If you’re checking out this review, my guess is you have an ADV bike of some form or flavor, and you’re looking to put some new tires on your bike, you’ve come to the right place to do it.Loaded: 13.38%
w they’re going to be a bundle of adventure tires out there, and it can be mind-boggling to try and select the ones that might be appropriate for your motorcycle.
Before we get into the best tires, let’s talk exactly about who this review is written for. We’re going to be talking about a couple of different bike styles; we’re All simply talking about a couple of different riding styles.
When it comes to motorcycle styles, adventure bikes typically come in two classes; you’ve got two-sized wheels on most adventure bikes, either a 1719 combo or a 1721 combo. That’s not a hard and fast rule, but I’d say it’s a good generality for most adventure bikes on the market.
Generally speaking, the 1719 bikes tend to be a little bit more rode gear. You can still go off-road with them; however, they’re meant to be comfortable on the street.
The 1721 bikes tend to be a little bit more dirtbike like; that big front wheel can roll over obstacles a little bit easier than something a bit smaller.
Those particular motorcycles tend to have a little bit more off-road capability, and I think, generally speaking, the people who choose them are looking to spend just a bit more time off the road.
As we’ve discovered over the years, adventure bikes are popular with many different motorcycle riders when it comes down to riding styles. Some people use them just like straight-up touring bikes.
They’re spending their entire lives using them on the street. They just like them because they’re big, powerful, comfortable motorcycles with a nice upright riding position.
Now, on the other hand, you’ve some people who will take a large adventure bike and use it inappropriately.
They’ll treat it like an overgrown dirt bike and force the thing into spending its entire life in the mud, off-road.
Regardless of where you fall, we’re going to have something here for you.
We’ve got a range of tires; most of them are clustered around the middle, though for a little bit of off-road riding, as well as a little bit of road work.
One of the things you should know if you’re shopping for a tire that is meant to go both on-road and offroad is they’ll typically be expressed as a ratio. You’ll see 60/40 tires, or perhaps 70/30 tires.
Those numbers are always expressed as the intended on-road riding percentage versus the off-road riding.
If you see a 70/30 tire, that tire is designed to spend 70% of its life on the pavement and then 30% off-road.
For those of you who are taking your bike into that deep mud, you might be looking at a tire as aggressive as, say, a 40 60.
It would be much more aggressive than that you’re looking at a straight-up dirt bike tire, most of which won’t fit your bike anyway.
If you’ve got other bikes in your garage, something that needs a set of tires on it, but you don’t know exactly what to buy, we’ve got a couple of different reviews. Some of them might help you out in choosing a tire.
Right now, let’s get going on some of the adventure tires we are going to review today.
The Continental Twinduro TKC 80 Dual Sport tire is the behemoth in the off-road world.
This is the one to beat, and it’s the gold standard for off-road tires. I’m going to call this a 40/60 tire.
This is probably the nobbies DOT tire you can get. Like I mentioned earlier, if you’re getting something knobbyerr than this, you’re looking at a straight dirt bike tire, which wouldn’t be legal to run on the road.
So let’s talk a little bit about this tire, who it’s for, who it’s going to be best associated with.
These tires also are popular because they have so many different sizes available.
The odds are excellent that if you are riding a motorcycle adventurer or not, the TKC 80 probably comes in a size that will fit your bike.
This tire has giant tread blocks, or I should say giant voids between the tread blocks; that’s the important part here.
What this allows the tire to do is mechanically conform around rocks, dirt branches, and stumps.
When aired down, these tires will wrap around those things and give you lots and lots of good grip.
Those big spaces between the lugs also allow a good ejection, so if this thing loads up with mud – and you get it moving, again, it’s going to clear the mud out of the tire pretty well.
There are two classes of rider I recommend these too. Those people who do the hardcore off-road stuff, and people who were taking their adventure bikes into the woods and asking the very max out of them.
We have lots of people around the office who run these things, and you really can get pretty far off-road with them. Often these are the go-to tire.
For people who are really serious about spending time off-road, even though mileage on these is pretty poor, generally speaking, most people are more than willing to make the sacrifice because of how capable they make their bikes off-road.
The second class of rider I recommend these too, believe it or not, are those who are taking their big off-road bike off-road for the first time.
The reason I say that as a beginner starting, you need every advantage you can get.
It isn’t easy to ride off-road, especially if you’ve never done it before, and especially if you’ve never done it before on a big bike. Having the off-road hook and bite that a TKC 80 offers clear out one more problem you need to overcome when learning what you’re doing.
Remember, even though these are a 40/60 tire, when you need a mud tire or an off-road tire, you need 100% of an off-road tire. The TKC 80 does deliver in that respect.
Regardless of whether you’ve experienced on a big bike or a beginner, I would say the TKC 80 is a great spot to start if you know you’re going off-road and you’re not exactly sure which tire to buy.
The Continental Twinduro TKC80 gets a 4.5 star rating from 193 reviews. Read the good and the bad here.
Next up, we’ve got the Heidenau K60 Scout. I believe this is the tire we have included in our annual gear guides more than any other tire, not just in the category of any other tire ever.
This is a tire I like to describes as a free lunch tire. We talked about there being no free lunches in the world with the tires. However, the Heidenau Scout does offer a little bit more than the sum of its parts.
In my estimation, I think these are almost as good off-road as the Continental TKC 80 we just talked about, but there are some significant benefits.
These tires tend to do a little bit better on the road. The wear on them is better; most riders report a little bit more mileage out of these.
The K60 Scout comes in a couple of different tread designs; one of the things I want to point out is that you’ll notice the tire has a continuous center rib.
Remember, when you’re zipping down the road, you will spend most of the time in the center of the tire.
Without those voids in between the tread blocks punctuating that center rib, you keep constant contact with the rubber and the ground.
Unlike a tire like the TCK 80, those voids in between the tread blocks add vibration; you’ll hear lots of noise.
The tire is very noisy as each tread block hits the ground, compresses, scuffs, and then rolls under. That manifests itself as a very noisy tire.
If you need off-road tire prowess, you have to be willing to put up with a little bit of noise.
However, something like the K60 Scout gives up a touch of the off-road ability but returns a much more rideable tire for the street. Again in terms of both mileage, as well as in terms of noise.
The K60 Scout did a great job for several years. However, some other copycats come into the market, and you will also see some contenders that look very much like this tire.
So if you’re checking out a k60 scout, you probably also want to look at a MEFO Explorer as well as a METOSS E07 tire.
All of those are in that 50/50 realm. They will be just as good on the road as off it.
This is my personal favorite and lots of our customers too. The K60 Scout has earned its reputation and its spot in this top 5 review.
The Heidenau K60 Scout gets a 4.5-star rating from 193 reviews. Read all the reviews here
This is Avon tire’s first crack at an off-road tire. Avon is certainly not new to the tire game; they’ve been around for decades.
However, the fact they waited this long to get into the off-road tire game says to me that they probably did their homework.
The other thing is all those decades of experience of on-road tires shine through in the Trek rider.
The Trek rider is your quiet option. For those riders who need some off-road capability, and you’re looking for a 50/50 tire, but you have become frustrated with how noisy the tires you’ve put on your bike are, the Trek rider is the tire for you.
This tire prioritizes nice quiet running over mileage, and It also prioritizes it over off-road capability.
If you’re venturing off-road from time to time, you need a 50/50 tire. You want something quiet for the bulk of your riding, say when you’re heading to work or just commuting or touring, the Trek rider is the tire to look at.
The Avon gets Four-star rating from 13 reviews. Read all 13 before you buy
In the same vein as the trek rider we just saw, this is a special tire, but a little more extreme.
If you’re looking at this tire and thinking, boy, that tire doesn’t look that off-road capable doesn’t look very knobby! You’d be a hundred percent correct.
Completely ignore the name of this tire. The trail is just a name, no more, no less. What this tire is is purely street-based. However, it comes in adventure bike sizes.
At the beginning of this review, we talked about how people will ride their adventure bikes. Like I mentioned, there are plenty of people who choose an adventure bike simply because they’re big.
They’re comfortable, they’re powerful, and they carry lots and lots of gear. They look they have a nice neutral, upright riding position, making great touring mounts.
However, if that rider doesn’t take their bike off-road, unfortunately, what they’re going to suffer is tires that are noisier than they need to be and probably not wearing as well as they could. That’s where the pilot road for trail comes in.
They are made in the 17 and 19-inch sizes for those Street biased adventure bikes.
However, they have no off-road pretense whatsoever, and these are strictly a street-based tire. They’re quiet, they last a long time, and they have great grip.
So if you find yourself taking your adventure bike and putting that thing on its side through the corners, and you’re spending your entire life on the pavement, the Pilot Road 4 Trail is a tire that’s probably going to be the perfect for your needs.
It’s a Five-star rating for the Micheline Road 5 ADV tire. Read all the reviews before you decide on an ADV tire.
I hate to see a copycat, but if you look at this thing, you’ll notice It looks very similar that TKC 80 we talked about a little earlier.
The reality is that the Kenda big block will give you almost the same off-road prowess at a fraction of the price.
This is a tire that’s going to be good for those of you who are considering throwing something a little bit knobby on your bike and trying your hand at off-road work.
It’s also going to be for be those riders who either have a second set of wheels, they’re thinking about spooning a second set of tires on.
If you’re looking to try your hand at getting off-road with your bike, a Kenda big block is a great way to start doing it again.
It’s got lots and lots of off-road capability, great for those of you who will be new at off-road, but it’s not going to bust the bank because these things are pretty easy on the wallet.
The Kenda big block will run side by side with the METOS EO9 tire check, that out if you’re looking at this one as well.
But again, I think when it comes right down to it, if it comes to cost, something like the Kenda big-block is the king that’s going to round out our top 5 best adventure tires.