new tire coming up Karoo 3

I am a big fan of the Heidenau tyres, but always open for something even better.

Just stumbled across a new model from Metzeler, available next spring

The Karoo 3





Apparently it has been presented on the EICMA. It will replace the MCE Karoo and the MCE Karoo (T)

Will be interesting hearing some real world feed back on these. The thread designs looks like it wouldn't offer much for lateral traction off the pavement.

I'm thinking the same thing. It's a strange design in that it doesn't have much of a center "strip" to make it quiet on the road yet it also doesn't have a very aggressive tread laterally to make it good off road. It appears to be the opposite of what I think makes a good dual-sport tire.

The Karoo 2 was a good tire, let's hope they didn't screw up another good knobby just to make a show piece.

Sorry, but they did.

Love the larger lugs, but would have to agree with the strange design comment. Cornering in the loose stuff looks like it could be very tricky with this design. Good luck to all the initial test pilots, I look forward to their reviews.

.
The new Karoo-3's rear tread is looking a good compromise for on-off road purposes . . . even the loose stuff, IMO (for a heavy bike).

The front, however, seems a bit more on-road biased.
For all-round riding, it looks fine for loamy surfaces [at moderate pace] and of course for bitumen ~ where the higher grip for braking is a big safety factor.
The front tread blocks look rather broad for those endless miles of loose-ball-bearing gravelly roads . . . but that's the compromise. A TKC or Heidi is always there as an alternative, on the front. Unless a more open Karoo-4 is in the pipeline !
.

I ran an bunch of other tires, loved the Karoo off road but forget it on the road at anything above 50 mph, squirmy !!! T me anyway.
I rode a set of those Heidenau's but as soon as the area got sloppy, they don't do much.. Put a set of good ole YKC 80's on and I am much happier !!!!

Looks like a slightly tweaked and beefed up version of the Metzeler Sahara tire which was an excellent all a rounder and did really well in sandy conditions. This looks like it will be an excellent dual purpose tire for a big bike like the R1200Gs and even an F800GS loaded up.

The reason I find this tyre attractive is the fact that it does not come with a center strip.

I need a good road tyre, because its a lot of miles before the dirt starts and the Heidi does it great.
But I think offroad the Heidi would be even better without the center strip.
If the 150 Heidenau tyre would be available with the same pattern as the 130 I would go that route.....

Yeah my big problem with the k60 is that it had the center stripe, this one i like! i will get this rear tire.

Only reason I chose the K60, is that on the 18 inch version the pattern is different than on the 17 inch. 18 has half the center stripe, and it only contacts after 80% wear..... I like it a lot.

Looks damn good

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss these.

The rear looks promising.

The front, I think would work fine on most gravel surfaces.

One thing I've noticed in swapping between full knobbies and semi bar tread adventure tyres is that on gravel roads, and hardpacked base with shallow loose surface, the more road oriented tyres work better. Full knobbies work when you're in soft loamy dirt, loose rocks, or in mud. But on hard pack with a dusting of gravel they skate and float around like a bastard.

I rode some trails a week ago with a front Pirelli Mt90At, which I really like as an all round tyre, and then again this weekend with a Scorpion Rally front. I have a Scorpion Rally rear on at the moment.

Until the thunderstorm made everything greasy and sticky, the knobbie was losing. It works best in the pure off road/no road environment. The MT90At works better everywhere else. Wet dirt, the knobbie rules.

This Metzeler is more open than the MT90AT, but less open than the Rally. I think it could work well for me.

Yes it's an interesting tread design!

I'm curious to see what kind of lifespan they'll have with the rubber compounds they're using and what the pricing is going to be like. I'm sure they've done some homework on them. As a front I'm a little less sure but we'll see...

After using the K60 (140) without the centre strip and then with (I stick to the 140 since it has less of a centre strip and some side cuts where the 150 doesn't) I'm not all that big a fan anymore even after cutting some of the centre strip out.

I'm on to the Mitas E-07 rear and E-10 front now. They'll be installed next week.

I'll report back on one of the tire threads...

Dave

They look good to me.... I am on my second set of Shinko 705's after TKC started cupping making lots of noise. I would say I am a 80% highway / 20% offroad rider for reference.

I may try a set of the Heidenau next spring.... I like the center stripe also...

I want the Karoo 3's for my Vstrom 650!

Those are wicked sick looking, could use a few more sizes....

Revzilla will let you preorder them with an expected mid February release, I am considering the rear with a TKC 80 front.

They are now projected shipping mid March. I ordered a set today.