Completely agree, I love the trackers. I commute to work every day and try and hit the trails when I can. Realistically I’m 90% tarmac and 10% trails. I wouldn’t go near a 50/50 tyre for what I want, in the uk which is wet and muddy so would rather have that extra grip when I’m on the trails. On the road they are fine less noisy than the Rallz and I’m not driving with my knee down or going over 80mph on the motorway so for me it the perfect tyre for the T7.
I did Morocco last December with an Africa Twin 1000 an Michelin Tracker in both wheels. Amazing Tyre. Saved me many times across the Atlas and also in the desert. Incredible control on Sand bud lacks a bit of traction in this surface. On road just fine, doing 90-100 Km/h without issues to save the tyre. Rear one with 2.000 Km (1.200 miles) 60% on-40% off aprox and still 50% of knobyes remaining. The best for me is on wet surfaces, mud and also on sand. Makes real different compared to TKC 80 or Mitas E09.
I did a tour of Scotland on my Husky 701 fitted with Trackers. No problems at all even in wet weather. They were a bit noisy compared to the TKC 80's but I can live with that. I also have the Rabaconda 3 minute tyre changer which is expensive but worth the money. Trackers represent excellent value for money too. 👍
I just fitted Trackers to my CRF 250l 120/90/18 and 80/100/18 brilliant off road take it easy on the road until you do about 150 mile and apparently they settle down. My first set so getting used to them. Just to say i went out on my first Byway 3 weeks ago on IRC stock tyres . then today my second trip on Byways and the experiance was night and day.
I live in southern Spain on the border with Portugal. I have found for the conditions here , mostly dry, we don’t have much of that lovely mud you guys have. The Pirelli MT21’s work very well. I may give the Tracker rear a try but I will stick with the Pirelli front.
Ive got a tracker front and MT21 rear at the mo - might go full MT21 once it's a bit drier here - found the MT21 rear very good in a recent trip in Kent and on the TET
Enjoyed the video and agree with the points you raise. I run have run Trackers on my CRF300L for the last 5k miles, they have been good on and off road and very suited to the heavy clay where I live (well as suited as any tyre can be). Tyre life isn’t great on road and I tend to ride to trails rather than trailer when I can. Not a problem for what I do at that price you just use two sets instead of one expensive one but would not be great for adventure riding in Europe, even starting with a new set the rear would struggle to last even with only 27hp. I run a rim lock on the rear to help with the “loose fit”. I find they feel a little sketchy on road for the first 50 - 100 miles then settle down and give you way more grip on road than you would expect looking at them. Road noise is something people comment on but I can’t say I have ever noticed. A great tyre at a good price in my opinion.
Yeah Ive used them on my CRF450L, obviously with about 48hp that chews up the rear pretty quick, but as mentioned they are fairly cheap and reversible. I think tho I’d use them more on the T7 just for winter riding because of the grip levels and i’m only a mile from the first lane so not too much road travel for me normally. I tend to get to the first lane and spin the tyres up to get rid of that tyre sheen so they aren’t so scary on wet roads 👍
I completely get what you mean with ADV riders and tyres - as a relative newcomer to off-roading (albeit as a keen MTB'r) I would always prioritise grip off road to grip on road so why peeps ride with tyres such as the Pirelli STR astounds me. In fact I put a set of Bridgestone AX41 on my 701 last year thinking they'd be great and they lasted one ride and went in the bin - then swopped for Michelin Enduro Mediums and in fact I put a Tracker medium on the back for when I did the Rallymoto Portugal Road book rally in April this year and could not fault it. I tried a set of the Rallz on my 790 adv R and whilst they are good I much prefer the Mitas E13/E12 combo as I kept on having issues with leaking air on the front (fixed with an inner tube) and rear coming off the bead a time or two. I swopped to the narrow wheel set and tubes front and rear and the 140 section rear is def the way to go as quicker steering and supports that width tyre and cheaper than the 150 as standard. Most of the T7's and 890/790 were all sporting enduro tyres at the sweet lamb bajas this year and they're certainly motoring as a result - only issue is they tear up the ground so much and woe betide getting caught behind one on a bit of a climb 😁
Yeah lots of the guys I race in the Brit Rally champs have changed their T7 wheels so they have a better choice of tyres. If I was gonna race the T7 I’d change them but it’s probably not worth it at the mo, saving to get my suspension done first 👍💪🤘
It is obvious that a specific tire works better for what it was designed, even a specialist motorbike works better, but we are talking about a dual-sport, when you mount a Tracker on it all the pleasure of riding on asphalt disappears, and the sense of have a dual motorbike, you might as well go on a specialist motorbike with specialist tyres.
@@Skatafossy I’m not the kind of guy that finds much person the asphalt, roads just get you to the next trail - and some can only afford one bike or they like the challenge of riding biker bikes.
Thanks for the video. I have to say, i think the trackers will be my next buy. Im definitely interested in their wet tarmac performance. I think the point is that, off road, you're unlikely to tuck the front on a wet drain in the middle of a corner and end up under a lorry. Nice one. Thanks again
I think it just makes sense to use tyres which suit the off-road conditions you're gonna ride in. Yeah on wet roads trackers aren't ideal, and I wouldn't wanna commute on them - but if I'm off to ride in France or northern Spain and there's a chance of it being muddy in parts I certainly don't wanna be on stock Pirelli STRs. Then you've also go the issue of getting the rear tyre off with ease to fix a puncture. It's worth thinking about and considering what is best for each trip.
Sweet cheers. Like the look of that rebel one you pointed out. Let me know if you get it and I’ll do the same. Just questioning if my 790 2020 rally will fit a tracker on the rear ok if not
Yeah there’s not a lot of choice for rears that are pretty aggressive, even D908s aren’t that aggressive and are pretty expensive. Must be someone who has tried trackers on a 790 and reported back on a forum somewhere
Happy New Year Mike, any follow up on these? Be keen to get your thoughts after some more time with them on the bike, am considering for my 890R. Keep up the great content!
I defo wanna try out that Rebel Xplorer rear. Not much else to add, but I guess I will say that I don't think id have these as a permanent fit, just something so I can do the odd winter off=road blast. Would certainly prefer, for peace of mind, and because of the fit, a better fitting tyre on the rear for travelling long distances
I wanted to try Trackers on my T7, but refrained since they're designed for 2.15 in rim when T7 has 4.25 in. I was worried the Tracker would get spread out too much, and it'd affect its profile and possibly result in inadequate adherence between the tire and the rim. Went with Rallz, and yeah, they were definitely not good enough.
@@white-rider where did you get that the tracker is for a 2.15in rim? I had a good look and couldn’t find anything anywhere, a data sheet etc, that said what rim width should be used. Obviously most would say it’s for a trail bike rim, but I certainly couldn’t find anything which said a 3” or above rim shouldn’t be used.
@@twowheeledadventuresuk2739 you're right, it's more like range of rim widths than a single value. Is your tracker 140/80R18? Those should have a wider opening than the 120 I was talking about. Still, when I looked at a 140 tyre vs stock T7 150 tyre, the opening in the latter was almost twice as wide. I think there are no 150 trackers for this reason.
@@white-rider It's a bit of a myth, there's no issue using a 140 tyre on a 4in rim - Ive done a a lot of research on this and found lots of companies that say have a fleet of T7s and run 140 tyres because it gives them more choice and the ability to use more aggressive rear tyres. First chance I get I'm gonna buy some new wheels and get a 2.5in rear rim - but I race with a lot of guys on T7s and they tend to exclusively use 140 rears and have never had an issue because its a 140 - it all boils down to personal preference. I used a 140 Pirelli MT21 rear over the summer on my T7 and it was a great tyre, perfect for the rocky and generally mixed terrain I was riding in the Lakes and the Dales, and far easier to fix a flat as the carcass is much suppler, way easier to get off the rim
@@twowheeledadventuresuk2739 thanks for sharing. I'm convinced that in normal circumstances it works without issues. Consider this however, something that happened to me: I got a flat rear riding a Germany highway at 130km/h. The 150 tyre stayed on the rim, I didn't crash, and was able to ride about 5 km to the nearest service area. Would a narrow-opening tyre like a 140 stay on the rim without de-beading? I'm not sure.
@ the tracker 140 defo not, the mt21 probably would at least allow you to stop - I always carry spare tubes and levers etc so I can fix a puncture - is a compromise bet that and being miles from the road on your own and you can’t get the tyre off the rim
Tracker has great grip but when it comes to adventure tyres it's a compromise between grip and tyre wear. Be interesting to see how many miles you get out of your Trackers on your T7 specially heading to Portugal 🤔
Great vid... I might try a set of these on my KTM 390 ADV over the winter... The TKC 80s were better than the 70s off-road , but still not quite there on the Essex clay! I can't find any info as to whether they can be run tubeless or not, I presume not?
No idea on the tubeless front, I guess best place to look is the Michelin website. You could try ringing GH motorcycles in Colchester, they might know as they sell them.
be a ware the front tracker side walls are very weak, put me in intensive care for a week. the front does not like fast rock riding. i still run a rear tracker and use a dunlop 908 front. i will try a mitchelin medium front as the side wall looks very strong but dont no how they will last on the road. have got 1,500 miles out of a rear tracker. front tracker is way to weak. when they go flat they go straight to the metal on the rim. i can ride a 908 flat and ride home on it off road you hardly no its flat on road it shakes a lot but will get you home i rode 45 miles on road to get home and they hold up flat as yout front tracker will go straight to the metal rim. or but a moose in it.
most 'adventure' riders simply aren't, this is where the land lies if you ask me. It makes me laugh as i see so many out there on medium/big bikes spinning the life out of their clutch and tyres partly due to ability but more so due to bad choice of rubber, i say it is easier to 'suffer' a bit on road than to struggle like F off road - each to their own though, a good and i dare say better choice is metzeler mc360 btw, mid hard or even better for our wet England/Wales are the mid soft which are more aggressive - supreme life span and work everywhere in any condition, i have used both sets this last 13 mths over 5kmiles in every condition we can get on our island, will stick with mid soft now - very tough carcass and sidewalls too
Tried those metzelers in an mx race once and didn’t like them, well I didn’t like the front tyre. Maybe I should give them a whizz on the T7 tho, defo better than most commonly used adv tyres
@@twowheeledadventuresuk2739 yeah they're not an mx tyre that's for sure and I wouldn't use them on my sxf 450 🤣 but I've used them in Enduro, wor and faster eddy hare and hounds, the tough one and loads of lanes and road. 👍
Completely agree, I love the trackers. I commute to work every day and try and hit the trails when I can. Realistically I’m 90% tarmac and 10% trails. I wouldn’t go near a 50/50 tyre for what I want, in the uk which is wet and muddy so would rather have that extra grip when I’m on the trails. On the road they are fine less noisy than the Rallz and I’m not driving with my knee down or going over 80mph on the motorway so for me it the perfect tyre for the T7.
Also running these on my World Raid but have a narrower rear rim. They are great
I did Morocco last December with an Africa Twin 1000 an Michelin Tracker in both wheels. Amazing Tyre. Saved me many times across the Atlas and also in the desert. Incredible control on Sand bud lacks a bit of traction in this surface. On road just fine, doing 90-100 Km/h without issues to save the tyre. Rear one with 2.000 Km (1.200 miles) 60% on-40% off aprox and still 50% of knobyes remaining. The best for me is on wet surfaces, mud and also on sand. Makes real different compared to TKC 80 or Mitas E09.
Thinking of fitting these to my AT. What tubes did you run?
I did a tour of Scotland on my Husky 701 fitted with Trackers. No problems at all even in wet weather. They were a bit noisy compared to the TKC 80's but I can live with that. I also have the Rabaconda 3 minute tyre changer which is expensive but worth the money. Trackers represent excellent value for money too. 👍
I never know if a tyre is noisy or not as the music in my helmet is generally so loud!...
@@twowheeledadventuresuk2739 I prefer to listen to the beautiful tones of my akrapovic on the 701.😂
Thanks! Love your approach to the offroad grip problem.
I just fitted Trackers to my CRF 250l 120/90/18 and 80/100/18 brilliant off road take it easy on the road until you do about 150 mile and apparently they settle down. My first set so getting used to them. Just to say i went out on my first Byway 3 weeks ago on IRC stock tyres . then today my second trip on Byways and the experiance was night and day.
I live in southern Spain on the border with Portugal. I have found for the conditions here , mostly dry, we don’t have much of that lovely mud you guys have. The Pirelli MT21’s work very well. I may give the Tracker rear a try but I will stick with the Pirelli front.
Ive got a tracker front and MT21 rear at the mo - might go full MT21 once it's a bit drier here - found the MT21 rear very good in a recent trip in Kent and on the TET
The Trackers are excellent off road. You should get to Portugal and back on those.
Enjoyed the video and agree with the points you raise.
I run have run Trackers on my CRF300L for the last 5k miles, they have been good on and off road and very suited to the heavy clay where I live (well as suited as any tyre can be).
Tyre life isn’t great on road and I tend to ride to trails rather than trailer when I can. Not a problem for what I do at that price you just use two sets instead of one expensive one but would not be great for adventure riding in Europe, even starting with a new set the rear would struggle to last even with only 27hp. I run a rim lock on the rear to help with the “loose fit”. I find they feel a little sketchy on road for the first 50 - 100 miles then settle down and give you way more grip on road than you would expect looking at them. Road noise is something people comment on but I can’t say I have ever noticed.
A great tyre at a good price in my opinion.
Yeah Ive used them on my CRF450L, obviously with about 48hp that chews up the rear pretty quick, but as mentioned they are fairly cheap and reversible. I think tho I’d use them more on the T7 just for winter riding because of the grip levels and i’m only a mile from the first lane so not too much road travel for me normally. I tend to get to the first lane and spin the tyres up to get rid of that tyre sheen so they aren’t so scary on wet roads 👍
I completely get what you mean with ADV riders and tyres - as a relative newcomer to off-roading (albeit as a keen MTB'r) I would always prioritise grip off road to grip on road so why peeps ride with tyres such as the Pirelli STR astounds me. In fact I put a set of Bridgestone AX41 on my 701 last year thinking they'd be great and they lasted one ride and went in the bin - then swopped for Michelin Enduro Mediums and in fact I put a Tracker medium on the back for when I did the Rallymoto Portugal Road book rally in April this year and could not fault it. I tried a set of the Rallz on my 790 adv R and whilst they are good I much prefer the Mitas E13/E12 combo as I kept on having issues with leaking air on the front (fixed with an inner tube) and rear coming off the bead a time or two. I swopped to the narrow wheel set and tubes front and rear and the 140 section rear is def the way to go as quicker steering and supports that width tyre and cheaper than the 150 as standard. Most of the T7's and 890/790 were all sporting enduro tyres at the sweet lamb bajas this year and they're certainly motoring as a result - only issue is they tear up the ground so much and woe betide getting caught behind one on a bit of a climb 😁
Yeah lots of the guys I race in the Brit Rally champs have changed their T7 wheels so they have a better choice of tyres. If I was gonna race the T7 I’d change them but it’s probably not worth it at the mo, saving to get my suspension done first 👍💪🤘
Maybe see you down here in Portugal. I'm heading off for a bit of TET next month into southern Spain.
It is obvious that a specific tire works better for what it was designed, even a specialist motorbike works better, but we are talking about a dual-sport, when you mount a Tracker on it all the pleasure of riding on asphalt disappears, and the sense of have a dual motorbike, you might as well go on a specialist motorbike with specialist tyres.
@@Skatafossy I’m not the kind of guy that finds much person the asphalt, roads just get you to the next trail - and some can only afford one bike or they like the challenge of riding biker bikes.
Thanks for the video. I have to say, i think the trackers will be my next buy. Im definitely interested in their wet tarmac performance. I think the point is that, off road, you're unlikely to tuck the front on a wet drain in the middle of a corner and end up under a lorry.
Nice one. Thanks again
I think it just makes sense to use tyres which suit the off-road conditions you're gonna ride in. Yeah on wet roads trackers aren't ideal, and I wouldn't wanna commute on them - but if I'm off to ride in France or northern Spain and there's a chance of it being muddy in parts I certainly don't wanna be on stock Pirelli STRs. Then you've also go the issue of getting the rear tyre off with ease to fix a puncture. It's worth thinking about and considering what is best for each trip.
Thetford way, i liked that 😊
Sweet cheers. Like the look of that rebel one you pointed out. Let me know if you get it and I’ll do the same. Just questioning if my 790 2020 rally will fit a tracker on the rear ok if not
Yeah there’s not a lot of choice for rears that are pretty aggressive, even D908s aren’t that aggressive and are pretty expensive. Must be someone who has tried trackers on a 790 and reported back on a forum somewhere
Happy New Year Mike, any follow up on these? Be keen to get your thoughts after some more time with them on the bike, am considering for my 890R. Keep up the great content!
I defo wanna try out that Rebel Xplorer rear. Not much else to add, but I guess I will say that I don't think id have these as a permanent fit, just something so I can do the odd winter off=road blast. Would certainly prefer, for peace of mind, and because of the fit, a better fitting tyre on the rear for travelling long distances
I wanted to try Trackers on my T7, but refrained since they're designed for 2.15 in rim when T7 has 4.25 in. I was worried the Tracker would get spread out too much, and it'd affect its profile and possibly result in inadequate adherence between the tire and the rim. Went with Rallz, and yeah, they were definitely not good enough.
@@white-rider where did you get that the tracker is for a 2.15in rim? I had a good look and couldn’t find anything anywhere, a data sheet etc, that said what rim width should be used. Obviously most would say it’s for a trail bike rim, but I certainly couldn’t find anything which said a 3” or above rim shouldn’t be used.
@@twowheeledadventuresuk2739 you're right, it's more like range of rim widths than a single value. Is your tracker 140/80R18? Those should have a wider opening than the 120 I was talking about. Still, when I looked at a 140 tyre vs stock T7 150 tyre, the opening in the latter was almost twice as wide. I think there are no 150 trackers for this reason.
@@white-rider It's a bit of a myth, there's no issue using a 140 tyre on a 4in rim - Ive done a a lot of research on this and found lots of companies that say have a fleet of T7s and run 140 tyres because it gives them more choice and the ability to use more aggressive rear tyres. First chance I get I'm gonna buy some new wheels and get a 2.5in rear rim - but I race with a lot of guys on T7s and they tend to exclusively use 140 rears and have never had an issue because its a 140 - it all boils down to personal preference. I used a 140 Pirelli MT21 rear over the summer on my T7 and it was a great tyre, perfect for the rocky and generally mixed terrain I was riding in the Lakes and the Dales, and far easier to fix a flat as the carcass is much suppler, way easier to get off the rim
@@twowheeledadventuresuk2739 thanks for sharing. I'm convinced that in normal circumstances it works without issues. Consider this however, something that happened to me: I got a flat rear riding a Germany highway at 130km/h. The 150 tyre stayed on the rim, I didn't crash, and was able to ride about 5 km to the nearest service area. Would a narrow-opening tyre like a 140 stay on the rim without de-beading? I'm not sure.
@ the tracker 140 defo not, the mt21 probably would at least allow you to stop - I always carry spare tubes and levers etc so I can fix a puncture - is a compromise bet that and being miles from the road on your own and you can’t get the tyre off the rim
Tracker has great grip but when it comes to adventure tyres it's a compromise between grip and tyre wear. Be interesting to see how many miles you get out of your Trackers on your T7 specially heading to Portugal 🤔
I got at least 2k out of them on my 450, I just hate those 50/50 tyres off-road, they’ve never filled me with confidence
Great vid... I might try a set of these on my KTM 390 ADV over the winter... The TKC 80s were better than the 70s off-road , but still not quite there on the Essex clay! I can't find any info as to whether they can be run tubeless or not, I presume not?
No idea on the tubeless front, I guess best place to look is the Michelin website. You could try ringing GH motorcycles in Colchester, they might know as they sell them.
I did Google/check the website, couldn't find any info... I will further investigate though. Thanks.@@twowheeledadventuresuk2739
Have a look at the tubliss gen 2. You can run any tire tubeless with it.
How many miles do you get from them ?
be a ware the front tracker side walls are very weak, put me in intensive care for a week. the front does not like fast rock riding. i still run a rear tracker and use a dunlop 908 front. i will try a mitchelin medium front as the side wall looks very strong but dont no how they will last on the road. have got 1,500 miles out of a rear tracker. front tracker is way to weak. when they go flat they go straight to the metal on the rim. i can ride a 908 flat and ride home on it off road you hardly no its flat on road it shakes a lot but will get you home i rode 45 miles on road to get home and they hold up flat as yout front tracker will go straight to the metal rim. or but a moose in it.
They arent the perfect tyre, but for the money they seem a good alternative, will probably go Mitas C19 and Rebel Xplorer next
most 'adventure' riders simply aren't, this is where the land lies if you ask me. It makes me laugh as i see so many out there on medium/big bikes spinning the life out of their clutch and tyres partly due to ability but more so due to bad choice of rubber, i say it is easier to 'suffer' a bit on road than to struggle like F off road - each to their own though, a good and i dare say better choice is metzeler mc360 btw, mid hard or even better for our wet England/Wales are the mid soft which are more aggressive - supreme life span and work everywhere in any condition, i have used both sets this last 13 mths over 5kmiles in every condition we can get on our island, will stick with mid soft now - very tough carcass and sidewalls too
Tried those metzelers in an mx race once and didn’t like them, well I didn’t like the front tyre. Maybe I should give them a whizz on the T7 tho, defo better than most commonly used adv tyres
@@twowheeledadventuresuk2739 yeah they're not an mx tyre that's for sure and I wouldn't use them on my sxf 450 🤣 but I've used them in Enduro, wor and faster eddy hare and hounds, the tough one and loads of lanes and road. 👍
How many miles do you get from them ?
I guessing around 2 to 3k reading what others have gotten out of them and my experience with them on my 450