VOLUME 56 ISSUE 30 JULY 30, 2019 P107
S TANDOUT FEATURE
Aggressive 40-60 on-road/off-road
DOT-approved knobbies with excellent
on-road manners.
RIDER AN ALYSIS
When it comes to off-road riding,
whether it's enduro or adventure bikes,
we start with mounting new tires by
hand. Why? Because when you ride off-
road, you're going to experience flat-tire
repair sooner or later. Yes, these tires
are tubeless and you could stick a plug
in it and hope it holds, but if it doesn't,
you've got to fix it. We carry a front tube
the same size as our front wheel because
that tube can be mounted in either the
front or rear in an emergency tire-repair
situation. We found the AX41s fairly easy
to mount. The sidewalls are stiff but not
so stiff that they're impossible to mount
or remove by hand.
With the new knobs mounted, we
were super excited to go try them. Our
first impression as we made our way to
the closest forest service road was how
well these 40-60 on/off tires perform in
the twisties. Remembering that we were
on new, cold knobby tires, we checked
our speed and continued on to the dirt.
Entering the forest on a loose, freshly
graded gravel section of road, we leaned
back and kept the throttle steady. We
quickly learned that our new shoes were
gripping nicely.
As the surface changed to dirt and
mud, our speed and confidence in-
creased. The rear tire hooks up as good
as, if not better than, any of the DOT
knobbies we've ridden before, but what's
more impressive is the confidence that
the front tire inspires as you enter the
turns. It tracks exactly where you tell it to
and holds the line with ease. When hard
braking is applied, the front tire shows
its true capability. With ABS switched off
and traction control set to minimum, the
tires comply with your demands while
holding traction even on terrain where
you're expecting them to slide. Steering
with the rear in or out of turns is predict-
able while the front continues to hold
even in muddy turns.
The off-road stopping control that the
AX41 front offers is truly exceptional.
We had to pound the front brake to get
even a hint of traction loss. Back on the
twisty tarmac after several hours of hard
off-road riding, it was time to push the
40 percent on-road limits of the AX41s.
As advertised, the on-road performance
was quite good. We kept telling ourselves
"you're on knobbies, you're on knobbies,"
but the speeds kept increasing and the
smiles kept getting bigger. Even in wet
corners these tires are very grippy, but
you still need to remember that you're
on knobbies. The noise, while there for
sure, is minimal compared to the other
aggressive ADV tires. Overall, we're very
impressed with the initial performance
of the AX41s both on- and off-road. We'll
follow up with a long-term test after
8000 miles—or less. Fingers crossed. CN
•Great off-road performers
•Fantastic stopping traction off-road
•Very good street manners for a
knobby tire
•A bit of noise at highway speed
but completely tolerable
BATTLAX
AX41
LOWDOWN
