We spend a day testing the new TrailR tyres from the new player in the segment, Reise Moto, to bring you this report
Story: Azaman Chothia
Photography: Apurva Ambep
The Reise Moto brand was born out of a joint venture between the Mahansaria Group and European tyre manufacturers, Mitas. Under this brand, they have unveiled a range of tyres that will each appeal to a different type of rider. We were recently invited to the 19 Degree North Adventure Park at Amby Valley where we got to spend some time astride a Royal Enfield Himalayan equipped with the new TrailR tyres. These are dual-purpose tyres that, Reise Moto say, have the perfect balance of offering equally capable performance on and off the road.
Considering the go-anywhere nature of the Himalayan, the TrailR tyres from the range are a good fit for this adventure motorcycle. To properly experience the off-road capabilities, we started off the day with riding around a short and technical course to get acquainted with these tyres. As we all know, tyres are one of the most important parts on a motorcycle and good tyres will always provide a rider with good grip, which ultimately leads to having the confidence to push harder. The front wheel of the Himalayan was shod with a 90/90-21 tyre while the rear had a 120/90-17 tyre. The tyres sport a chevron tread pattern which, Reise say, has been crafted to maintain stability while reducing the rubber-to-road noise. In the first session of experiencing these tyres, I felt that the course was easy to manage even with all the technical bits as the tyres waded through all of the sections while providing ample grip.
After a few laps around the tight and technical course, it was time for the real deal. We were taken through a hardcore off-road trail for the next session with steep inclines and declines. Not very far into the trail, I encountered a steep downhill section with loose rocks in the way. While this did look scary, I put my off-road riding learnings to use and the tyres were surely impressive. Under braking, the front tyre gradually slowed down the motorcycle while I could use the rear to stabilise it and change direction when needed. Even with slightly aggressive inputs to the accelerator or the brakes at times, the TrailR tyres maintained grip, which gave me more confidence and made me more comfortable as I passed through the uncertain terrain.
The trail kept getting tougher but the tyres kept up the good work. At one point, I was carrying too much speed heading down a steep decline and had to get on the brakes really aggressively. I was ready to tip over and fall but the tyres supported the hard braking, gripped well, allowed me to quickly recover, and kept me astride the motorcycle. With a lot of loose rocks and dusty sections, I expected the Himalayan to get stuck at some point, but even on the steepest uphill section, the tyres dug into the terrain and aided the Himalayan to chug along and complete the course. With the uncertain terrain and my light weight of 55 kg, I did feel like I could extract even more, so I further reduced around three psi from each tyre and headed back to the technical course. After making this slight adjustment, I felt I could tackle the course even quicker than before.
Apart from these sizes we tested, the Reise TrailR tyres are also available with the option of 130/80-17 and 120/80-18 tyres. Prices of the TrailR tyres range between Rs 3,450 and Rs 4,050. At this price point, these tyres provide fantastic performance for the asking price. They were able to get past all of the challenging terrain while providing good grip and keeping me safe throughout. Considering the nature of these tyres, we hope to get a chance to test them on tarmac as well so we can bring you a more detailed review.
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