What bike?

What Mitas tyres?

What tyres were giving you a lot better than 6000 miles?

Good to hear more real world experiences with the Mutants.

 

yeah sorry about that! 2023 KTM 1290 SAS. Had Mitas TerraForce tires on it which were fairly worn when I got the bike with around 5,000 miles on it, and I immediately thought they were inferior. Not awful but not great either, in any way.

My other bike is a Victory Vision which is nearly twice as heavy, but it has been tweaked so it produces 120 HP and 120 torque. Point being, I get around 13,000 miles from Bridgestone tires on it. Prior bike was Suzuki V-Strom 1050 XT with Bridgestone tires, easily 13,000 miles on those, before that a Honda ST1300 with Michelin Pilot Road and got around 13,000 from them too. I am a fanatic about keeping the tire pressure just right, I ride medium aggressive I'd say, not a hooligan but not shy either. Many very long trips clear across the USA, many daily fun rides too. I weigh around 160 lbs. All FWIW info.

So far the Mutants seem terrific. With the power of the the 1290 we'll see if they wear OK...

 

Been a Dunlop fan for decades, I looked up these Mutant tires to check the tread pattern, they look like they were designed primarily for street riding... back in the day, when friends & I rode big ol' rice rockets, Dunlop Elite & Sport Elite tires were the bomb, lol. We're talking some time ago... but Dunlop has always offered good rubber compounds, with pretty good wear overall, I always got plenty of miles out of 'em. If I buy a bike with other brand name tires on it, I'll swap those for Dunlops ASAP, yeah?

Dunno if you've ever ridden in Anza-Borrego, but we used to ride out there on long days, mainly because there was very little traffic and the twisties (when ya reached 'em) were heller fun. However, that drift sand in the desert can be murder in the twisties, ya really gotta watch that cr@p. I'm talking about windblown drift sand, very dangerous if a rider is not careful. On one particularly tight turn, I hit a patch of that sand and both Dunlops broke free, but instantly grabbed again on clean pavement...

A heart-stopping moment, but it ended well, and it's why I prefer Dunlop tires over any other brand. I'm the kind of rider who rarely touches his brakes, I usually let the motor (and gears) control my speed. It's kinda tied in with truck driving, where ya don't wanna use your brakes unless it's absolutely necessary. In Anza-Borrego, when you and your friends have the road to yourselves, riding is an absolute pleasure, but ya still gotta watch out for that drift sand... and the occasional tarantula or desert tortoise.

P.S. I've been known to "assist" desert tortoises in crossing the road by going back, dismounting the bike, and carrying the tortoise across the road and into the desert a short distance. Tortoises are like tarantulas in that respect, they get oriented in one direction and that's the way they wanna go, lol... so as long as ya set 'em down in the same direction, they will carry on with their mission and plod off in that direction. I do the same thing for turtles in "greener" states... the spiders take their chances, lol.