KTMjedi
Race Dog
I first heard about Mitas tyres when the two other riders planning to tour the gravel roads of Namibia fitted the Mitas E07 tyres to their Suzuki Vstrom's. The one Suzuki is a 650 and the other a 1000cc, so I thought that the BMW R1200GS was too heavy for the E07's. Initially I thought about fitting the Mitas E10's, but on speaking with our Motos dealer, was convinced to try the Mitas E08's.
The GS handled brilliantly on tar when we left home for Upington and the few gravel detours at the many road works boosted my confidence that I've made the right choice for the 1 500kms of gravel roads expected on our trip. In addition, on wet tar the Suzuki riders could not keep up with the GS, despite being more advanced riders than me. Twisty wet tar roads is definitely not what the E07's were designed for, but on gravel they come into their own.
We turned onto gravel and sand at Pofadder from where we wanted to enter Namibia at Velloorsdrift (Onseepkans). The thick sand caught me completely off guard and I must confess to almost losing it when the GS started dancing and weaving. The old rule “Stand up, Look up and Open up” probably saved my bacon along with the tyres doing their bit to keep the painted side on top. Comparing notes afterwards with the other guys the E08's did exceptionally well through the sand, despite looking much more 'road like' than the E07's with their knobbly looks.
We dropped our tyre pressures right down to 1.2 at the front and 1.4 at the back at the border and went for it on the Namibian gravel roads. Some roads were badly damaged by floods, while other parts were in a better condition than the N1 highway around Johannesburg. Our journey took us past Hobas camp in Ai-Ais to Seeheim over some exceptionally rough terrain and even through a sandy river. All the way the Mitas tyres inspired confidence in the handling of the GS.
From Seeheim we did about 130 km's of high speed tar towards Bethanie and the GS developed a slight vibration on the handlebar, but not bad enough to ring any alarm bells. When we hit the dirt roads towards Sesriem the vibrations disappeared, but my speeds somehow didn't quite match that of the two Suzuki's.
At Betta's camp the next morning we discovered that the front E08 on the GS had zero air pressure inside it! Some sand got stuck between the bead and the rim on the really rough section before Seeheim. The tyre must have been running well below safe pressure levels most of the previous day and coped exceptionally well under those conditions. Hoping that the tyre didn't suffer serious damage, we pumped it and hit the bad loose gravel road to Sesriem. During the day it became clear that the tyre had developed a slow leak and we had to restore the pressure every so often. Nonetheless we carried on towards Swakopmund through some of the most spectacular scenery in the Namib Naukluft Park.
A dealer in Swakop took the tyre of the rim, cleared out the sand and when a check revealed no damage, refitted the tyre. We should have been warned when they insisted to fit a tube to the front E07 on the 650 Suzuki. They never balanced the tyre and the vibrations on the GS became progressively worse during the high speed tar south from Windhoek. At Upington the tyre was checked by Fit-It who identified some tread damage from running flat. They thoroughly checked the tyre for damage to the carcass before balancing and refitting it.
The last 800kms home at high speed on wet and dry tar was only a pleasure, with the GS purring in his element. Despite the abuse the Mitas tyres were subjected to, they passed with flying colours and will obviously deliver a lot of milage. The tyres had minimal wear after 4 200kms of hard riding. The E08 range must be the ideal choice for big bore dual sport bikes that gets fed a diet of tar with a good measure of gravel roads.
After 4200 kms
Rear at Hobas
E-07 on the same trip
The GS handled brilliantly on tar when we left home for Upington and the few gravel detours at the many road works boosted my confidence that I've made the right choice for the 1 500kms of gravel roads expected on our trip. In addition, on wet tar the Suzuki riders could not keep up with the GS, despite being more advanced riders than me. Twisty wet tar roads is definitely not what the E07's were designed for, but on gravel they come into their own.
We turned onto gravel and sand at Pofadder from where we wanted to enter Namibia at Velloorsdrift (Onseepkans). The thick sand caught me completely off guard and I must confess to almost losing it when the GS started dancing and weaving. The old rule “Stand up, Look up and Open up” probably saved my bacon along with the tyres doing their bit to keep the painted side on top. Comparing notes afterwards with the other guys the E08's did exceptionally well through the sand, despite looking much more 'road like' than the E07's with their knobbly looks.
We dropped our tyre pressures right down to 1.2 at the front and 1.4 at the back at the border and went for it on the Namibian gravel roads. Some roads were badly damaged by floods, while other parts were in a better condition than the N1 highway around Johannesburg. Our journey took us past Hobas camp in Ai-Ais to Seeheim over some exceptionally rough terrain and even through a sandy river. All the way the Mitas tyres inspired confidence in the handling of the GS.
From Seeheim we did about 130 km's of high speed tar towards Bethanie and the GS developed a slight vibration on the handlebar, but not bad enough to ring any alarm bells. When we hit the dirt roads towards Sesriem the vibrations disappeared, but my speeds somehow didn't quite match that of the two Suzuki's.
At Betta's camp the next morning we discovered that the front E08 on the GS had zero air pressure inside it! Some sand got stuck between the bead and the rim on the really rough section before Seeheim. The tyre must have been running well below safe pressure levels most of the previous day and coped exceptionally well under those conditions. Hoping that the tyre didn't suffer serious damage, we pumped it and hit the bad loose gravel road to Sesriem. During the day it became clear that the tyre had developed a slow leak and we had to restore the pressure every so often. Nonetheless we carried on towards Swakopmund through some of the most spectacular scenery in the Namib Naukluft Park.
A dealer in Swakop took the tyre of the rim, cleared out the sand and when a check revealed no damage, refitted the tyre. We should have been warned when they insisted to fit a tube to the front E07 on the 650 Suzuki. They never balanced the tyre and the vibrations on the GS became progressively worse during the high speed tar south from Windhoek. At Upington the tyre was checked by Fit-It who identified some tread damage from running flat. They thoroughly checked the tyre for damage to the carcass before balancing and refitting it.
The last 800kms home at high speed on wet and dry tar was only a pleasure, with the GS purring in his element. Despite the abuse the Mitas tyres were subjected to, they passed with flying colours and will obviously deliver a lot of milage. The tyres had minimal wear after 4 200kms of hard riding. The E08 range must be the ideal choice for big bore dual sport bikes that gets fed a diet of tar with a good measure of gravel roads.
After 4200 kms
Rear at Hobas
E-07 on the same trip
