Reise TourRad: First Impressions

The Reise tourRad adventure touring tyre range is aimed at riders who spend most of their time on highways and twisty roads, with occasional off-road use. The new tourRad range uses a radial construction for the rear tyres, while the both front TourR tyre options use a bias-ply construction.

For this ride experience, the rear tourRad and front tourR tyres were equipped on a bunch of Royal Enfield Himalayan 450s and one Triumph Scrambler 400 X as well. There are two non-radial front tyre options including a 100/90-19 and a 90/90-21 while the rear gets radials for 17inch rims in five different sizes. We got to do a Mumbai-Lonavala round trip of around 200kms with these tyres to get an understanding of how they perform.

Considering that the tyres were brand new, I started off slowly as they needed some scrubbing in to get to their potential. Despite being brand new, our stint of getting out of the city felt good, with the bike feeling stable and offering good grip while filtering through traffic.

As soon as we reached the highway, I found them to be confidence-inspiring enough to maintain highway speeds of 100 to 120kph and even make quick overtakes when necessary. Throughout the ride, there were no slippery moments with the tyres and one thing I was really impressed with was how they dealt with emergency/hard braking situations. The bike came to a halt quickly while feeling safe and that gives you a good sense of confidence.

As we got to the ghat section of the old Mumbai/Pune highway, cornering felt natural and I was able to start leaning lower, braking while entering corners, and switch direction quickly without the tyres stepping out or misbehaving in any way.

These tyres prove to be a great alternative to the stock tyres offered on the Scrambler 400 X. Reise says that wet grip is also good as the compound uses a high-silica mix with specialised resins and claimed to deliver more uniform wear over long distances. Considering we got to ride only in dry conditions for a day, we shall have to test the wet grip and longevity later on.

As far as first impressions go, the tourRad rear and tourR front tyre did a really good job throughout the day we spent riding with them. Priced between Rs 3199 and Rs 6,999, they surely offer good value for money considering they are made for bikes in the 400cc segment.