STICKY TYRES FOR BIG ADVENTURERS
Metzeler evolve the accomplished M9 RR for big-rimmed globe-trotters
Metzeler’s Sportec M9 RR has been around a couple of years now and it’s one of the best all-purpose sports tyres you can buy. Replacing the old Sportec M7 RR, it sits between sportstouring and trackday rubber in Metzeler’s range and is designed for all-weather sporty road riding, but the tyre will also breeze a trackday. It can be used on A2 licence machines, superbikes and everything in between with 17in wheels. But now there’s a bigger 120/70 x 19 version for 19in front wheels and that opens up a whole new world for adventure riders.
Adventure bikes generally come on dual-purpose tyres, designed mainly for road use, but their deeper tread blocks facilitate light off-roading, too.
But if you don’t get your wheels muddy, they’re a compromise. You could fit sports-touring road rubber instead, which isn’t a bad way to go and it’s what many riders do. They’re durable, excellent in the wet and the newest of the breed have a sporty, lithe steering feel, too.
But many big-cube adventure bikes now are now endowed with the kind of performance superbikes had just a few years ago and you need the grip to match to get the very best out of them. Dunlop had been the only tyre company to produce a sticky 19in front with their SportSmart TT and now Metzeler have followed. It can’t be long before many others do the same.
Our test starts on a dry, sunny racetrack. It isn’t where most big adventure bikes will spend much of their time, granted (although they’re becoming a more regular sight on trackdays), but it’s only here where you can fully explore the Metzelers’ limits. As well as being hugely grippy they give an adventure bike the agility and light steering character it could only dream of on dual-purpose or sports-touring tyres. The M9 RRs make a BMW R1250GS behave more like a track-inspired S1000XR than a globe-trotting
‘They make the GS feel more like a racy S1000XR’
superstar and let you use the power and handling of Ducati’s latest Multistrada V4 to the full. Those put off by the Multi V4’s 19in front wheel and lack of sporty tyre choices need worry no longer.
That same reassuring character spills out on the road. The new Metzelers have more grip than you’ll know what do to with in the dry, but crucially they inject a feeling of lightness into the steering that makes the whole bike feel less bulky, while keeping the all the stability a 19in front wheel brings. Like the 17in versions, the M9 RRs warm up fast and, like all Metzelers, they have a neutral feel and offer a plush ride.
We didn’t get to experience them in the rain during our track test, but we’ve tested the 17in versions in the wet before and they’re nothing but reassuring.
You’d still want the durability of sports-touring rubber for a monster trip and the extra wet grip for riding through the depths of winter, but for the rest of the time you’ll have more fun on a dedicated sports tyre like this.