Stock tires, honest opinions

[winddown]

I know everyone upgrades the tires for dirt road riding, but honestly, how bad are those factory ones on the dirt?  Being inexperienced offroad (still) I'd like to know how far I can push the bike in corners.  What's the reality, are they 70% as good keeping traction in the dirt as knobbies, less, more?  I ride an xl250 for serious practice and it has full on knobbies and handles things quite well, I can feel what that rear is doing, feel it sliding around,  but due to the T7's weight I'm not getting any real sense as to what's happening on the ground under me.

[Rich TT]

19 minutes ago, winddown said:

I know everyone upgrades the tires for dirt road riding, but honestly, how bad are those factory ones on the dirt?  Being inexperienced offroad (still) I'd like to know how far I can push the bike in corners.  What's the reality, are they 70% as good keeping traction in the dirt as knobbies, less, more?  I ride an xl250 for serious practice and it has full on knobbies and handles things quite well, I can feel what that rear is doing, feel it sliding around,  but due to the T7's weight I'm not getting any real sense as to what's happening on the ground under me.

It depends what you mean by "dirt". If thick, mud, ruts etc like we have in the UK for at least 6 months of the year, then they are pretty useless from experience.

 

If it's a fast dry loose fire road, then you can have fun on the standard tyres but you still have to be careful as it's easy to wash the front out on corners if you're not careful.  

 

It's an big expense, but I have two sets of wheels with proper knobblies (Michelin Trackers) on the off road set with 2.5 inch rear and a 140 rear.

 

Cheers

Rich

[Larson627]

I would not call them 70% of knobbies traction-wise, they are a 70/30 street/dirt tire and will act as such. Keep them out of the slimy stuff and don't push it super hard in the corners in loose conditions and you will be fine. Just remember not to ride over your head in unfamiliar terrain, take your time while you are getting the hang of the bike and if you gain confidence on them, you'll be at an advantage down the road if you decide to put something knobbier under it. 

 

Just remember, they don't clean out in the mud, and the bike starts to feel really heavy really quick once you are trying to rock it back and forth to get out of a hole! 

Edited February 27, 2023 by Larson627

[Ray Ride4life]

There are to many variables to give a solid answer.
Like Rich said the terrain is a big factor but the personal factor is also a big part of liking the tyre or not.

[advsquid]

They're not amazing offroad. There's no getting around it, if the dirt is wet and soft then other tires are better. But they're not as bad as people make them out to be either. And, since the T7 is my daily rider and in terms of both mileage and hours used I mostly operate on the road, the fact that they're so sticky to pavement means I didn't even care. I was happy to ride the pants off the bike on the street until the OEM tires wore off and that's fine. All depends on what you're riding on. If they were cheap and I knew I was going to be doing ~5000 miles mostly on the road I'd happily spoon on another set of the Scorpion Rally STRs. I (accidentally) scraped a peg on 'em once....

 

I'm keeping a set of K60 rangers for the adv rally I do in NH, DirtDaze, and have Trailmax Missions for the rest of the year. The K60s are good because I ride the hardest routes at DirtDaze and it always seems to rain when I go camping. The Trailmax Missions are good because they last a ridiculously long amount of time, grip fine on the road, are puncture resistant, and outside of DirtDaze I really only ride the T7 on unpaved and/or unmaintained roads (and despite what the Ricky Carmichael wannabes will tell you, you don't need a knobby for blasting down a fire road or a Jeep trail).

 

 

[AZJW]

The Oem tires on loose gravel on top of hard pack dirt (in Arizona) plain suck, kinda like ice skating without the freezing temperatures.   The front will washout, usually without warning and the rear is extremely easy to break loose, but is easy to get powerslides started.  I'd recommend getting really comfortable sliding your XT250 around then get some knobbies on your T7 and start experimenting at gradually increasing speeds over the same section to compare handling.

[Hollybrook]

I've been quite impressed with the stock STRs. They are deceptively good on pavement, good enough to scrape my boots in corners. 

 

Offroad, they are OK on gravel and hard packed dirt. I haven't had them in deep mud, but would be shocked if they worked there. You really have to keep your weight over the front wheel, but then the back end gets squirrelly. The part that I don't like is that when it breaks loose, it's a bit sudden and not the easiest to get back under control. 

 

For offroad, I have a spare set of wheels with more aggressive tires mounted. 

[Toymaster]

1 hour ago, winddown said:

I know everyone upgrades the tires for dirt road riding, but honestly, how bad are those factory ones on the dirt?  Being inexperienced offroad (still) I'd like to know how far I can push the bike in corners.  What's the reality, are they 70% as good keeping traction in the dirt as knobbies, less, more?  I ride an xl250 for serious practice and it has full on knobbies and handles things quite well, I can feel what that rear is doing, feel it sliding around,  but due to the T7's weight I'm not getting any real sense as to what's happening on the ground under me.

 

It is all about feedback and feel.  It seems you know what it feels like when your rear tire breaks traction.  One knows they need a different tire/tread when you do not obtain an acceptable level of traction.   The traction coefficient for each type of terrain differs and therefore affects the choice of tire; the feeling of the feedback is the same wither it is tarmac or dirt, it just happens quicker on dirt.

 

I have a T7 for a dual-sport and a Desert X as a long-distance traveler.   The factory tires (which are the same) are friggin' awesome for paved road and dirt roads, love riding roads in and around Omaha on the DX.   That said the first hour on the T7 I went from my driveway in Wyoming into the rough immediately, new more aggressive tires for the T7 were the first thing I bought. 

[winddown]

Ok, some good feedback here.  I probably should have been more specific in my header, I only ride on sunny days, on the tar and good gravel roads around south east Queensland, probably 80/20 at the moment.  By the sound of it the stock tires are what I should be running anyway but when they wear out I'll go something more knobby because I don't care if it howls on the highway and I have to take those corners slower, I'm more interested in traction on the gravel roads.  Honestly the bitumen roads around here are in such poor condition an adventure bike is the more practical ride.  The trouble is the potholes mostly, often hidden in the shadows of the trees.  The T7 handles that sort of stuff with ease but a sport bike, not so much.

[Rider 101]

I didn't mind the Scorpion STRs. They have surprisingly good grip on our gravel roads. I found them best on the hard packed tyre tracks more than the loose gravel on the outside of bends.

I ran them until almost worn out before changing to a more aggressive tyre.

I tried the Scorpion Rally front and rear.

I now use the Scorpion Rally front and a Motoz Tractionator Rally ( 140 - 80/18 ) on the rear.

I read a lot where people don't recommend the 140 - 80 on the standard rim.

My highway speeds remain legal ( ish ) and  haven't had an issue.

I am getting around 5000km from a set. I am riding a 50/50 mix of tar and dirt.

 

There are plenty of options out there and you have the benefit of MXstore in Burleigh or Tyres4Bikes in Eagle Farm.

I am sure both will help with advice.

 

A footnote; I did the RideADV bridge to bridge( August 2022 ) on the Motoz/ Scorpion Rally combo and they are still on!

[Black99S]

44 minutes ago, winddown said:

Ok, some good feedback here.  I probably should have been more specific in my header, I only ride on sunny days, on the tar and good gravel roads around south east Queensland, probably 80/20 at the moment.  By the sound of it the stock tires are what I should be running anyway but when they wear out I'll go something more knobby because I don't care if it howls on the highway and I have to take those corners slower, I'm more interested in traction on the gravel roads.  Honestly the bitumen roads around here are in such poor condition an adventure bike is the more practical ride.  The trouble is the potholes mostly, often hidden in the shadows of the trees.  The T7 handles that sort of stuff with ease but a sport bike, not so much.

Sounds like  a 50/50 tyre with a stiffer carcass would be better for how and where you ride - save you a bent front rim in the potholes too. 

TKC80 are soft. Mitas E07 / E09 / E10 stiffer but the 09 or 10 probably more knob than you want. 

Michelin Anakee Wild a good middle ground. I've run them all. I liked the Anakee Wild.

Mounting Motoz Rallz now. Life is short, good tyres don't last long.

Edited February 28, 2023 by Black99S

[Spelldrummer]

16 hours ago, winddown said:

I know everyone upgrades the tires for dirt road riding, but honestly, how bad are those factory ones on the dirt?  Being inexperienced offroad (still) I'd like to know how far I can push the bike in corners.  What's the reality, are they 70% as good keeping traction in the dirt as knobbies, less, more?  I ride an xl250 for serious practice and it has full on knobbies and handles things quite well, I can feel what that rear is doing, feel it sliding around,  but due to the T7's weight I'm not getting any real sense as to what's happening on the ground under me.

Having ridden for many Years, I can only say probably the best road tyres for an adventure bike I have come across, however being a pussy off road, I have no useful input apart from if the bike is used for general dry 'travelling' rather than UK mud, they are fine, but as other far more off road orientated riders have commented, grip is far below what a more 'serious' knobbly tyre would offer in the dirt, all depends on your type of off roading I guess. 

[kdeleon]

my 2 cents, the STRs are impressive on the road.  Off-pavement, you can get by with it.  The front tire is washy and nervous on loose gravel, either you trust it or you don't but it is something we all need to learn how to deal with on these heavy bikes   .  The rear end is very playful, read, doesn't offer lots of traction.    It is very acceptable in dirt, i can lean it with confidence, somewhat ok on sand when new, and very slick on any form of mud, that rear end will slide and shoot you off into the bushes.   

 

Onroad, it's pretty impressive as you probably already know.

 

 

[Dirtbandit]

I think their great on road. No good in mud or gravel, just my option. 

[PNGL]

They are fantastic on the road. They are tolerable on smooth/compacted gravel. They are loose and slippery on loose/fresh-grated gravel. They are slightly better than nothing on sand. They are absolutely useless on grass, mud, or wet rock. If you are the "typical" consumer, I.E. mostly street riding combined with occasional light-duty "off-road", they are probably fine for you. If you enjoy being truly off of the road and/or don't turn back when the gravel road gets rough or starts to disappear, they can't be removed quickly enough.

[winddown]

Ok, I think I have it sorted out.  Great on the blacktop, as I have found, but suss on loose gravel and anything trickier.  Well I'll just keep my speeds down on the gravel roads until I wear out the tires then change to something more aggressive.   If I was to guess I would say I intend to do 50-50 dirt road and bitumen, that's based on the fact that the roads out here are 50:50 and all the really interesting spots are up the ends of the dirt roads.

 

Thanks for the input.

[DanDoesStunts]

Great tyre.

I was quite happy with them in most dry conditions apart from deep gravel. Obviously ordinary in the wet stuff, but if it was dry and fairly firm they performed as designed.

[PNGL]

13 hours ago, winddown said:

Ok, I think I have it sorted out.  Great on the blacktop, as I have found, but suss on loose gravel and anything trickier.  Well I'll just keep my speeds down on the gravel roads until I wear out the tires then change to something more aggressive.   If I was to guess I would say I intend to do 50-50 dirt road and bitumen, that's based on the fact that the roads out here are 50:50 and all the really interesting spots are up the ends of the dirt roads.

 

Thanks for the input.

 They aren't terrible on gravel... just loose. With the stockers, I could whack the throttle open and break loose and spin around doing 70mph on straights. With my Motoz ADV, I have to really try to break loose over 50 or so. That said, on dry pavement, I was dragging the outsides of my boots with the STRs. Definitely not doing that with my Motoz. Really, if you ride sanely and aren't straying too far from the gravel, you'll probably be perfectly fine with the stock STRs. They are good tires. I just like to do dumb stuff that they aren't good at.

 

[Tenerider]

On 2/27/2023 at 8:02 PM, AZJW said:

The Oem tires on loose gravel on top of hard pack dirt (in Arizona) plain suck, kinda like ice skating without the freezing temperatures.   The front will washout, usually without warning and the rear is extremely easy to break loose, but is easy to get powerslides started.  I'd recommend getting really comfortable sliding your XT250 around then get some knobbies on your T7 and start experimenting at gradually increasing speeds over the same section to compare handling.

I can confirm that. It's acceptable on loose gravel as long as the gravel has sharp edges, but when I  rode a patch of TET NL last year I came across round small gravel over hardpack - horrible. Floating sideways all the time and that was when the road went straight ahead. Knobbies would have pushed through the loose mini-pebbles much better.

Even slightly muddy conditions are to be ridden very careful.

 

Apart from that, they work ok on most mild offroad scenarios. Not great, but definitely not a reason NOT to ride an unpaved road or even a singletrail.

 

[winddown]

Edited March 1, 2023 by winddown