Motoz Tractionator first ride

Tractionator Desert H/T and Enduro S/T have the makings of the perfect trail tyres

Of all the questions we get here at MCN, ‘what tyres should I buy?’ is easily the most common. Everyone wants the magic combination of good grip with decent wear, perfect in the wet and in the dry plus we all want them to be cheap. For those of us who ride trail and adventure bikes, there’s the can of worms that is off-road to on-road ratio and how that affects the choice. Trail riding in the UK involves a fair amount of road work at the best of times but if you include travelling around and a bit of adventure riding, you can shag a pair of tyres in short order. Enter the Motoz Tractionator range.

Motoz Tractionators goes from the road-focused GPS to the hardcore Enduro IT, theoretically with something for everyone, much like other brands. The key difference is that the Motoz tyres are famed for their long life. Sounding like just the ticket, I spoke with Adventure Spec (the UK distributors), described where/how I ride and they recommended I team a Desert H/T rear with an Enduro S/T front. This should give plenty of grip off-road with reasonable road manners but mostly importantly, good tyre life. So how do they handle? First impressions are great.

Off-road the front is as confidence inspiring as all but the most extreme enduro tyres. From the loose sand and loam of Thetford, to the mud and gravel of Essex, the front tyre has been pretty flawless. You’d have to be taking on very aggressive terrain and riding very hard to find the front wanting. The rear isn’t quite as close to an enduro tyre as the front but the tread pattern provides a good amount of bite. A slightly gentler throttle is the key to maximising grip. On the road they’re similar to many off-road focused tyres.

The front feels a little vague and has a tendency to wander if there are any crowns in the road but they’re predictable, so you can ride with confidence and are no worse than other off-road tyres. You can spin the back up on damp roads but as long as you don’t go berserk they’re fine. So far I’ve not ridden in the rain, so I can’t comment on wet weather performance but I’ll be sure to update this when I’ve given them a try. And for those of you who fit your own tyres, these are no harder than any typical enduro tyre I’ve fitted. Zero issues with mega stiff sidewalls as can be found on some longer lasting tyres.

We’ve logged a few hundred miles on mixed terrain and the wear is minimal but I’ll report back in a couple of months to see how things have progressed.

£114 for the pair, www.adventure-spec.com