Adventure motorcycle tires are always a hotly debated issue.
There are endless pages of forums, YouTube comment sections, and articles debating the merits of what sort of tire is best for different riders on different bikes. Don’t even get me started on tire pressures.
True 50/50 tires are what we run on the majority of our rental fleet because true 50/50 riding is what we do here at Ride Adventures.
That doesn’t mean we don’t like to have a good time when the pavement ends, nor does it mean we don’t drag a peg or two on twisty pavement sections.
The difference between the best 50/50 adventure motorcycle tires and the rest of them is that a great tire won’t put serious limitations on either type of riding.
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A tough-as-nails mileage monster that works well on any surface. | CHECK PRICE |
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A long-wearing tire with a reversible tread pattern for serious mileage and all-terrain versatility. | CHECK PRICE |
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Long-wearing tire with a minor off-road bias that works better than most in mud. | CHECK PRICE |
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A wildly impressive tire with a minor pavement bias that may outlive us all. | CHECK PRICE |
| A long-time favorite of pavement-first ADV riders, now with better off-road manners. | CHECK PRICE | |
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A true 50/50 tire that actually works well in sand and mud. | CHECK PRICE |
Is there anything more exhausting than listening to people split hairs over what makes a tire 40/60 rather than 60/40?
There will be none of that here, this much I can promise you.
As far as we’re concerned at RIDE Adventures, a true 50/50 adventure motorcycle tire does three things well. It will:
Note that we say they’ll get you through anything, but we don’t say they’ll get you through anything gracefully.
Some of the tires below are better in specific situations than others. None of them are the best at anything, and that’s ok.
ADV tires get better every year. Maybe, just maybe, one day in the future we’ll get a tire like the Continental TKC 80 that lasts for 15,000 miles.
Until then, there’s really no substitute for a knobby tire in the dirt, or a sport/touring tire on the pavement.
A 50/50 tire, however, isn’t making either claim. Running a 50/50 just means all roads are open for you to explore.
Spoon a set of these on, and go anywhere you want for as long as you please. Whether you spend 50, 60, or even 90% of your time on the pavement really doesn’t matter. Your tires are ready for anything whenever you are.
Honestly, about 95% of adventure riders would be best suited with a 50/50 tire, but far fewer actually run one.
See, adventure riders often fall into one of two categories: Riders who don’t trust knobs on pavement, and riders who don’t trust anything but knobs in the dirt.
Honestly it’s a shame, because both riders are making huge tradeoffs whether they know it or not.
To all my hard-core knobby-only adventure riders: Unless your name is Toni Bou, you’ll be fine trying anything on this list.
I tend to be more of a strictly knobby guy on dual sport bikes, but those bikes are typically WELL under 500 pounds and don’t have any business going over 70 mph on the highway anyways.
I’ll be the first to tell you, even if I’m managing 3,000+ miles out of a knobby tire, the second half of that tread isn’t exactly “confidence inspiring” on or off road. I’d consider these “dual sport” tires, and that’s a separate discussion anyways.
Adventure motorcycle tires truly bring us the best of both worlds, and none so well as the 50/50 tire. At 3,000 miles, any of the tires below are just getting warmed up.
While some of the tires below may be similar in appearance, each brings its own unique contributions to the ADV tire scene.
Whether you’re shopping for your first adventure motorcycle tires or just looking to upgrade your current setup, there’s a 50/50 tire here for your riding style.
Our team has logged millions of miles on more tires than we can count, so if you’ve got questions on anything you see below (or anything you don’t) drop us a line in the comments below.
We’ve put over 5,000,000 combined miles on the Heidenau K60 Scout, and for a long time they were our favorite adventure motorcycle tires on the market.
We’ve seen a few products in recent years that might be able to dethrone the venerable K60 Scout, but before we talk about the competition, let’s cover what we love about the Heidenau.
The tread life of the K60 always delivers the “wow” factor.
Of course their total mileage depends heavily on how you treat the throttle, but adventure riders regularly report getting 12,000 miles or more out of the rear.
The front tire could probably outlive us all, but most folks replace it whenever the rear wears out in the name of safety.
The tread pattern itself is excellent, and offers reliable grip in just about any off road terrain. Larger sizes with the thicker center strip don’t hook up as well when the bike is upright in the dirt.
Traction on dry pavement is a high point of the K60, but when things turn cold and wet it has a reputation for getting squirrely. You’ve been warned.
Check out our Heidenau K60 Scout Review on YouTube
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The Motoz Tractionator GPS was a direct response to the popularity of the Heidenau K60. It brought the same characteristics K60 users loved, but added the extra grip K60 users were asking for.
Eventually the Tractionator GPS pushed Heidenau to introduce the latest version of the K60 Scout, the “cold compound”, but by then the damage was done and Motoz had converted a ton of K60 fans.
The Motoz Tractionator isn’t just a K60 copycat though.
Speaking of tread, the main feature that’s caught our eye is the rear tread pattern. The Tractionator GPS is the first reversible adventure motorcycle tire ever made. We’re in the middle of testing the Tractionator GPS in our fleet and so far we love it.
Although it’s a relatively new design, initial reports claim the Tractionator GPS adventure motorcycle tire might even get better mileage than the K60.
Like any true 50/50 adventure motorcycle tire though, the GPS isn’t perfect.
Although grip is improved, it still doesn’t deliver the confidence of something like a sport touring tire when riding in wet and cold situations.
We’ve also noticed the Motoz doesn’t feel quite as confident deep in the curves as a K60, likely due to the alternating stand-alone lugs on the edges.
Check out our Motoz Tractionator GPS Review on Youtube
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Motoz Tractionator GPS
Another long-standing favorite in the adventure community is the Mitas E-07+. The E-07+ adventure motorcycle tire also features a “chevron” style tread pattern, but Mitas does it a little differently than the Heindenau or Motoz options above.
For starters, neither the front nor rear uses a solid strip of tread in the center of the tire.
"Mitas E-07+ mounted for a Customer on one of our many Patagonia Tours"
This approach gives the Mitas E-07+ a slight edge in off road conditions over the two tires mentioned above, but also reduces their life expectancy.
They’re still fantastic, long-wearing tires (most folks agree on getting roughly 8,000 miles out of the rear), but they won’t outlast other 50/50 adventure motorcycle tires.
It’s also worth mentioning that Mitas uses a slightly narrower profile on their E-07+ tires, which has two main benefits.
First, a narrower profile means your bike’s handling will feel more nimble on twisty roads. No sane person would describe a 1200 GSA as “flickable” but a 1200 GSA with a set of E-07+s mounted up is certainly “more flickable” by comparison.
"Eric with Customers on a route scouting trip in Thailand. Make sure to join our newsletter as they are invite only"
Second, are the offroad benefits of a narrow profile.
Narrower profile tires have a narrower overall contact patch on the ground. Focusing the weight of your bike onto a smaller area allows its lugs to dig down more easily, which translates to better grip in mud, loose/loamy soil, and soft-over-hard terrain.
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Mitas E-07+
Dunlop was a long time coming with their entry into the 50/50 segment, and these adventure motorcycle tires were well worth the wait.
A ton of R&D went into developing the unique tread patterns of the front and rear tires, and the final product truly stands out from the competition.
Gone are the shared “chevron” tread patterns of every other tire on this list. Dunlop Trailmax Mission opted for a more street-biased appearance that somehow manages to deliver great feel off-road in everything but the gnarliest conditions.
And unlike some of those chevron-style tires, the Dunlops have zero high-speed drift or wobble to speak of. Load your bike down as heavy or light as you want, and ride it however fast or aggressively you please on the pavement: These tires never have you second-guessing on long highways and twisty canyon roads alike.
Part of this can be chalked up to Dunlops linked tread blocks, which use structural bridges between wider knobs. The Trailmax Mission is clever though, as it employs these bridges close to the carcass to preserve offroad traction.
Mileage is on par with the K60 if not better. The folks at ADV Rider famously put 11,000 miles on a set in one year and didn’t even hit the halfway mark.
As you might expect from a tire this good on the pavement, it isn’t quite as good off-road as other options.
The Trailmax Mission delivers great feel in typical adventure riding conditions (dirt/gravel roads, forest service roads etc.), but it wouldn’t be our first choice on this list for deeper sand or mud.
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Dunlop Trailmax Mission
An oldie but a goodie, now with more junk in the trunk. Continental's TKC 70 is a tire that needs no introduction as adventure riders have been singing its praises for years, but the German tire maker has added a "Rocks" version of the TKC 70 to their lineup to up the Conti's dirt prowess.
The interesting thing about the Rocks is that Continental designed it as a rear-only tire with the intent of boosting the TKC 70's overall dirt prowess. Most would considered the 70 about an 80/20 tire, so adding a Rocks to the rear moves the needle closer to the desired 50/50 split.
We're fans of the Rocks because it shares the same dual tread compound as the original to deliver a long-wearing center and grip-focused shoulders. It also shares Continental's outstanding wet grip treatment, making this one of the better options on our list for riding in cold and/or wet conditions.
Overall we'd consider this combo a bit more street biased than our other picks, but it's still a predictable performer in everything but slippery mud or wet grass. Mileage wise you're looking at about 8,000 miles to a set here, so you'd also be right to consider the TKC 70 a bit of a tradeoff in terms of grip v. longevity.
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Continental TKC 70/Rocks
Last but not we've got he Metzeler Enduro 3 Sahara, which is a bit of a specialist among our selections. Specifically we've loved the Sahara for riding in both sand and mud, as it's one of the best self-cleaning tread patterns we've experienced in a true 50/50 tire.
Everything else is about what you'd expect for a tire in this genre. On the pavement the Enduro 3 Sahara delivers surprisingly confident performance for such an open tread pattern, while in the dirt you've got enough bite to get through just about anything without scaring yourself.
The one caveat we'll mention with this tire is that it's definitely the lowest mileage of the list, as we've gotten as little as 4,000 miles from the rear tire when riding long days on mostly paved roads. The front is typically good for about 8,000 miles, but as is often the case, we prefer to switch both tires once the rear wears out.
All things considered the Enduro 3 Sahara is a damn good looking tire that delivers the goods in the lowest traction situations, and what it lacks in mileage it makes up for in off-road manners. We'll also note that the Sahara typically retails for a good bit less than premium options like the Motoz or K60, so there's an argument to made for value here as well.
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Metzeler Enduro 3 Sahara
In our experience, the tire is rarely the culprit when riders report a lack of confidence in the dirt. It's time spent practicing and developing off-road skills, not a knobbier tire, that makes this style of riding more enjoyable.
That's why we offer off-road skills training that focuses on the four fundamentals of off-road riding: drive, braking, body position, and vision. Once you've learned crucial skills like how to "steer with the rear" and loft the front end over obstacles, chances are you'll find a 50/50 tire works just fine.
With that being said, if most of your riding takes place off-road and you know a knobby is what you need, an 80/20 tire is the right tool for the job. Here are a few quick suggestions to get you pointed in the right direction, but for the full run-down on street-legal knobbies, make sure to check out our in-depth article on dual sport tires.
We run Motoz tires on roughly half of our adventure touring fleet around the world, and while our go-to over the years has been the Tractionator GPS mentioned above, we're also huge fans of the brand's 80/20 option, the Tractionator RallZ.
We dig the RallZ because it's something of a Goldilocks off-road tire, sporting a properly aggressive tread pattern while also providing above-average tread life for the segment. The RallZ's extra-tall knobs deliver somewhere between 4,000-6,000 miles to a set depending on how you ride, which is a massive improvement over your typical street-legal off-road tire.
What's most surprising about these adventure motorcycle tires is that they also handle pretty damn well on pavement, even in the wet. With a fairly soft compound and high silica content, the knobs grip and slip predictably, and are more than capable of taking you into peg-scraping territory on dry tarmac.
They're also damn fine in loose sand and mud, and while they're slightly outclassed by our dual-sport favorite Motoz Desert HT, they're a dramatic improvement over any 50/50 tire on the. market. The RallZ isn't cheap, but it's about the closest we've found to having your cake and eating it too with a knobby tire.
CHECK PRICE:
Motoz Tractionator RallZ
We can't talk 80/20 adventure tires without talking about the most infamous big bike knobby of all time, the Continental TKC80. The TKC80 is arguably the longest-running ADV tire of all time, having been introduced back in the 1990s, but it remains at the top of many rider's lists for one reason: it grips like stink anywhere you take it.
We've ridden the TKC80 everywhere from the open desert to Appalachia's infamous "Tail of the Dragon" and it just plain works. Both mechanical and chemical grip are excellent on this tire, and the tread blocks are large enough that it doesn't even feel like a proper knobby when leaned over on its shoulder.
The Twinduro is also one of the more expensive tires out there despite its short lifespan, so you'll have to pay a premium to own them and then pay it again once you've smoked your first set. This would also explain why the most popular ADV sizes of the TKC80 are sold out more often than not, so if you find a set available in your size, don't leave it sitting in your cart for too long.
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Continental Twinduro TKC80
Adventure riders ask a lot of their gear, and that's especially true of their tires.
It’s important to remember an Adventure tire is just that: A happy medium between on and off-road performance that delivers to a degree on both.
Of course if on and off road performance were our only concern, everyone would be running Continental TKC80s or Shinko 804s. But we need longevity too.
Adventure riders are here for a long time AND a good time. Get yourself a tire that’s ready to do the same.
→Related Links: Motoz Tractionator GPS VS Heidenau K60 Scout and Best Dual Sport Tires for Serious Off-Road Riders.