Motorcycle adventure-sports tyre test | RiDE's Roundup of the top road-biased tyres for ADV bikes

This test was performed by the team at our sister title RiDE Magazine – the biker’s champion that guarantees useful advice on buying a new or used motorbike, thorough testing and tips on which bits of gear to buy, from helmets to suits and gloves to boots and more. You can find them on Facebook, Instagram, and in print.

Adventure bike tyres have a tough job. As bikes of this type have become faster and more sophisticated their tyres now need to cope with more power, ever-increasing angles of lean and resist the inevitable wear of being fitted to heavy, torquey bikes. And they’re also required to offer a modicum of off-road ability.

Here, we’ve tested six of the best-selling adventure motorbike tyres on the market (except Avon, who declined to participate). All are 19-inch front, 17-inch rear fitment – a format popular with everything from the BMW GS to Honda’s CB500X. And all are multi-compound, designed to work across a wide range of situations.

Apart from the Michelin rubber, all the tyres here fall into the 90/10 category, meaning that they’re designed for 90% on-road use, 10% off road, though the reality is that few sets will ever see dirt. But which is best for your bike? Let’s find out.

How we tested these adventure tyres

This was a blind test. At no point did Matt Wildee or Bruce Dunn know which tyres they were riding on — the notes on the test were generated before they knew which tyres they were on.

Both riders rode our set route; Matt taking the first stint, with an emphasis on warm-up time and stability, then Bruce focussed just on outright performance.

Each rider gave marks out of ten for each set of tyres, rating steering, confidence, stability, ride quality and feel. We also measured operating temperature and emergency-stop braking distances. Conditions on the test route were dry, 22°C and we used the manufacturer’s recommended cold pressures throughout the test.

The Route

A 22-mile ride taking in fast, flowing A-roads, bumpy B-roads, a motorway stint, plus urban, over a variety of coarse and polished surfaces.

The Bike

We chose RiDE’s long-term Suzuki V-Strom 1000 because its OE tyres are merely OK, plus it lacks sophisticated traction control and fancy suspension that can skew feedback. The bike was set on minimal traction control levels.

The Logistics

Tests were on the same day and conditions. Support and prices provided by Mark at www.mobile-bike-tyres.co.uk. They don’t include fitting and will vary between different suppliers. They’re a guide.

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

About the testers

Matt Wildee – Current editor for RiDE magazine, and former MCN senior editor

Bruce Dunn – Workshop Expert, Datalogger, Speed Tester – Bruce has been professionally testing bikes for over 25 years. He’s a fully qualified motorcycle technician who also has a knack for going incredibly fast on racetracks and runways. As-well-as looking after the ‘Workshop How To’ section for MCN, Bruce keeps his own collection of bikes fettled, including the Yamaha TZ250 – the bike he used to take the the 2022 BMCRC Blue Haze GP championship with a round to spare!

Our scores explained

When RiDE reviewed these tyres, they awarded each one a score out of ten for steering, confidence, stability, ride quality, and feel. We halved those scores, and rounded them to find the ratings out of five stars. These are shown in the ratings tab for each tyre featured, to help you find the best adventure-sports tyre for how you ride. Here’s a guide to what each score means:

1 star – Poor performance in this category or overall. A tyre with a single star rating has fallen below the expected standard and should be avoided.
2 stars – Basic performance in this area or overall. A tyre with a two-star rating has managed to perform to a barely acceptable level and there is room for improvement.
3 stars – An average performance in this area or overall. A tyre with a three-star rating has achieved a basic level of performance and is deemed adequate.
4 stars – A tyre has performed over and above the accepted averaged in this category or overall. A tyre with a four-star rating has surpassed expectation and delivered in a particularly impressive way.
5 stars – A tyre has performed at the highest possible level in a particular category or overall. A tyre with a five-star rating has delivered to the highest possible level, impressing the tester with its performance. We would happily spend our own money on it.

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