MITAS E-07 - probably the answer...?
On the strength of this thread, and Farqueue's recommendation of Mitas, i fitted MITAS E-07 to the Africa Twin, after also finding the Bridgestones to be poor performers in the larger gravel and anything worse.
The E-09 model is really knobbley, and not surprisingly Farqueue reports they are good in all conditions. Of course they probably won't last too long on the tarmac. A good compromise seemed to be the E-07s which are a herringbone pattern with deep knobs yet a good proportion of rubber contacts the road.
I have run the (top heavy 2 wheeled Honda tank) in all kinds of gravel and shale and even mud (see the report and video of the Lees Valley ride by Transalper). The bike was far more stable than I hoped for. Reduction in psi made a significant difference. For Lees Valley I was down to 10psi (by guessing) on the rear for the mud. About 18psi on the front.
On the sealed roads, they are great, cruising through sweeping bends at 100 -120 km/h no problem. Even in the wet, through tighter twisties, they feel good.
Wear rate: Only done 2000kms on them. They are showing some wear obviously. The guys at Cycletreads (? not sure if that is the name- off Tuam St- Saxon St?) supplied the pair for $130 rear, $110 front. (small fee fitting per wheel, not loose). They have a worn pair of E-07s from an F650 which does 1100kms a week and the guy reckons he got 14,000km out of them, running under-inflated. Hmmm. Remains to be seen. But for the price, and for my needs (highway touring with a few 4x4 tracks thrown in) they seem the perfect compromise.
Even if you only do 1% of your riding on the rougher roads, it is those moments you will be cursing not having big enough knobs (so to speak). And with these tyres being as good as they seem on the road, I reckon they are the answer for most adventure riders with only one bike which needs to go everywhere.
Cheers
Dan
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