I intend for my T7. They are long lasting and work very well on tar and gravel. There's lots of highway miles on a loaded bike  to get to interesting locations with  gravel roads. Trying to  avoid soft mud and soft sand with a loaded bike. Too old and injured to find that fun! An unloaded light bike for that type of riding. 

 

TRACTIONATOR GPS | MOTOZ Tyres | Performance Adventure Tyres

---

MOTOZ designed the TRACTIONATOR GPS Tyre to get you anywhere on the globe and back home again. Long milage, serious...

 

[Noel McCutcheon]

Bit of chat on stock tyres etc.

 

[Cruizin]

Answered my own questions yesterday and this morning. I now have 143 miles on my bike. The tires are awesome on road, full confidence in corners, fully leaned, no probs on road. 

 

Offroad, aired em down to 29 psi front and rear and there are just what I expected. The rear does on going forward, but not much lateral traction, side hilling the rear slides around a lil bit but nothing I can't handle. In fact I like a little rear slide while turning. 

[Rich TT]

1 hour ago, Cruizin said:

Answered my own questions yesterday and this morning. I now have 143 miles on my bike. The tires are awesome on road, full confidence in corners, fully leaned, no probs on road. 

 

Offroad, aired em down to 29 psi front and rear and there are just what I expected. The rear does on going forward, but not much lateral traction, side hilling the rear slides around a lil bit but nothing I can't handle. In fact I like a little rear slide while turning. 

Called that spot on CEO. Exactly my thoughts. Kinda floatin around off road when you're on it. But nothing wrong with that if you're used to off road. On road, they're awesome

[Stevoh]

I've found the stock tyres to be quite good on the road but I'm not impressed off-road, any mud or moisture and they just dissapoint, hard packed dry condition not so bad but still only average, I intend to keep them on until I'm more settled into a new bike.

Choosing a new set of tyres is going to take some homework, there's a lot to choose from I don't want to give up too much in road performance but want quite a bit more off road, what would be great is having two sets of wheels, dedicated off road set and keep the stock set for road, expensive option at this point though.

Happy to hear view's on tyre choices that's for sure!

 

[Noel McCutcheon]

24 minutes ago, Stevoh said:

I've found the stock tyres to be quite good on the road but I'm not impressed off-road, any mud or moisture and they just dissapoint, hard packed dry condition not so bad but still only average, I intend to keep them on until I'm more settled into a new bike.

Choosing a new set of tyres is going to take some homework, there's a lot to choose from I don't want to give up too much in road performance but want quite a bit more off road, what would be great is having two sets of wheels, dedicated off road set and keep the stock set for road, expensive option at this point though.

Happy to hear view's on tyre choices that's for sure!

 

Agree mud no no. Road and lanes dead on 

 

[Jason]

I did a video on this a few weeks ago. 
 

 

 

To summarise, the stock tyres aren’t very good if you want to ride trails or if the fire roads start to turn into muddy sections. Riding a fire road is absolutely fine once it’s gravel or hard pack. But these tyres just cannot handle mud, grass and even struggle a bit on wet gravel. As can be seen in the video above, I find a few trails but just don’t have the confidence to ride them after a bit of rain the night previous. Being on my own also, if the trail ends up in an incline, you’ll be right fecked if it’s coupled with moisture (whatever the surface material). On the road, I’ve yet to find a fault with these tyres, there’s no noise, no crazy vibration or feedback you might get from a knobbly and they wear very well. 
 

In terms of a new tyre, the new Bridgestone AX41 has my eye