A Tiger's best friend: Mezteler Tourance Next suit Triumph’s new adventurer down to the ground

One of the things that really blew me away when I first rode my Triumph Tiger 1200 GT Explorer long termer was its handling. For such a tall, heavy beast it can be stuffed into a corner like a supermoto and on the way out, you have to be brutal with the throttle before things begin to get out of shape. That’s all the more impressive given the skinny 150-section Metzeler motorcycle tyre it runs.

There’s no question Triumph’s clever engineers and test riders have done a sterling job with the chassis, but the Tiger’s standard rubber is impressive, too.

Its Metzeler Tourance Next tyres are designed mainly for on-road jaunts, but its tread grooves are deep enough to handle a bit of light dirt riding, too. Like all dual purpose tyres they’re a compromise and if you never plan to go off-road, sports or sports touring tyres make much more sense, but that doesn’t stop the Metzelers being mightily impressive.

I’ve used them for blasts around the UK as well as a two-up riding holidays to southern Italy, on all types of roads and in all kinds of weather. With its dual compound rear and single compound front, they’re sticky enough for peg scraping activities in the dry and are equally as reassuring in the wet.

That should be no surprise as Metzeler make some of the best road-going sports and sports touring tyres and the same technology is been poured into the Tourance Next.

Grip is what every rider wants, of course, but tyres like these need to have extra qualities. Adventure bikes are as much about hitting the dusty trails as they are churning out big road miles in comfort – they’re modern day touring bikes. So, you need a tyre that’s quiet, comfortable, stable and hard-wearing. The Metzelers ace the lot.

I replaced them after 7749 miles, not that I needed to, but just because I wanted to test something different. The front looked almost unused and while the rear had started to square-off, there was still plenty of tread left.

Their construction is relatively pliable compared to some of Metzeler’s rivals, so the ride quality is plush and because the tread is more like a road tyre than blocky dirt rubber they’re quiet and don’t whine at motorway speeds.

Big adventure bikes, tourers and cruisers sometime suffers from ‘shimmy’ It’s an oscillation of the bars that normally happens around 40mph. You can feel it through your hands, or if you take them off the bars they’ll gently start to slap until you grab them again. It’s a headache for tyre companies iron out, but these are ultra-stable, even fully loaded, two-up.

Metzeler have just brought out the new and improved Tourance Next 2, but you can still get hold of these originals for around £250, which makes these excellent all-weather, all-use tyres stonking value for money.

Metzeler Tourance Next spec and detail

• Available: Now
• Where we tested them: UK, France, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Germany and Switzerland.
• When we tested them: August to October 2022
• Mileage: 7749
• Bike: Triumph Tiger 1200 GT Explorer
• Size: Front: 120/70 x 19. Rear: 150/60 x 17. Also available to fit most adventure bikes with 17in rears and 17in/19in fronts.

Cut through the jargon with MCN’s tyre explainer video:

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