TIRES! Aggressive 50/50 dirt worthy T7 tires for Sand?

[Goldentaco]

I've got just over 2500 miles on the Tubless Motoz Tractionator Desert H/T

Rear: 150/70-18

Front: 90/90-21 

 

So far I have mixed opinions on them. 

 

The rear is great...both on and offroad.  I don't feel lacking of ANY bite in sand, gravel, loam, or anything we typically see in the Sierras.  It grips great for braking and I've only had it squiggle coming out of a corner on one or two tight turns, second/third gear stuff.  Digging in sand around Mono Lake is no problem even loaded with camping gear.  I don't feel any vibes from it at speed and I have run it at 20 psi and 30 psi on the highway for 100+ miles both loaded and unloaded and can't tell any real difference in wear or handling.  It is a tall tire and coupled with my 16T front sprocket and stock chain it started to eat my mudflap.  It's stopped munching on it now since there's not much left and the tread has worn down a little but I don't think it would be as big an issue with the stock 15T sprocket.  The axle would be about 1/2" further back.

 

Now the Front is a Sonavabitch.  It's taken 1000mi for it to wear enough so it's stable on the road.  It's not sketchy in the turns but the bike is noticeably slower to turn in with it than the STR's.  The tread is deep and the middle knobs are quite proud of the side knobs hence the 1000mi break-in.  During that time, it would follow the rain grooves like Pe Pe  Le' Pew to a cat.  The random headshakes never became dangerous but more annoying than anything.  Now with 2500mi on it, I still get the odd headshake here and there but as long as you keep a full to half full tank it's not so bad.  This tire was designed for heavy ADV bikes and I absolutely think it needs more weight on it to settle down.  The T7 has a relatively light front end and this is evident by the handling differences between a full tank and a half full tank...that's only 12-13 lbs.

Offroad...it's great and that's the LOVE part of this relationship.  It is so good I don't have to think about it.  It will hunt for a line in loose stuff but it never gets out of sorts.  I have so much fun with it offroad I feel like I'm back on my WR250R ( With Kenda Parker DT's) except with twice the power...and weight.

 

I have the Rallz Front and Tractionator Adventure on my GS and that front tire is rock solid stable on the freeway where the T7 and Desert HT would be a bit squiggly.  So I was a little disappointed that the Desert HT was soo quirky.  

 

Both tires with 2500 mi on them have 9.5mm tread left.  New I think the rear had 17 and front had 12.  At this rate, I may have to "Deal" with the front for quite some time unless I ditch it for the RallZ.   I expect the rear to go over 5000mi and the front may cling to ilfe up to around 9000mi...but I don't know if I have the patience for that bitch much longer.

 

Time will tell but for me the bottom line is the rear I will absolutely run again  or the Rallz rear and will probably not run the Desert HT front again.  The front has created a bad characteristic on the bike that does not reflect how good the bike is on the road and has made me not want to swap with other riders because I know the instability is not a bike characteristic...it's the friggin tire.

 

 

J

 

[johnnygolucky]

12 hours ago, Goldentaco said:

I've got just over 2500 miles on the Tubless Motoz Tractionator Desert H/T

Rear: 150/70-18

Front: 90/90-21 

 

So far I have mixed opinions on them. 

 

The rear is great...both on and offroad.  I don't feel lacking of ANY bite in sand, gravel, loam, or anything we typically see in the Sierras.  It grips great for braking and I've only had it squiggle coming out of a corner on one or two tight turns, second/third gear stuff.  Digging in sand around Mono Lake is no problem even loaded with camping gear.  I don't feel any vibes from it at speed and I have run it at 20 psi and 30 psi on the highway for 100+ miles both loaded and unloaded and can't tell any real difference in wear or handling.  It is a tall tire and coupled with my 16T front sprocket and stock chain it started to eat my mudflap.  It's stopped munching on it now since there's not much left and the tread has worn down a little but I don't think it would be as big an issue with the stock 15T sprocket.  The axle would be about 1/2" further back.

 

Now the Front is a Sonavabitch.  It's taken 1000mi for it to wear enough so it's stable on the road.  It's not sketchy in the turns but the bike is noticeably slower to turn in with it than the STR's.  The tread is deep and the middle knobs are quite proud of the side knobs hence the 1000mi break-in.  During that time, it would follow the rain grooves like Pe Pe  Le' Pew to a cat.  The random headshakes never became dangerous but more annoying than anything.  Now with 2500mi on it, I still get the odd headshake here and there but as long as you keep a full to half full tank it's not so bad.  This tire was designed for heavy ADV bikes and I absolutely think it needs more weight on it to settle down.  The T7 has a relatively light front end and this is evident by the handling differences between a full tank and a half full tank...that's only 12-13 lbs.

Offroad...it's great and that's the LOVE part of this relationship.  It is so good I don't have to think about it.  It will hunt for a line in loose stuff but it never gets out of sorts.  I have so much fun with it offroad I feel like I'm back on my WR250R ( With Kenda Parker DT's) except with twice the power...and weight.

 

I have the Rallz Front and Tractionator Adventure on my GS and that front tire is rock solid stable on the freeway where the T7 and Desert HT would be a bit squiggly.  So I was a little disappointed that the Desert HT was soo quirky.  

 

Both tires with 2500 mi on them have 9.5mm tread left.  New I think the rear had 17 and front had 12.  At this rate, I may have to "Deal" with the front for quite some time unless I ditch it for the RallZ.   I expect the rear to go over 5000mi and the front may cling to ilfe up to around 9000mi...but I don't know if I have the patience for that bitch much longer.

 

Time will tell but for me the bottom line is the rear I will absolutely run again  or the Rallz rear and will probably not run the Desert HT front again.  The front has created a bad characteristic on the bike that does not reflect how good the bike is on the road and has made me not want to swap with other riders because I know the instability is not a bike characteristic...it's the friggin tire.

 

 

J

 

I concur on the RallZ. I have the Rallz front and the 140 RallZ back on the T7 and absolutely love the combo. My riding is 50-50 and bought them for the dirt aspect. Not as confident on pavement as the stock Pirellis which are great street tires, but for me going fast on dirt in my priority and I dont mind slowing down a bit when on tarmac with these Tractionators. 

Great tires. 

Edited October 27, 2020 by johnnygolucky

[Goldentaco]

7 minutes ago, johnnygolucky said:

I concur on the RallZ. I have the Rallz front and the 140 RallZ back on the T7 and absolute love the combo. My riding is 50-50 and bought them for the dirt aspect. Not as confident on pavement as the stock Pirellis which are great street tires, but for me going fast on dirt in my pretty and dont mind slowing down a bit when on tarmac with these Tractionators. 

Great tires. 

Good to hear.  I hate to not give a tire enough time to get acquainted but 2500 mi is way to long... 100-200 mi normal.  I'm glad to hear the Rallz is better behaved.

 

J

[Ol'crazy]

12 hours ago, pgeldz said:

Not yet, LoL  Still waiting on other bits to arrive and then I'll do it all at once

 

- Paul

 

In my case I already have the Outex kit and the BreadPro ready for the arrival of the tires. Let's see how I do it, because it will be the first time that I do something similar ...

 

[nelsonccc]

14 hours ago, johnnygolucky said:

I concur on the RallZ. I have the Rallz front and the 140 RallZ back on the T7 and absolutely love the combo. My riding is 50-50 and bought them for the dirt aspect. Not as confident on pavement as the stock Pirellis which are great street tires, but for me going fast on dirt in my priority and I dont mind slowing down a bit when on tarmac with these Tractionators. 

Great tires. 

Any issue with that 140 rear rallZ? I keep hearing you have to run the 150 due to the rim size but looking at the numbers it looks so minor.

[nelsonccc]

14 hours ago, Goldentaco said:

I've got just over 2500 miles on the Tubless Motoz Tractionator Desert H/T

Rear: 150/70-18

Front: 90/90-21 

 

So far I have mixed opinions on them. 

 

The rear is great...both on and offroad.  I don't feel lacking of ANY bite in sand, gravel, loam, or anything we typically see in the Sierras.  It grips great for braking and I've only had it squiggle coming out of a corner on one or two tight turns, second/third gear stuff.  Digging in sand around Mono Lake is no problem even loaded with camping gear.  I don't feel any vibes from it at speed and I have run it at 20 psi and 30 psi on the highway for 100+ miles both loaded and unloaded and can't tell any real difference in wear or handling.  It is a tall tire and coupled with my 16T front sprocket and stock chain it started to eat my mudflap.  It's stopped munching on it now since there's not much left and the tread has worn down a little but I don't think it would be as big an issue with the stock 15T sprocket.  The axle would be about 1/2" further back.

 

Now the Front is a Sonavabitch.  It's taken 1000mi for it to wear enough so it's stable on the road.  It's not sketchy in the turns but the bike is noticeably slower to turn in with it than the STR's.  The tread is deep and the middle knobs are quite proud of the side knobs hence the 1000mi break-in.  During that time, it would follow the rain grooves like Pe Pe  Le' Pew to a cat.  The random headshakes never became dangerous but more annoying than anything.  Now with 2500mi on it, I still get the odd headshake here and there but as long as you keep a full to half full tank it's not so bad.  This tire was designed for heavy ADV bikes and I absolutely think it needs more weight on it to settle down.  The T7 has a relatively light front end and this is evident by the handling differences between a full tank and a half full tank...that's only 12-13 lbs.

Offroad...it's great and that's the LOVE part of this relationship.  It is so good I don't have to think about it.  It will hunt for a line in loose stuff but it never gets out of sorts.  I have so much fun with it offroad I feel like I'm back on my WR250R ( With Kenda Parker DT's) except with twice the power...and weight.

 

I have the Rallz Front and Tractionator Adventure on my GS and that front tire is rock solid stable on the freeway where the T7 and Desert HT would be a bit squiggly.  So I was a little disappointed that the Desert HT was soo quirky.  

 

Both tires with 2500 mi on them have 9.5mm tread left.  New I think the rear had 17 and front had 12.  At this rate, I may have to "Deal" with the front for quite some time unless I ditch it for the RallZ.   I expect the rear to go over 5000mi and the front may cling to ilfe up to around 9000mi...but I don't know if I have the patience for that bitch much longer.

 

Time will tell but for me the bottom line is the rear I will absolutely run again  or the Rallz rear and will probably not run the Desert HT front again.  The front has created a bad characteristic on the bike that does not reflect how good the bike is on the road and has made me not want to swap with other riders because I know the instability is not a bike characteristic...it's the friggin tire.

 

 

J

 

Fantastic review. I had orginally settled on the desert front and rear then kept seeing that the rallz front was better. Then to make things even more confusing the motox facebook page was saying that the road/dirt ratios of the rallz and desert are not 10 and 15 but that the rallz was a better road tire than the desert.

 

I do know that I'm putting the rallz or desert front and rear on my t7 next month but I just can't make head or tails of all the comments regarding the 150 vs the 140 rear.

[nelsonccc]

On 9/3/2020 at 5:38 PM, johnnygolucky said:

Well the RallyZ and Dessert HT are neither 50/50 tires. The Adventure tire is barely there as well, but better for pavement. I've been riding the RallyZ now for a week and it's great, for what my intension is.

When I ride to Alaska next year I'll be putting the stock Pirellis back on because they're GREAT street tires. Very stable. But cant stand them in fast off-road. But being my main riding now is town, short freeway blips and lots of dirt I wanted traction on dirt to be my priority, especially with such a big bike. So I keep it a little slower in corners and such on pavement but when the off-road hits, they're ability to purchase dirt is amazing. And again, they're very good on road for how aggressive they are. I think it's the silica that gives it good bite on pavement. But there is a different feeling on road from the stock tires just to be clear. I'd say there's much better 50/50 tires out there for more street focus, but hard pressed to find such a great DOT dirt tire that does this well on pavement so far and just rips in dirt. Much better than my D606's and MT21's in both arenas. Just depends on what you're cooking. You live in dessert, I live in loamy PNW. Hope that helps. 

FYI, I'm looking at an alaska T7 trip next year too! Solo probably since no none wants to commit to that kind of ride out of Vegas.

[johnnygolucky]

8 hours ago, nelsonccc said:

Any issue with that 140 rear rallZ? I keep hearing you have to run the 150 due to the rim size but looking at the numbers it looks so minor.

No issues what so ever. I'll lay the bike out on dirt 60-70mph and they handed the speed and weight of the bike just fine. Lots of confidence when pushed. Road is another matter. A little squirrelly, but worth it. 

8 hours ago, nelsonccc said:

FYI, I'm looking at an alaska T7 trip next year too! Solo probably since no none wants to commit to that kind of ride out of Vegas.

Keep in touch and send me a PM as the dates get closer next year. You'll likely blow right past my place in Bellingham Wa heading North and potentially could make it a group ride to AK. I'm not riding back though, catching the ferry in Haines where I use to live and kick it on the boat at 13 knots for 3 days back to Bellingham drinking a cold beverage of choice.

[NvNick]

I assume there are no rim locks ? Still waiting for my bike. Any problems with the tire spinning on the rim and tearing the valve stem ?

[AZJW]

On 11/1/2020 at 4:35 PM, NvNick said:

I assume there are no rim locks ? Still waiting for my bike. Any problems with the tire spinning on the rim and tearing the valve stem ?

@NvNick No oem rim locks, at least on my US version, but I haven't seen any reports regarding sheared valve stems. 

[REDHORSECA]

1 hour ago, AZJW said:

@NvNick No oem rim locks, at least on my US version, but I haven't seen any reports regarding sheared valve stems. 

Inside of the rims have these vertical machined serrations all around the whole rim..

[TTBen]

Hi all, I wanted to add my two-penneth to this thread. I have written a guide to every tyre you can fit to the Tenere 700 and done by best to put each tyre into the right category: touring, off-road, light trail, etc.:

 

Yamaha Ténéré 700 Tyre Guide - Discount motorcycle tyres stocked in the UK. Free Delivery..

---

Two Tyres - Discount Motorcycle Tyres. UK Stock. Next Day Delivery Available.

 

I hope it's of use to the forum as a reference source. I will keep it updated as new tyres hit the market.

 

Edited November 26, 2020 by TTBen

[NvNick]

Keep me in mind when you get closer to the Ak trip. I would do the same and take the marine highway back.

[tenerecanada]

On 9/11/2020 at 7:31 PM, manny said:

I am running motoz tractionators front & rear with the 140 tube type on rear & had it up to 181 klm/h on dirt with no dramas

You can stretch a tire made for 2.15-2.5 inch rear rim onto a 4 inch rim? That must change the profile quite a bit.

 

Edit: I find this whole thread fascinating, don’t mind me. Here’s the RallZ rears side by side. Difference looks pretty staggering. The 140/80-18 Tube Type weighs 6.43kg and the 150/70-18 Tubeless weighs 8.63kg. 

Edited December 6, 2020 by tenerecanada

[Liquidape]

6 hours ago, tenerecanada said:

You can stretch a tire made for 2.15-2.5 inch rear rim onto a 4 inch rim? That must change the profile quite a bit.

 

Edit: I find this whole thread fascinating, don’t mind me. Here’s the RallZ rears side by side. Difference looks pretty staggering. The 140/80-18 Tube Type weighs 6.43kg and the 150/70-18 Tubeless weighs 8.63kg. 

Holy unsprung weight Batman!  That Motoz  is one heavy tire.  The tubless version is almost 19 lbs. 

[papab]

8 hours ago, tenerecanada said:

You can stretch a tire made for 2.15-2.5 inch rear rim onto a 4 inch rim? That must change the profile quite a bit.

 

Edit: I find this whole thread fascinating, don’t mind me. Here’s the RallZ rears side by side. Difference looks pretty staggering. The 140/80-18 Tube Type weighs 6.43kg and the 150/70-18 Tubeless weighs 8.63kg. 

Are those mounted on different sized rims?

[loneranger700]

This thread is great to go through as someone nearing the end of his OEM tire life.

 

I must admit though, I'm a bit scared to switch to more aggressive tires than the OEM ones, cuz I feel like the current ones aren't even that great on the highway. Well, or rather, I would miss dearly the nimbleness on highways with more aggressive tires

 

 

But then again, not wiping out off-road also sounds nice..

 

Edit: I went with Motoz Adventure tires. Heheh...

Edited April 7, 2021 by loneranger700

[tenerecanada]

9 hours ago, papab said:

Are those mounted on different sized rims?

Both for 18 inch rims, unmounted. 

[Christoph]

On 9/11/2020 at 4:56 AM, Rider 101 said:

Anyone know if the Pirelli MT21 in a 140/80 is any good as a 50/50? Nearly time to ditch the STR and looking for alternatives.

I have used Mitas E09 - E10 on the F8 but I think the T7 deserves something more aggressive. 

Since I am new to this group, this is the first time I have seen this post but I have had much experience with the Pirelli MT21 tires on my DR650 and I will consider it for my T7. I only run the Pirelli on the front and I run a Dunlop d606 on the rear. This is a tried and true combination for many different bikes as the Pirelli doesn't handle the street near as well as the Dunlop. The Pirelli MT21 on the front tracks much better off road and on and wet and dry pavement. 

I live on a gravel road and much of my riding is on gravel and then street and back on gravel and so on. I live on a farm so I get lots of dirt,grass, mud and some snow and this combination of tires seems to be the best I've experienced. 

I know gravel roads like an Eskimo knows snow, and I know that this combination works well. 

I will experiment with other possibilities since you can always learn new things but I will have this combo for the T7 soon.

 

BTW...the Dunlop is awesome but don't expect high miles if you ride street mostly. 

[Goldentaco]

Well I finally had it with the Motoz Tractionator Desert H/T Front ( Tubless).  the high speed wobbles never really got better as I expected.  The center knobs are still about 4mm proud of the surrounding knobs creating a very narrow contact patch and very susceptible tire to follow any groove in the road.

m

I emailed Motoz for clarification also on the Tubless and Tube Type Rallz with differing rim width recommendations and never heard from them so I ordered the Tube Type Rallz and mounted it up today.  It went on easily and I didn't have to balance it.  I left the weights on from the Desert HT and it had no vibrations.  I don't have a tire balance stand so it'll have to do for now.

 

Right off the bat the tire was way more stable than the Desert HT.  High speed wobbles are virtually non existent below 75mph.  Above that it can wiggle if you push the bars or have a wind gust but it doesn't follow rain grooves or imperfections in the road.  Turn in was way better than the Desert HT.  It doesn't fall into the turn like the Desert HT did...I'd have to keep pressure on the bar to maintain my line in a curve.

 

The tire profile is even where the Desert HT is Uneven.  The Rallz has no knobs that are prominent compared to others and allows for a wider contact patch.  This is where the stability differs from the Desert HT.  

 

Tractionator Desert H/T (Tubless) 90/90-21:

 

Tractionator Rallz (Tube Type) 90/90-21:

 

 

Tread depth is about 12.8mm and should do just fine on the surfaces I ride on.  I was able to put a little over 100 miles in it today all on road and am super happy I ditched the bitch.  I can't wait to get this in some dirt to see how it fares.

 

All in, the Rallz is a keeper for me.  Anyone want to buy a Desert HT?

 

 

J

Edited December 20, 2020 by Goldentaco

[tenerecanada]

1 hour ago, Goldentaco said:

Well I finally had it with the Motoz Tractionator Desert H/T Front ( Tubless).  the high speed wobbles never really got better as I expected.  The center knobs are still about 4mm proud of the surrounding knobs creating a very narrow contact patch and very susceptible tire to follow any groove in the road.

m

I emailed Motoz for clarification also on the Tubless and Tube Type Rallz with differing rim width recommendations and never heard from them so I ordered the Tube Type Rallz and mounted it up today.  It went on easily and I didn't have to balance it.  I left the weights on from the Desert HT and it had no vibrations.  I don't have a tire balance stand so it'll have to do for now.

 

Right off the bat the tire was way more stable than the Desert HT.  High speed wobbles are virtually non existent below 75mph.  Above that it can wiggle if you push the bars or have a wind gust but it doesn't follow rain grooves or imperfections in the road.  Turn in was way better than the Desert HT.  It doesn't fall into the turn like the Desert HT did...I'd have to keep pressure on the bar to maintain my line in a curve.

 

The tire profile is even where the Desert HT is Uneven.  The Rallz has no knobs that are prominent compared to others and allows for a wider contact patch.  This is where the stability differs from the Desert HT.  

 

Tractionator Desert H/T (Tubless) 90/90-21:

 

Tractionator Rallz (Tube Type) 90/90-21:

 

 

Tread depth is about 12.8mm and should do just fine on the surfaces I ride on.  I was able to put a little over 100 miles in it today all on road and am super happy I ditched the bitch.  I can't wait to get this in some dirt to see how it fares.

 

All in, the Rallz is a keeper for me.  Anyone want to buy a Desert HT?

 

 

J

Thanks for writing that up, great info to have!

[JimmyTheHuman]

On 9/12/2020 at 4:21 AM, Seventh Son said:

Here you go.

 

I think this tyre is on backwards?

 

Does it have a 'direction of rotation' arrow on the side?

[Stabilo_Boss]

44 minutes ago, JimmyTheHuman said:

 

I think this tyre is on backwards?

 

Does it have a 'direction of rotation' arrow on the side?

[JimmyTheHuman]

Thanks. Seems counter intuitive. All other tyres I have seen with a curved pattern go the way. Cheers 

[Seventh Son]

1 hour ago, JimmyTheHuman said:

 

I think this tyre is on backwards?

 

Does it have a 'direction of rotation' arrow on the side?

No, the Boss has it right - they are mounted correctly.

 

You're right though - it does look counterintuitive.  The way the knobs are lined up in a "scooping" fashion, you would think the tire should be mounted the other way. 

 

I did make the mistake a few years ago of wrestling a front tire on only to find out a minute later that it was backwards.  Doh!  Tried not to make that mistake again.