Adventure tire comparison test

[GreenHornet]

I just put another one of these MotoZ Tractionator Adventure on the rear.

The last one went 5275 miles and probably could have lasted another 1K, but I'm about to leave on a six day trip so I changed it out.

I'm real happy with this tire on all surfaces.

I'm sure my 950 sees more pavement than dirt and I'm eating up my front tire pretty quick, but I'm loving my pirelli scorpion rally in the front with the motoz tractionator adventure rear combo. Its been solid everywhere. I just flipped the front tire around because the knobs were getting ramped from front braking.

I've got 2k miles on MotoZ Tractionator Adventure front and rear, basically all street. I've done 3 dual sport rides. I think I'll be lucky to get 4K miles out of the rear.
A few negatives I've noticed:
Very loud
The front tire tracks rain grooves on the freeway when new. Doesn't seem to do it anymore.
The front tire slips a lot on any slick surface. Tar snakes and fresh pavement have been an issue. I haven't tried them in the wet yet. I had a pretty tense moment in a turn on Business 80 on fresh black asphalt. I thought i ran through an oil slick, my riding buddy said he didn't notice anything. It still could have been some kind of fluid, but it also could have been just the fresh ashphalt.
The rear tire is great, the front maybe not so great for pavement.

 

[Cabrito]

I've got 2k miles on MotoZ Tractionator Adventure front and rear, basically all street. I've done 3 dual sport rides. I think I'll be lucky to get 4K miles out of the rear.
A few negatives I've noticed:
Very loud
The front tire tracks rain grooves on the freeway when new. Doesn't seem to do it anymore.
The front tire slips a lot on any slick surface. Tar snakes and fresh pavement have been an issue. I haven't tried them in the wet yet. I had a pretty tense moment in a turn on Business 80 on fresh black asphalt. I thought i ran through an oil slick, my riding buddy said he didn't notice anything. It still could have been some kind of fluid, but it also could have been just the fresh ashphalt.
The rear tire is great, the front maybe not so great for pavement.

I agree that they are loud as hell. I didn't like the front at all and removed it after one trip. I find all knobby tires wander in the grooved highways. I just enjoy the wiggle :ride My current combo is the Adventure on the rear and the GPS on the front. Maybe you're tire pressure or the size of your bike has something to do with the tire wearing out quicker than mine did.

 

[ScottRNelson]

Tire report - AX41

Okay, I finally got out for a break-in ride on my 790R with the new AX41 tires. Here is the little bit of information that I learned about them.

I've already mentioned that they whine at 38 mph and the noise drops off on either side of that speed until you don't notice it once you're about 5 mph away from the magic speed. After riding many miles of dirt and getting back on pavement I noticed a vibration or something from them, just a little bit. It reminded me of when I had the K60 Scout with no center rib on my KTM 990 Adv. That tire felt like riding on cobblestones on even the smoothest of roads. The AX41 wasn't quite at that level.

On the freeway on "vertically groved" pavement they tend to wander. More so than the Karoo 3 tires I had on before and I think more than the TKC-80. Slightly annoying, but not a big deal. Easy enough to ignore.

On a twisty mountain road I had full confidence in the traction on what I would call "fun lean angles". Here's a photo after a spirited run down Bogus Basin Rd, showing which parts of the tire got the dirt cleaned back off by the pavement.

Off road I'm happy with them. I would rate them slightly better than anything else that I've ever had on an adventure bike. They seem to steer slightly better at speed on dirt roads so that I can go a little faster around corners where you mostly have to stay rather upright. They make the 790R feel like a better bike.

For acceleration on a dirt road, first off, I'm comparing them to a worn Karoo 3 that had about 1/8" of tread left, so they definitely hooked up a lot better than that tire. But traction was good in general whenever I wanted to get up to speed. Next week I'll go out with a rider who is better than me on some more serious dirt and I'll see how these compare to the last ride I did with him on the warn Metzelers.

In sand and silt, I couldn't tell that there was an improvement in steering going through anything two inches deep or deeper. In my opinion, nothing really steers well in that stuff.

Overall, I'm happy with the AX41 and feel that I've made the right choice. It is yet to be seen if I can get more than 3722 miles out of a set like I did with the Karoo 3 tires. I only made it 3200 miles on a TKC-80 on the 1090R that came before this bike. I'll try to report back when it's time to replace these tires.

 

[Retumbo7]

Okay, I finally got out for a break-in ride on my 790R with the new AX41 tires. Here is the little bit of information that I learned about them.

I've already mentioned that they whine at 38 mph and the noise drops off on either side of that speed until you don't notice it once you're about 5 mph away from the magic speed. After riding many miles of dirt and getting back on pavement I noticed a vibration or something from them, just a little bit. It reminded me of when I had the K60 Scout with no center rib on my KTM 990 Adv. That tire felt like riding on cobblestones on even the smoothest of roads. The AX41 wasn't quite at that level.

On the freeway on "vertically groved" pavement they tend to wander. More so than the Karoo 3 tires I had on before and I think more than the TKC-80. Slightly annoying, but not a big deal. Easy enough to ignore.

On a twisty mountain road I had full confidence in the traction on what I would call "fun lean angles". Here's a photo after a spirited run down Bogus Basin Rd, showing which parts of the tire got the dirt cleaned back off by the pavement.

Off road I'm happy with them. I would rate them slightly better than anything else that I've ever had on an adventure bike. They seem to steer slightly better at speed on dirt roads so that I can go a little faster around corners where you mostly have to stay rather upright. They make the 790R feel like a better bike.

For acceleration on a dirt road, first off, I'm comparing them to a worn Karoo 3 that had about 1/8" of tread left, so they definitely hooked up a lot better than that tire. But traction was good in general whenever I wanted to get up to speed. Next week I'll go out with a rider who is better than me on some more serious dirt and I'll see how these compare to the last ride I did with him on the warn Metzelers.

In sand and silt, I couldn't tell that there was an improvement in steering going through anything two inches deep or deeper. In my opinion, nothing really steers well in that stuff.

Overall, I'm happy with the AX41 and feel that I've made the right choice. It is yet to be seen if I can get more than 3722 miles out of a set like I did with the Karoo 3 tires. I only made it 3200 miles on a TKC-80 on the 1090R that came before this bike. I'll try to report back when it's time to replace these tires.

Can we get a follow-up on the AX41? My go to tire is the TKC80, so curious about your thoughts (even though it was a different bike)

 

[ScottRNelson]

Can we get a follow-up on the AX41? My go to tire is the TKC80, so curious about your thoughts (even though it was a different bike)

I still love those tires. I've put 1885 mile on them and they work very well pretty much everywhere. Well, not in mud or deep silt, but I've never had a tire that worked well in that stuff.

Definitely better off road than the TKC80 and at least as good on the street. When I wear this set out I'll be getting another.