Tire report: Mitas E-07's

[Drif10]

Just finished my second set of these tires, figured some folks might be interested in how they worked out.

Mitas is a Czech tire maker, and as far as I know, they're only available in North America from one shop: MX1 Canada. For once, we Canucks got the free shipping, and quite frankly, the better deal. I've been told that shipping to CONUS is between $40 and $50 bucks.

This current set of tires were mounted 1 July, just before a two-up trip with my wife, for a couple of weeks in New England. As well as that trip, there was also two weeks two-up with my son down to Virginia, then over to Indy, Wisconsin, and back around the Lakes. Then a solo run down to Alabama, coupled with many rides and commutes.

All told, this set has 20k kms (12k miles for y'all). I'd guess that half was two-up, loaded luggage, with most of that interstate.

Here's the outgoing set:

Front:





Rear:






As you can see, the profile wore well, especially considering the loads and speeds.

Mitas has introduced a new version of this tire, the E-07 Dakar, which I'm trying out next. I've been told that it has another ply more than the standard one (which is still available). This does make for a stiffer sidewall. As I mount and balance my own tires, I get to know how stiff a tire is intimately. And yes, Virginia, it is noticeably stiffer.


Pics of the old and new, side by side:

Fronts:





Rears:






I forgot to take a pic of the new ones mounted before I went out for a quick rip, so they're a little dirty here:






Now, to give you context, this on an 07 GSA with Micatechs and a Givi topbox, which are pretty much always on there. I'm 6'4" at 235 without riding gear. So, the bike carries a good load as a minimum. I've been riding over 30 years, and raced for 18 of those, as well as road riding. The bike has 160k on it since I bought it new, so I've been thru quite a few tires on this one alone.

So far, my benchmark tire for this bike has been TKC 80's. I get between 10 and 12k a set, can drag pegs with them, and have single-tracked with this bike a number of times (about the only time the luggage is off). Since I live in Ontario, I've noticed that my tire mileage is higher than most board members. As near as I can figure, a lot of it has to do with riding in lower ambient temperatures on average than my southern counterparts. Anakees are done in 12k kms. Heidenau K60 Scouts might have lasted 12-15k, but they scared the crap out of me, so they got turfed after 5k. Shinko 705's worked okay, good life, but were too much of a road tire for my needs.

Here's what my TKC's look like after 10k kms:

Front:



Rear:



They were run as a set. And the front was cooked before the rear. I know that I tend to be front end dominant, it's been years since I would go 2 rears to one front.


So that gives you context.


Compared to the TKC's, the front is lighter effort, turns in easier.

Noise is the bigger difference, as I find the E-07's louder than the Continentals. My guess is that they 'trap' more air, causing the volume difference. That being said, they vibrate less at low speed, due to the chevron pattern of the tread blocks as opposed to the gaps between knobbies on the TKC.

Traction. The big one we wonder about. These bite nicely in all conditions. WAY better than the TKC's in the rain, especially when the temps drop. With the 80's, once they were past half life, and it got cold and wet, they were down scary for me. High pucker factor. The Mitas' just carry on, providing nice, predictable traction on pavement. Same for the dirt. I would say that for 98% of the big bore riders out there, this more than enough traction for how they use their GS/Strom/S10/Stelvio.

The life is excellent, as I stated earlier. Any time I can get 20k kms out of a set is great. Then throw in the fact that they cost my $271 a set delivered to my door compared to $440 a set of TKC's.... that'll do, donkey. That'll do.


Hopefully Mitas will be able to sort out their importer issues for the US. These tires are a highly recommended choice for Adv bikes.

[rockinrog]

Thanks for the write up. I have a set of E07s on as well. Can I have your old tires, I think I can get a few more thousand miles out of them,,

[Drif10]

Originally Posted by rockinrog

Thanks for the write up. I have a set of E07s on as well. Can I have your old tires, I think I can get a few more thousand miles out of them,,

These are at the wear bars. Just reached them. Yeah, I could run them longer, but they don't bite as well in the winter, which I ride in.

You're welcome to the K60's, anytime. Lots of life in those.

[Cal]

Last week I received my 130/80/17 E07 and mitas heavy duty tube. I wanted to try them after seeing the posts here at ADV. After receiving the rear I wish I had ordered the front at the same time, as now they are sold out of my size in just 1 week after receiving a new shipment from Mitas! Seems they have become very popular for MX1canada!
I plan to run my k60 with only 8000kms on the front now, the k60 rear was toast after 8000kms.
The E 07 is a 4 ply tire that is noticably stiffer than the K60, the K 60 says 3 ply on the side. I'll know more about the perfomance when I spoon these on in the spring.

O yea there is a wear strip down the middle which will provide some extra life near the end of the knobs life for anyone on an extented trip.

[WIBO]

Put a set on for this trip(140x80x17)

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=841901

Really happy with them to date.....excellent on the mountain twisties here and suffered no damage riding the rock trails etc...

:)

.

[BordenBmw]

Drif10

What pressure are you running those E07s? I just received a set last week and was checking the sidewalls and it says "Max load at 33 psi front and rear", thanks for the review

Edit: Mine are the standard not the Dakar!

[WIBO]

I use 30psi in the front and 33psi in the rear....

[Drif10]

It depended on type of riding, load, speeds, and weather/temps.

Lately it's been solo in -10c temps, so 27/29.

Spring/fall solo: 30/33

Summer solo: 32/35

Summer two-up touring: 36/39

And that's been everything from interstate drones to trail riding, solo and two-up, don't change the pressures. They'd work better if I did lower them for the single track, but I can't be bothered. Takes time away from riding to change it back and forth...

[BordenBmw]

30/33 seems to be a consensus on 2 continent , thanks

[Ceri JC]

I previously ran E-10s on my F800GS. I'm noww running TKCs. My findings so far are that the TKCs seem to wear slower and to be quite significantly better on the slab (both in terms of grip and handling). This is offset by them being:
A) Quite a bit more expensive
B) Slightly less effective in the dirt. I must say, the TKCs are a lot better in the dirt in my experience of them so far than I expected them to be. Probably the only time I've had a problem is with thick, clay-like soil gumming up the treads, but then, the E-10 suffers from that too.

I think having tried both, I'll probably stick to TKCs from now on.

Based solely on the tread patterns (I've never used them) the E-7s look like a sort of K60 rival.

FWIW, BMW's offroad school in the UK run Mitas E-9 and E-10 tyres on their bikes. I was advised by them that the E-10 is about a aggressive a dirt tyre as you can fit to the F8 without it having a really short life.

[XRman]

I tried E09 Dakar front and rear on my bike ( DRZ400) and I wish to advise that on sand the E09 profile is too small to provide any flotation in softer sand. The hard side wall wont flex even a low pressures ( 8psi) and the knobs are very short.

It is fine on gravel roads/slab , slightly scary in mud and downright dangerous in sand. It just digs in and spits you off. My fractured leg has healed a year later!

The rear seems OK and fairly hard wearing.

[Drif10]

Big diff between the E-09 and the E-07's I reviewed here.

I agree that the 9 hasn't much tread depth on the front.

[Forseti]

I have run Tourance, anakee, shinko, trailwings but not TKC.

I am well into the E07's and they are wearing much better than any of the others I have ever run. Turn in is linear and predictable with progressive notice given when reaching the limit. Very confidence inspiring on pavement.
Far and away superior on gravel / dirt than any of the others I have run. While I don't often do single track they have never left me wanting for traction on 2 track or freshly graded roads or fire roads. They are even respectable on sand. It is a Stelvio after all. lol

They don't seem overly noisy on my Stelvio... There is some whine of course but not as bad as I expected with the tread pattern. Perhaps the telelever on the GS influences that. Dunno

I will be putting them back on when these wear out. No Question.

[Dyno]

Those MX1 folks package tires more securely than anybody else in the tire biz!


And then they loaded them up with Swag.......

[munsterlander]

If you have purchased these tires recently, check this out:

http://www.mitas.eu/index.php?strank...torcycle-tyres