MOTOZ Tractionator Adventure Tire

As I get ready for my solo ride of the Arizona BDR in April, I decided that I need a new set of tires for the BMW 1250 GS that I’ll be taking on the journey. The tires I had on the bike were Dunlop Trailmax Missions with about 7000 miles on them. While they still had lots of life left, they were certainly getting a little worn. I’ll be riding just over 800 miles from my home in Denver to the start of the BDR in Sierra Vista, Arizona, near the Mexican border. That will take a serious toll on the tires and though I suspect there would still be about 1000 miles or more life left on them, they would be severely diminished. Plus, the Trailmax Mission tires, while they are great 50/50 tires, probably aren’t the best choice for one of the more sandy BDR’s in the U.S. I will say that the Dunlop’s are a fantastic all around tire that took me through the entire Northwest portion of the U.S. last summer and I highly recommend them.

But this article isn’t about the Dunlops. This is about the new tires I decided to use, the MOTOZ Tractionator Adventure tire. After reading some really good reviews of the tire, I decided to have them mounted on the BMW. I had heard that they got really excellent mileage for a super knobby tire that is classified as a 70 percent off-road tire. People have claimed life in the six to seven thousand mile range. That is very impressive for a mostly off-road tire. While I don’t expect to get near that amount of life from the tire, my hope is that they will get me through my entire trip of just over three thousand miles next month.

This ride will take me from Denver to Southern Arizona, back north on the BDR to the Utah border, then west to Mojave California, where I’m going to the Revzilla Get On! Adv Fest, and then back to Colorado. All tolled that is more than 3000 miles of hard riding on black top highway, and harsh sand and rock in the Arizona and California deserts. That is asking a lot from a set of 70/30 tires, but the price on the tires suggests that I should be able to ask that and more. At roughly $450 for a set, they are not cheap tires. But if the reviews and the claims made by the manufacture are true then they will be well worth the investment.

Today I dropped the bike off at my local BMW dealer, BMW of Denver, to have the new shoes mounted and after it was done and I settled up with the cashier, I put on my jacket, helmet and gloves, and hit the road for the short 20 mile drive back to the house. When I got on the street and started making my way toward the freeway, the first thing I noticed is that the front tire made a hell of a racket. I mean it was noisy. I thought maybe I screwed up, as the 800 mile super slab trip to Arizona would be unbearable with all the noise the tire was making. As it turned out however, once the bike got up over about 30 miles an hour, practically all of the road noise went away. I’m sure some of it had to do with the wind in my face getting stronger but the tire noise definitely settle down a lot. The tires felt pretty stable for being really chunky and knobby and even with being brand new and slippery, they cornered well and were confidence inspiring after just a few minutes on the road. The ride home was nice with the only thing that I noticed about the tires is that they have a tendency to drift around a lot on the grooved freeway surface. It wasn’t nerve racking by any means, but I quickly realized that I wasn’t going to tame them and I would just have to let the bike wander in the lane a little bit. The Michelin Anakee Wilds that I ran on the bike last summer didn’t seem to wander in the grooves near as much and honestly felt more stable in that situation than the MOTOZ’s, but those tires only lasted 2500 miles so if the new MOTOZ’s get even a thousand miles more than that, I feel it will have been worth the money.

My trip starts next month, and I will give updates on how the tires perform and weather I believe they are worth the top end of the spectrum price. My initial impression however, suggest they are going to be an excellent tire in the sandy and rocky portions of the journey.

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The Gift of Independence: Why I ride with my kids.

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NEW GEAR DAY: Giant Loop Moto set up for my AZBDR trip