REVIEW

Words & Photos : Jock McLauchlan

E-13 The E-13 is a tube-type tyre , so will suit the vast majority of adventure bikes with a 21-inch front wheel . It can ' t be used tubeless , but a tube and tube-type tyre can be used in a tubeless rim setup ( the CRF1100 Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES model has a 21-inch tubeless rim , but I ' m not sure how many others adventure bikes have that ). It ’ s simply fantastic . Like a full knobbly , it truly works off-road . It ’ s also fully legal for the road and works amazingly well on the road too . Yes , I dial back the pace on road a little , maybe 10 percent and go easy in the wet , but off-road it ’ s a 100 percent better than even a 50 / 50 dual purpose tyre . In mud the AT can be steered like a dirtbike ! They really are that awesome ! I ’ ve never come across another front tyre for big adventure bikes that provides this level of off-road grip , are decent on road and have a reasonable life . I ’ m genuinely hard on tyres and don ’ t worry much about tyre life , but I usually get about 2000 K ’ s out of them before they go in the bin . At this stage they are about half worn , but I ’ ll choose grip any day over running on worn and rounded edges . And they are tough ! The sidewall is serious as it needs to cope with 230kg-plus of bike and the rider on rocks etc . Also , there is a built-in rim saver for added rim protection . I ’ m not one to dick around with tyre pressures when riding . I hate getting flats and having to fix them , so I never run less than 25psi in the front . Fixing a puncture trail side is not an issue , but I ’ d far rather be riding .

E-07 + The rear tyre I use is an E-07 +, which can be had in a tubeless setup or tube-type . I run this tyre for slightly different reasons . Firstly , they are tough – they take the punishment on rocks and rough ground . Secondly , they ’ re hard wearing . 2000km is quite achievable with reasonable tread life left [ I ' ve been getting anywhere between 5000km and 6000km out of the E-07 + rear on my old R80GS , but it has less power and I ' m lighter on the throttle than Jock - Ed ]. Some might scoff at this mileage , but when you consider a big adventure bike can completely destroy a rear tyre on gravel in less than 100km with the throttle properly open , it ’ s pretty bloody good . And lastly , it offers decent grip in a variety of conditions . While it ' s not the absolute best tyre in mud , on gravel or on the

40 KIWI RIDER