- Joined
- Sep 25, 2011
- Messages
- 282
Finally, a tire that I don't have to buy again every 1000-1200 miles. My tire experience spans 36 years, and so many bikes I seriously can hardly count them all. On Dual Sport (DS) bikes, I've 60,000 miles under my wheels, and at a minimum 80% of those miles are on the dirt.
I ride a lot of Northern Nevada, Northern California, and Southern Oregon. Some days are spent entirely on rocky trails that just shred knobbies. So, recently, I began a search for a good tire that would last, even considering a compromise tire.
My first attempt at a compromise lasted two days (500 miles) before I had shredded the entire center section of lugs off of the casing. The company refunded me half my purchase price. The second attempt was the MEFO tire from Germany.
Well, I just returned from two days in Northern Nevada (550 miles), and I've put another 400 miles on the tire prior to the Nevada ride. HALLALUJIA, and EUREKA (I have found it)! The MEFO looks like new at almost 1000 miles of riding.
Here is the skinny, the MEFO is a compromise DS tire. It has large directional lugs, but is not square like a knobbie but has the street bike rounded tread. The MEFO has good side tread, but again it is a little tighter and more closed than the traditional knobbie; although, the MEFO is a long way from a street tire. Like I said it is a compromise tire that is said to give 7-9000 miles of wear.
So how does the MEFO do off road? Surprisingly well!
I am riding a 2011 Hussaberg FE570S. The load conditions this last weekend included the Wolfman Panniers, Top Bag, and Tank bag stuffed to the gills with camping supplies. Also on board was a second bag strapped on top that included the sleeping pad, tent poles, and a small backpack/hydration system strapped onto the rider. The terrain was Northern Nevada, rocky, steep, and rough. We managed 236 miles between 0730 hours and 1800 hours. We crossed multiple streams, bounced off a kajillion rocks, climbed some steep hills, covered some gravel FS roads, and hit the pavement in between to get to the first nights camp site.
So here is my overall impression of the MEFO. It is an extremely good compromise. The water didn't faze it, it maintained good traction in the streams, the rocks were no issue at all and the tread shows only one or two small chunks (1/8 inch or less) missing, the highway was smooth and the tire offers good traction on asphalt too. The only drawback so far has been the side grip is a little lacking. I really noticed this when climbing side hills with off camber tracks. The tire would slip to the down hill easily and allow the back of the bike to step out. This happened, but it wasn't horrible, the tire would hook up, I just hadd to be a little more careful with throttle application because of slightly less traction than a regular knobbie.
I haven't ridden in the mud with it yet, but so far with it's performance on stream crossings, I suspect it will do ok, but pack up a little easiser than a knobbie.
So, for 7-9 times the life per tire, is it worth the compromise? Right now, I think so. With 1000 miles on the MEFO and it still looks like new, I'm pretty dang happy and sitting down to write this instead of ordering a new tire. Hmmmm......., what's not to like about that?
I ride a lot of Northern Nevada, Northern California, and Southern Oregon. Some days are spent entirely on rocky trails that just shred knobbies. So, recently, I began a search for a good tire that would last, even considering a compromise tire.
My first attempt at a compromise lasted two days (500 miles) before I had shredded the entire center section of lugs off of the casing. The company refunded me half my purchase price. The second attempt was the MEFO tire from Germany.
Well, I just returned from two days in Northern Nevada (550 miles), and I've put another 400 miles on the tire prior to the Nevada ride. HALLALUJIA, and EUREKA (I have found it)! The MEFO looks like new at almost 1000 miles of riding.
Here is the skinny, the MEFO is a compromise DS tire. It has large directional lugs, but is not square like a knobbie but has the street bike rounded tread. The MEFO has good side tread, but again it is a little tighter and more closed than the traditional knobbie; although, the MEFO is a long way from a street tire. Like I said it is a compromise tire that is said to give 7-9000 miles of wear.
So how does the MEFO do off road? Surprisingly well!
I am riding a 2011 Hussaberg FE570S. The load conditions this last weekend included the Wolfman Panniers, Top Bag, and Tank bag stuffed to the gills with camping supplies. Also on board was a second bag strapped on top that included the sleeping pad, tent poles, and a small backpack/hydration system strapped onto the rider. The terrain was Northern Nevada, rocky, steep, and rough. We managed 236 miles between 0730 hours and 1800 hours. We crossed multiple streams, bounced off a kajillion rocks, climbed some steep hills, covered some gravel FS roads, and hit the pavement in between to get to the first nights camp site.
So here is my overall impression of the MEFO. It is an extremely good compromise. The water didn't faze it, it maintained good traction in the streams, the rocks were no issue at all and the tread shows only one or two small chunks (1/8 inch or less) missing, the highway was smooth and the tire offers good traction on asphalt too. The only drawback so far has been the side grip is a little lacking. I really noticed this when climbing side hills with off camber tracks. The tire would slip to the down hill easily and allow the back of the bike to step out. This happened, but it wasn't horrible, the tire would hook up, I just hadd to be a little more careful with throttle application because of slightly less traction than a regular knobbie.
I haven't ridden in the mud with it yet, but so far with it's performance on stream crossings, I suspect it will do ok, but pack up a little easiser than a knobbie.
So, for 7-9 times the life per tire, is it worth the compromise? Right now, I think so. With 1000 miles on the MEFO and it still looks like new, I'm pretty dang happy and sitting down to write this instead of ordering a new tire. Hmmmm......., what's not to like about that?
