Mitas E-09 Reviews

I used the E-09 Dakar for my last big adventure ride. What I noticed right away was the traction off-road is so much better than any tire I've tried. The rear tire has excellent wear on and off-road, the front tire is soft and wore done quicker than the rear but the traction was also phenomenal.

Major issue with big adventure bikes, the front tire cannot hold up in rocky sections. Within 20 minutes of our ride I hit a rock funny and blew the side wall out and part of the tread, it was a lucky hit and punctured between the knobs. I think the GS is just to heavy for these tires.

I will most definitely buy the rear again, the traction is hands down the best on the market, but the front needs to have some thicker rubber. Like a karoo 3 for instance.

I have been using mitas e09 for more than 30.000 kms overall, and used tkc80, karoo , Karoo T, MFC Stone Master, Heidi K60, Mitas e10... whatever... so far the e09 Dakar are the best knobby tyre you can use on the GSA.

It has long life, it is cheap (at least here in europe) and it bites the ground like nothing else. On the pavement it is not a great tyre, although to have troubles you have to drive really fast, which makes no sense for a knobby tyre, right? If you mosty ride offroad or you have 2 sets of rims (on/offroad) this is the best choice. If you want to use them on and offroad equally, then I would rather choose TKC80 because of it's better on road performance.

I like the 09 Dakar for the rear as well, I've had 2 and I'm sure I'll go back. I haven't tried the Mitas on the front yet but I'm sure it'll be in the near future. For me, I loved the performance of the tire on and off-road. Off road it bites well and feels great. On road going through the switchbacks, I've never felt like it'd slide out but I'm not sure if that's the tire gripping or the traction control helping me out... When home from the blacktop twisties, scuff marks were all the way out on the side knobbies with no more room to lean so it does hold well in corners. It's pretty noisy but it's a knobby and you need to expect that. It give 4 stars because wish I could get more mileage out of it but I'm not kind to the throttle, so that could be most my fault.

Went out for a short ride to try the Mitas E09 Dakar rear tire. Nothing but positive to say about it. Tire offers higher degree of traction in both drive and stopping. Leaned over grip on faster sections is better than you would think just by looking at the shoulder of this tire. I hope to see them in a 170/60 17 size soon. The 150 rear leaves the bead of the rim well exposed.

Great review, Brian!  I have to concur with your assessment.  I have used these tires for quite some time now, even when I had to buy them from MX1Canada.  They work for me so well because of the terrain I ride; desert.  They were made for it and even have an extra layer of Kevlar that distinguishes them from the regular E-09.  Tread life for me is about 4200 compared to 3200 miles for a TKC-80.  Not as good of wet traction but then how often does it really rain here in SoCal?

Not as much a fan of the 110/90/19 but that's okay.  The knobs on the front don't seem as tall or aggressive as I like but they are built for the heavier adventure bikes like my GSA and your GS, so they must know better than I do.