This is my first attempt at doing a real world review of a tire, so bear with me as it develops. Some backstory to begin. Last year I purchased a 2006 KTM 950 to begin to learn how to ride big bikes in places they may not exactly be intended for. When I bought the 950, it came with tires that were at the end of their lifecycle, so the hunt started for a new set. After days of research, I went out on a whim and got a set of the MotoZ Tractionator Adventures when they very first came out. At first I thought the tires would be the perfect set-up, but then I had the chance to put some actual miles on them and quickly realized the front tire was just not what I was looking for. The rear was great though, although it was quickly apparent that they would not last in the off-road abuse I was handing them. Fast forward a few months and I sold the 950 and picked up an Africa Twin. All signs pointed to lacing up a set of the TKC 80's because they were 'the best'. The tires are good, really good. At least on the road and in dry conditions off-road they were exactly what I needed. All except for the fact that the rear was pretty much spent after only 1400 miles and are squared off and useless at 1600 miles. Of course, this is just my opinion. So in looking at reviews and trying to find an alternative, I came across the GT 723 after knowing a bit about the off-road prowess of the GT 216 and GT 523 tires. But there was almost no information about the GT 723, other than the video from Lyndon Poskitt and Adventure Spec. Not being one to trust media hype and advertisers, I reached out to Lyndon personally. Not to get off topic, but he is absolutely one of the friendliest guys out there and really embodies the 'rider' mentality. He was honest and talked about how much trust he has in the tires and that he had just accepted delivery of two more rears that day. How can you argue with that, the guy really uses the tires and uses them much more than someone of my limited talent will be able to. So next was the hunt for finding the tires at a reasonable price. This is where Adventure Spec comes in. After contacting numerous local Goldentyre dealers, it became apparent that Goldentyre just doesn't have a big enough presence in America yet to be able to afford it's dealers competitive pricing. And I reached out to dealers that I know would give the best pricing they possibly could. Even with that, Adventure Spec had the tires at my door in 3 days for over $100 less than I could find in the US...that's crazy to me, but true. Edited to include pricing from Adventure Spec: $255.41 + $57.51 shipping = $312.92 USD Exchange rate will obviously affect the price on a daily basis. So now I have these tires and at first glance, they appear to be more of a 70% dirt and 30% road tire, which is what I was after. The sidewalls are relatively stiff, much more than the TKC 80 and similar to the MotoZ TA.. They are much lighter than the MotoZ TA, about on par with the TKC 80. The front tire resembles the TKC 80 front in 90/90 as far as knobby height, although it seems more aggressive. The rear looks like the business with sticky rubber with just enough give and the spacing looks similar to the MT16 I run on my 300 2T. I'll be mounting these as soon as my schedule allows and have a few rides coming up to test them out on in the moist, rooted, rocky, leaf covered terrain of the Northeast. I'll do my best to continue to review these as I see them and hope that others that have them chime in as well. Here's some pics from delivery:
my bad, i thought you were referring to just the rear at three hundred dollars. that's still stoooopid money for just a pair of ds tires.
Here's the rear TKC80 I'm replacing. I'm sure there will be many out there that say there's plenty of rubber left, and while it might be ok for the road, it won't do well in the soft, wet, leaf covered trails up north.
Finally got the new tires on, the sidewalls seem stiff and the rear tire took a while to get the bead to seat. The rubber is quite gummy on these well.
After getting the tires on and balancing them, I had to take them on a test ride. Got in about 140 miles with about 35 off-road. First impressions: They feel like dirt bike tires. They're definitely 80/20 tires, maybe even DOT approved, full-on dirt tires. On the road, they turn in predictably but you can feel the knobbies squirm a bit when laid over into a turn. They tend to hunt a bit on the highway, and you can feel grooves and seams but not nearly as bad as the MotoZ TA. Not as smooth on the road as the TKC80. Once I got off-road in big rock gardens, muddy puddles and some loose climbs, these tires really began to shine. The rear hooks up everywhere! The front is very aggressive and can tend to climb out of rutts. They respond extremely quickly to the slightest input. And they absolutely made riding the rocks a fun time. In mud, they didn't clog up and just kept finding traction. Here's a few pictures mid-ride.
I forgot to mention that the knobs on the front tire are quite wide. They tend to grab small rocks and shoot them out into the inside of the fender which you can definitely hear. The footprint of the front is also very wide and the knobs are very close to the sides of the fender.
Here's a quick clip a friend took while testing out the GT 723. I was simply trying to get into the muddy puddles slow and accelerate out to see how the tries would react. The deep knobs and wide spacing allowed them to find as much traction as possible and under moderate blipping of the throttle, they wouldn't even break traction and spin. Very impressed with the rear so far.
Any more to report on rear tire performance in mud. Looking for a better rear mud tire . The E805 I am running likes to go sideways. More so than tkc 80's Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk
Last time out I was able to test it out on a very soft, steep climb and it did great. I think the side spacing is really what helps it clear mud and keep grabbing traction once it gets deep. Take a look at the pattern and spacing just off center. I should also mention that a lot of guys around me are using the GT523 on their enduro bikes here in the nasty roots, rocks, and slick hillclimbs. The 523 is the same pattern, just slightly bigger spacing, I'll be trying that on my 300 next. Fyi, Lyndon Poskitt (check him out if you're not familiar with him) has logged over 100,000 kilometers on the GT723 tires so far. To me, that speaks volumes.
Where do you live? I paid 312 for the set shipped to my door in the US from the UK, check out Adventure Spec
I really hate the front Motoz TA, one of the worst tyres around. My go-to tyre for many years has been the Scorpion Rally Desert but unfortunately not available in a tubeless 90/90-21 for the 1190. Based on this review, I just ordered a front GT723 at over $200 delivered just for a front (Motoz is $170 delivered) Awfully expensive here in Australia but Id rather quality than quantity. EDIT: Im very disappointed, the dealer just called and said he was mistaken and its NOT tubeless. It also happens to be the ONLY TT tyre in their line up
