Alternative to RallZ front?Trailmax

[AZJW]

I've been running MotoZ tires since 2014, never had any issues,  really like the brand. Still do, but the front Tractionator  RallyZ 90/90-21 has not inspired confidence on pavement since day one.  I've got a little over 600 miles on it, along with the same rear 150/70-18, but the head shake/ wandering just isn't improving.  Don't get me wrong, dirt performance is great, but putting pavement miles down to get to/from trails isn't any fun and isn't getting any better. The front follows pavement/ concrete grooves like a trained bloodhound,  it goes where the groove goes. The last straw was recently passing a 18 wheeler at 65mph with a cross wind. I fully expected the wobble to go into a full fledged tank slapper, ( thankfully it didn't) so I've had enough. I try to ride a 50/50 mix, usually minus luggage, solo and I'm considering a less aggressive tire rated to match that usage.

 

My question to the forum, since I'm retaining the rear, which front would you replace the front RallyZ with? 

[Canzvt]

If you never plan to see mud, I've found the Mitas E-07 a great tire for road/gravel. Handles well, doesn't track or make noise. Not sure how it works in loose sand (never tried), but it might as well be a racing slick in mud.

[Hammerhead]

Dunlop trail max mission is worth a look. Great road manners, quiet, smooth, stable at all speeds. Surprisingly comfortable in the dirt for it’s  street bias looks. Like most genuine 50/50’s, substantial mud seems to be it’s week point, but still far better than the stock STR front in all conditions.

[Seventh Son]

I'm with Hammerhead on this one. 

I have AX-41's on my T7 that are wearing out, the rear faster than the front.  I'm going to replace the rear with a Motoz Tractionator Adventure, and when the front AX-41 wears out, I'm throwing on a Dunlop Trailmax Mission.  I'm hoping this to be a true 50/50 combo.

[TenereTraveler]

I've been running the MotoZ RallyZ 90/90-21 on the front of my Tenere. I have about 1,500 mi on it so far. I expected tire wear to not be the greatest with an 80/20 riding street to work but I was surprised to see how quickly it chopped and feathered in the front.

I also have a highway speed wobble in the front as well and suspect it to be the front tire possibly. My next tire will definitely be a MotoZ Adventure front tire. I want to try one step back from an 80/20. The MotoZ Adventure is a dirt oriented 70/30. The tread design of the front tire looks sufficient for off-road fun and long-distance highway trips. 

[AZJW]

I'm currently waffling between the MotoZ Tractionator GPS and the Dunlop Trailmax Mission. Anybody have experience with both of these fronts, preferably on the T7? I'm still on the fence here. 

 

 

[MikeCMP]

Glad I found this thread, I have the Rallz front and like it, but in the last 500 miles the big blocks worn almost all the way down, and the single knobs  are majorly cupped. Disappointed for sure, as the back tire looks awesome still. Not sure the mileage on mine maybe 2500 miles maybe more.. here are some pics of the two together after I put the stock tires on till I figure out what I want on the front.

 

 

mever had a front wear like this and never had a front go before a rear.

 

That trail ax looks good but might go with a knobby of some kind, maybe a TKC 80. Never ran one of those but my friend does. Ran those AVX 41 on my super Tenere, I really liked them, they were loud and didn’t last long.

 

 

 

Mike

 

 

[AZJW]

After reading reviews until cross-eyed and considering input from you guys, I went with a Dunlop Trailmax Mission 90/90-21.

The tire on the left (MotoZ RallZ) will live the rest of it's life ( minus the 714 on the T7) out on the front of my Beta dirtbike.  

[REDHORSECA]

 

[Seventh Son]

17 hours ago, AZJW said:

After reading reviews until cross-eyed and considering input from you guys, I went with a Dunlop Trailmax Mission 90/90-21.

The tire on the left (MotoZ RallZ) will live the rest of it's life ( minus the 741 on the T7) out on the front of my Beta dirtbike.  

Please give us some feedback on the Trailmax Mission when you have enough miles to do so. 

[AZJW]

My initial impression after 70 miles ( about 20 of those dirt) is to give the Dunlop Trailmax Mission a thumbs up!  I scrubbed it in on the terrain pictured below today and was impressed as to how the tire didn't deflect when hitting golf ball sized rocks.   I didn't have a field of baby heads to test it on, but the directional stability was on par with the MotoZ RallZ it replaced.  Shallow ruts weren't an issue and I purposely steered into some, but the front climbed right out whenever I wanted.  It didn't handle sand as well as the RallZ, but just about everything else was fairly equal by comparison.  To be fair, the sand that I hit wasn't very deep and while it wasn't as confidence inspiring as the RallZ, it wasn't a white knuckle ride either, just a bit more squirrely.

The highway manners is where the DTM really shined as I took it over the same roads, grooves and tar snakes that had upset the RallZ and performance was much better.  I also took it in a 20 knot direct crosswind near 18 wheelers that contributed to the RallZ handling issues at 65 mph+ and the DTM handled that fine.  So a preliminary opinion is the DTM front and RallZ rear seems to be a good combination for my local riding area as long as I don't hit too much sand.   I'll update as I got more miles on this combination.

 

[Hammerhead]

Right!? Surprisingly good in the dirt for a tire that also performs so well on the road.  A solid 50/50 option. 

[AZJW]

On 5/26/2021 at 11:25 AM, Seventh Son said:

Please give us some feedback on the Trailmax Mission when you have enough miles to do so. 

3,505 miles of wear shows, (front DTM), an average of 4.5mm center lug depth remaining. They measured 6mm new, so if wear is linear, I should get another 3,500 out of the tire.  With about 60% pavement and the balance being gravel and sharp AZ rocks, I'm pleased with the wear and handling, but wondering if they'll make 7,000 miles in the high desert environment.   I'm still looking for the ultimate front, but I have another one waiting to replace this one, so it's all good for now. Wear across the lugs looks pretty good, not showing any signs of cupping which might change with more miles.  Still really happy with the RallyZ 150 rear, that's going to be my rear go to tire for a long time. 

 

[Seventh Son]

2 hours ago, AZJW said:

3,505 miles of wear shows, (front DTM), an average of 4.5mm center lug depth remaining. They measured 6mm new, so if wear is linear, I should get another 3,500 out of the tire.  With about 60% pavement and the balance being gravel and sharp AZ rocks, I'm pleased with the wear and handling, but wondering if they'll make 7,000 miles in the high desert environment.   I'm still looking for the ultimate front, but I have another one waiting to replace this one, so it's all good for now. Wear across the lugs looks pretty good, not showing any signs of cupping which might change with more miles.  Still really happy with the RallyZ 150 rear, that's going to be my pushed tire for a long time. 

 

 

Great feedback, thanks.  Sounds like a solid choice for a front tire.

 

I've since bought a Motoz Tractionator Dual Venture front tire and will spoon it on after I put another few hundred miles on the current Battlax AX-41.

[Wintersdark]

I'm a huge fan of the Motoz tires, though the Rallz is the least pavement oriented one so I'm unsurprised it's found somewhat wanting there.  I've got an Adventure front right now, and I'm pretty pleased with it, but the new upgraded version (the Dual Venture @Seventh Son mentions above) is simply superior.  The Dual Venture is a reversible tire, and unlike the GPS (which chooses either 50/50 or full offroad by direction) the Dual Venture is identical forwards or backwards, so you can flip it around as the blocks start cupping to even out wear and deliver a better ride.  

 

The Motoz tires are also exceptionally good in rain, ice and snow - always a plus.  

[AZJW]

@Seventh Son  I too have had my eye on the Dual Venture, but it wasn't available when I found another DTM front.  Please post up your impressions after a few thousand miles and if you think of it, grab a measurement before running it. I'd be interested as to how it wears compared to the DTM. Thx!

[Seventh Son]

Will do, John.

 

Merry Christmas/Happy holidays to you. 

[Alrxl600]

I have the Rallz on front and the Desert HT on rear and love them in the dirt for the two rides I’ve had them. I don’t like the rain grooves on the freeways and they seem fine to about 65-70. I was running them at 28 psi, that seemed great with a lot of rocks and runoff this last time. I don’t run any luggage, stock suspension settings and all geared up I’m maybe 200 lbs riding. 

[AZJW]

Well, the Dunlop Trailmax Mission (90/90-21) has met my expectations and another is going on the front.  It gave me 5,942 miles and still has 5/32" of meat left.  It could go longer, but I'm changing the rear out for some upcoming trips and don't want to mess with a new front away from home.

The rear, MotoZ RallZ (150/70-18) was also a success as it went 6,656 miles with 4/32" left.  It was getting louder as it wore on, but both tires performed great with the 60/40 street/ dirt I ride and with lots of sharp AZ rocks, I didn't want to push my luck trying to use that last 1/32" of tread.

So, that combination will remain my go to setup for the foreseeable future as I just haven't read enough glowing reviews of the MotoZ Dual Venture to switch from the DTM. 

 

[PNGL]

I have about 4300 miles on a set of Motoz Tractionator GPS tires. The front is great. I have no complaints at all. It tracks as well as any 50/50 tire in sand and is as useless as any 50/50 tire in mud. I've not experienced any sort of negative behavior at all on the road and it's been totally stable all the way to the 109mph I could coax out of my T7 (I'm rather large). As far as wear is concerned, the front looks barely broken in.
The rear GPS, however, isn't great. Off-road, it's monumentally better than the stock Pirelli's, but the center strip means minimal traction on gravel when the bike is vertical. I can be traveling 60mph in 5th on a gravel road, whack the throttle open and spin. Same goes for braking; if you are vertical, it skids SUPER easy on gravel. Now, if you lean just a bit to either direction the rear hooks up like a champ. It's totally predictable when cornering and even has decent enough mud performance (for a 50/50). My biggest gripe is the tire life. I guess I'm just a LOT harder on a rear tire than.... well, pretty much everyone I've ever read a review from. I've seen reports of people getting 8, 9, 10, or even 18 thousand miles from these tires. I'd say my rear has ONE more day-ride in it, with only 4300 miles. Admittedly, I like to do wheelies on or off road, drift corners off-road, and ride it like a Gixxer in the twisties. So, I am definitely hard on my rear tire, but I just thought it'd last longer because of all the reviews I read.
Because my riding habits really are pretty well 30/70-ish (mostly off-road), my next attempt will be the Tractionator Adventure rear. I'm just hoping that one will still do alright railing corners in the mountains. I pretty much only ride on the road to get to the dirt, but I don't tend to take it easy on either terrain. 
I'll edit in a picture of how warn it is when I get home from work.

Edited December 1, 2022 by PNGL

[AZJW]

@PNGL Good feedback on the GPS, nice to hear about the front behavior & wear, maybe I'll try one next time around. Bummer on the rear that it didn't last longer and reading how you ride your T7,  I wonder if the RallZ rear might be a better tire for your needs?  Yes, MotoZ rates it at 20% road/80% off road, but I find with my 60/40 use, it's lasting for 7,000 miles or better and does an excellent job on AZ rocks, gravel and sand and performs admirably on pavement.

 I ride a fair amount of twisty pavement and am not shy about powering out of turns and haven't had any shudder or backend weirdness from that tire.  "Powering" out of turns is a relative term in that my previous street bike was a 145hp FJR, so the T7 is much easier to pour the coal to coming out of turns and even though it's a DOT knobby, the RallZ handles that on pavement just fine. Please keep us posted as to how your new combo works out.

[jdub53]

1 hour ago, PNGL said:

I have about 4300 miles on a set of Motoz Tractionator GPS tires. The front is great. I have no complaints at all. It tracks as well as any 50/50 tire in sand and is as useless as any 50/50 tire in mud. I've not experienced any sort of negative behavior at all on the road and it's been totally stable all the way to the 109mph I could coax out of my T7 (I'm rather large). As far as wear is concerned, the front looks barely broken in.
The rear GPS, however, isn't great. Off-road, it's monumentally better than the stock Pirelli's, but the center strip means minimal traction on gravel when the bike is vertical. I can be traveling 60mph in 5th on a gravel road, whack the throttle open and spin. Same goes for braking; if you are vertical, it skids SUPER easy on gravel. Now, if you lean just a bit to either direction the rear hooks up like a champ. It's totally predictable when cornering and even has decent enough mud performance (for a 50/50). My biggest gripe is the tire life. I guess I'm just a LOT harder on a rear tire than.... well, pretty much everyone I've ever read a review from. I've seen reports of people getting 8, 9, 10, or even 18 thousand miles from these tires. I'd say my rear has ONE more day-ride in it, with only 4300 miles. Admittedly, I like to do wheelies on or off road, drift corners off-road, and ride it like a Gixxer in the twisties. So, I am definitely hard on my rear tire, but I just thought it'd last longer because of all the reviews I read.
Because my riding habits really are pretty well 70/30-ish, my next attempt will be the Tractionator Adventure rear. I'm just hoping that one will still do alright railing corners in the mountains. I pretty much only ride on the road to get to the dirt, but I don't tend to take it easy on either terrain. 
I'll edit in a picture of how warn it is when I get home from work.

 

My MotoZ GPS rear tire experience to date is documented on the below linked thread, and matches very closely with yours on all surfaces with the exception of wear rate. Mine's wearing at a pretty linear 1 mm per 1,000 miles, so I'll likely be one of those 10k mile guys with this tire but I get good mileage out of most every tire I use on most bikes. All of your wheelies, etc., obviously take an extra toll.

 

I'm running my GPS rear in the Mostly Off-Road orientation and have never felt anything on the road that's made me regret that decision. Is your GPS mounted in 50/50 or Mostly Off-Road mode?

 

 

 

[PNGL]

18 minutes ago, jdub53 said:

Is your GPS mounted in 50/50 or Mostly Off-Road mode?

My rear is also mounted in the Off-Road direction. I've not tried it the other direction, but the only thing I can assume would be different on the road is that it has a tiiiny bit of a squidgy(?) feeling at extreme lean angles. As in, when dragging the side of my boots, the rear feels very much like it is extremely close to letting go. I'm pretty sure I'm just reaching the limits of it's traction ability at that point, what with having space between knobs and such, but the front still feels very much planted.
OH, I forgot to point out above that the rear is definitely not great on wet pavement, with it's center strip. I definitely take it much easier on wet roads, but playing around a bit, I found that the bike will spin very easily. Trying to clutch up a wheelie, spin. Hard 1-2 shift, spin. Hard 2-3 shift, spin.

[PNGL]

So, I was way off on my mileage. I had the GPS's put on at 3497 miles (I thought it was less) and I'm currently at 6962. This is what a rear Tractionator GPS looks like with 3465 miles of genuine abuse. It was at 38psi at all times. You can just barely see the wear marker on the vertical sipe on the first picture. I went for a last dirt ride with it yesterday and it was... an adventure.  I was spinning around everywhere; didn't help that it rained Saturday. I'm ordering the Tractionator Adventure today and will make a concerted effort to be a bit kinder to it, at least on the pavement.