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History:
Founded in the early 1930's as a subsidiary of Michelin,
MITAS was the winning proposal, combing the words Michelin
and Veritas.
Mitas established itself as a major manufacturer of quality
tyres soon after the Second World War, and continues to
produce many of the world's best tyres in its three enormous
Czech plants.
MITAS EO 7
The global success of the EO 7 has been
to say the least phenomenal. Despite a few widespread
incidences of cracking along side the knobbles. Which
was experience worldwide, but no tyres delaminated to
our knowledge.
Why Mitas EO 7 for Dualsport Riding ?
There are many factors as to why one would use a specific
tyre, and as we know the right tyre for the job is imperative.
In countries like South Africa where we have a good mix
of gravel roads and tarmac - the perfect tyre for longevity
would of course be a 50/50. In other countries like Namibia
where 90% of the toads are Gravel - riders tend to favor
the Mitas EO 9 which is rated as a 80/20 in favor of dirt. |
Reviewed
and Tested by
Tested
over a 5 year period on a fleet of 10 rental Dualsport
bikes both tubed and tubless. Yamaha XT 660 Z Tenere and
XT 1200 Z Super Tenere. Ridden over a total of 880
000km on a fair mix of gravel and tar in
South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia
Craig Marshall - Owner
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The
Mitas EO 7 & EO 10 - right tyre for the right terrain.
Mitas EO 7 150/70 17 inch (Rear)
Mitas EO 10 110/80 19 inch (Front)
Motorcycle - Yamaha XT 1200 Z Super Tenere (Traction Control)
Highest Mileage - tested up to max 16 000km
(Rear) 11 500km (Front)
Test Scenario
This Super
Tenere (left) did a trip from Cape Town through
Namibia, Botswana and up to Victoria Falls - and back
through South Africa, Garden Route to Cape Town - a total
of 11 500km on a mix of gravel and tarmac.
We kept the EO 7 on the rear and the bike returned to
namibia for another 6000km round trip a few weeks later.
The EO 10 was replaced with a new EO 7.
The Mitas EO 7 was only 60% down on tread
The Mitas EO 10 was very strangely worn, the slanted type
wear you see from hard braking. It was not in a good state.
The EO 10 was however noticeable stable on the gravel
roads of Namibia and South Africa than the EO 7 - but
the EO 10 was not the ideal tyre for the tarmac. Lots
of vibration and noise.
Noticeably: the Traction Control on bike
like the Super
Tenere and the Triumph
Explorer 1200 make a huge difference to wear
of course.
Bikes like the KTM
950 SE and 990
Adventure will eat through a rear tyre in 3000
- 5000km, less if you're heavy on the throttle.
Mitas
EO 7 130's
Many riders who have fitted the EO 7 130's
have a cenre wear indicator in their molding design. The
riders, including myself have noted that the centre raised
wear indicator becomes a "Slick" once it wears
to point where the centre section is level with the surrounding
interlocking V-Tread.
The Mitas EO 7 140 and 150's do not have this, so you
might be able to squeeze an extra 2500km before the tyre
is completely smooth.
Dangers:
The greatest danger is of course under inflation. There
have been reports of Dualsport tyres "popping"
off the rims, and its generally due to deflating the tyres
for gravel or sand and not taking into consideration the
overall rider, luggage and Pillion weight.
Other dangers are of course getting pinch flats when changing
from soft surfaces to harder and suddenly rocky surfaces.
Of course the favorite is the concrete cattle grid with
a raised edge !!!
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Craig Marshall - |
Tyre Longevity
The contributing factors here are of course up to the
rider's right hand and the choice of bike, and terrain.
So all facts considered we have tested them on the Yamaha
XT 660 Z Tenere and the Yamaha XT 1200 Z Super Tenere
with its traction control.
On the less powerful 660 we got an average of 8000km -
10000km max.
On the 1200 Tenere we get an average of 15000km - 18000km
on rear
Behavior on road
The trouble with many semi-aggressive treaded tyres is
the vibration and noise on the tarmac. The Mitas EO 7
has a very low noise, if any, and no noticeable vibration
- but yet on the dirt it performs like a pure off road
tyre. Making it probably one of the best tyres in the
Dualsport world currently.
Tyre
Pressure
Correct pressures are very much a debatable subject. It
will depend on the overall weight of the rider luggage
and if there is a pillion.
Riding solo without luggage - pressure can be between
1.8bar off road in soft surfaces and 2.7bar max for tarmac
on midsize bikes.
Once you are loaded up its - advisable not to deflate
the tyres below 1.8bar off road and 2.5bar on the tarmac.
if you have a pillion them you can inflate to 3.0bar.
ONLY
DEFLATE YOUR TYRES IN SOFT - VERY SOFT SAND
Most gravel roads in South Africa and Namibia don't require
tyre deflation. and you certainly don't want to be stopping
every time the surface changes.
Just ride them hard !!!
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MITAS
EO 9 ..80/20 Off Road Tyre
Mitas EO 9 150/70 17 inch (Rear)
Mitas EO 9 110/80 19 inch (Front)
Motorcycle - Yamaha XT 1200 Z Super Tenere (Traction Control)
Highest Mileage - tested up to max 4 800km (Rear)
4 800km (Front)
Current
tread at 40% remaining which would indicate an average range
of 8000km.
Test Scenario
I guided a 10 day tour with a group of experience French
riders in Jan 2012. We did 4800km of which over 4000km was
on gravel/sand through the Northern Cape and up as Fishriver
Canyon and back into South Africa via the Northern Cape
and Cederberg.
The true form of the Mitas EO 9 was on the gravel and softer
light sand surfaces. I did deflate to aprox 1.8bar and with
the given weight, found anything less felt sloppy.
Once back on the tarmac, I pumped them back up to 2.1bar
When the bike was not loaded with heavy panniers the optimum
tyre pressure was more like 1.6bar.
Behavior Off Road
On the 4800km trip we had two 1200 Super Tenere's
fitted with Mitas EO 7 and one with the Mitas EO 9 tyres
- it gave me a real life trip situation to swap bikes and
feel the difference on the exact same bike on the exact
same gravel and sand surfaces.
Running the tyre pressures at 2.7bar on all bikes they were
pretty much even and I could only feel a slight instability
of the EO 9 on the tarmac.
In some more thought provoking softer off road surfaces
in Namibia, I deflated the EO 9 to 2.0bar on the rear and
1.8bar in the front.
The EO 9 was remarkable different to the EO 7 and definitely
more stable going through soft sand (10cm).
At 1.6bar the front end was very stable in the sand - but
I could feel any and every bump and stone once back on the
gravel. Probable a bit too soft given the heavy laden bike.
Behavior On Road
Running the brand new Mitas EO 9 at a pressure of 2.7bar
on the rear and 2.7bar in the front - slight instability
is noticeable especially when the tyres are new. The grip
on road is more than adequate in the dry, but truthfully,
its very difficult to tell the difference between the EO
9 and EO 7 on the tarmac. Perhaps the EO 9 "Hums"
a little louder.
With the fully loaded 1200 and my 97kg body weight, the
EO 9 stabilized when deflated to 2.5bar on the tarmac.
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Craig Marshall - |
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Tyre
Longevity
Because the Mitas EO 9 is rated as a predominately off road
tyre - it stands to reason that it will wear quicker if
used more on road, or even in a normal Dualsport scenario
the EO 9 is not going to give you high mileage.
On the XT 660 Tenere one can expect an average range of
5000km - 8000km
On the XT1200 Z Super Tenere with traction control the total
tested distance was 8550km and there is still 20% remaining.
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