It doesn’t take much effort on the part of Bike Magazine’s Mike Armitage to turn their long-term Tiger 800 XCx into a proper explorer – with plush suspension, great handling and a superb engine all he needed was a taller screen, a big top box and some more off-road oriented rubber.
In their March 2016 edition, Mike decides to fit the blocky Metzeler Karoo 3, and gives us his initial impression after putting in a decent amount of miles:
“It takes ten metres to show the tyres are foolish. They’re dual-purpose, but lean towards trails. Steering is cumbersome, the Tiger wanders in fast turns, and there’s the tyre roar of a speeding JCB. In the wet it’s scary and our VBOX datalogger shows reduced front grip and subsequent ABS action add four metres to the stopping distances (up to 56m).
But the Karoo wins me over. First, you soon acclimatise to the steering. Second, the subtle mid-corner stray and eager TC lamp make great grip markers. And thirdly the tall 800 now feel’s the proper explorers tool. I might not be heading to exotic climes, but now the 800XCx makes me feel like I could. Isn’t that the point?”
Mike certainly has a point, it’s all about how the bike makes you feel – and if you want to feel like you could cross the Himalayas, even if you’re only ever going to go as high above sea-level as the Horseshoe Pass, then why the hell not?
Fitting chunky dual-sport rubber is certainly popular amongst adventure bike owners – with Continental’s TKC 80 being the biggest seller, and the likes of Michelin and Avon introducing their similarly styled Anakee Wild and TrekRider tyres respectively in 2016 to try and grab a piece of the action.
Manufacturers are even producing rubber which sits right between their 90/10 and 50/50 adventure bike tyres – a stand out example being the Continental TKC 70 – which Mike’s colleague John Westlake will be testing in the very near future after a foolish foray into the mud on his sport touring tyre shod Kawasaki Versys 1000 almost ended in tears.
View the full Metzeler Karoo 3 range here.
