Vendor: MX1 Canada
Price: CAD $129.95 – $174.95
Original Post: May 8, 2015
Mitas you make good tires.
I now have a little over 650 km on the set of Mitas E07 Dakar tires that I had mounted on my V-Strom 1000 last Wednesday.
The Dakar version of the E07 have a 4-ply side wall as opposed to the 3-ply of the standard version, making them substantially stiffer – and more resistant to sidewall tears and pinch flats. This is the main reason that I chose this particular version of the E07 tire, as I will be riding an 8,000 km Epic East Coast and Trans Lab Adventure in July, and the Trans Lab can be hard on tires – or so I have heard.
Mitas E07 Dakar 4 ply
Up until this week, I have been riding on the stock Bridgestone Battlewing tires. All-in-all, the stock rubber are a satisfactory road tire. They provided good grip in hard cornering, and I was never afraid to lean the big girl over in the twists. Wet traction was likewise satisfactory – though not as confidence inducing as on dry asphalt. They also managed most gravel and hard packed dirt fairly well, especially considering they are an 80/20 tire.
Where the stock rubber failed, of course, was mud. Big Ethel ended up laying on her side on several occasions after rolling around in the mud on various local adventures, and I came to expect that if we were going to be riding in any slick stuff, i was going to be picking her up.
I ordered my Mitas E07 tires online from MX1 Canada for CAD $129.95 (front) and $174.95 (rear) and they arrived within 4 days. For the last 2 days, I have been putting these Mitas 4-ply tires through their paces.
I spent the first 100+ km riding asphalt on a warm Thursday afternoon. The temperature was hovering around the 30 degree mark, and I knew that 100kms of super-heated asphalt would be enough to scuff-in the new rubber. I headed west from Ottawa on the 417 to Calabogie Road, and it was on that fine little piece of blacktop that I first got up the nerve to lean over on these almost-knobby tires.
So far, so good. Running at just a little over the speed limit, and accelerating fairly hard while leaned over coming out of some of the grin-inducing curves along the 508, I never once had a feeling of anything other than ‘hey, I like these tires.’
After about 106 kms of asphalt riding, I turned south onto highway 511 and made my way to the Barryvale road trailhead of the K&P Trail. It was time to see what these tires were like in the mild-to-medium off-road conditions.
I am still smiling when I think about those first impressions.
I am not one to take it easy and pussy-foot around a new product, handling it with kid-gloves lest it disappoint too quickly. No, I like to see how my new purchase is going to perform – whatever the item.
And in this case – boy, do they perform!
Admittedly, I only have the stock rubber as a benchmark for a comparison. So it is no surprise that I really liked the way these new 50/50 tires handled the K&P Trail. But let me tell you – I think that my impressions are real-world accurate.
The K&P Trail is a re-purposed rail bed that is now a multi-use trail. As such, it has quite a bit of everything scattered along its length – from pretty deep water crossings to deep, loose gravel to thick mud to sand to slick mud to shale to river stone and everything in between. And the new tires handled all of it without so much as a single ‘holy-crap-that-was-close-butt-cheek-clenching’ moment.
I went through the water crossing with the confidence of my KLR riding buddies, flew through the loose gravel at the posted 50 km/h speed limit, navigated the mud-holes without once getting squirrelly, and had the time of my life.
This is how riding a big adventure bike is supposed to feel!
I exited the trail yesterday at South Lavant Road and headed back towards Ottawa. By now I was so happy – and confident – with these new tires that I thought it was time to really push them on the asphalt – and South Lavant Road is just the placebo do that. One of the more exhilarating stretches of asphalt in the Lanark region, this little road has some of the tightest hairpin-like twisties to be found, most of them starting on the uphill side of the many, many steep hills that pepper this road like some far-fetched creation of an old roller-coaster designer. I have no idea why South Lavant was surveyed and laid out the way that it was – but I’m sure happy with the result.
I pushed Big Ethel, and the Mitas E07’s, as hard as I felt comfortable – and safe – in doing. And just like the manner in which they left me smiling on the trail, the E07’s lef me smiling on the asphalt.
I am not a track-day rider. I am not a 120 km/h on the off-ramps rider. But I am an enthusiast. And I do seek a thrill.
I am pretty sure Big Ethel and I will be finding those thrills on Mitas E07 Dakar’s for quite some time.
UPDATE – August 4, 2015
Well, Big Ethel and I are a little over 17,000 kilometres into the E07 Dakar tires that I reviewed above.
That includes my recent 8,300 kilometre East Coast and Trans-Lab Highway Adventure – and a sizeable portion of that was, as you know, gravel along the Trans-Lab Highway. Several hundred kilometres of that was ridden at 18 psi on a fully loaded 228 kg adventure bike, plus an 85 kg rider = we are talking about some 360 kgs of weight all told.
Riding hard – often with a bit of roost – I really did put these tires through the paces.
The Mitas E07 Dakar tires have yet to disappoint me.
The front likely still has another 5,000 to 7,000kms of life in it.
REAR Mitas E-07 Dakar 4 ply at 17,000 km
The rear, alas, is approaching the end of its useful off-road service. On the rear of most of my friend’s bikes the E-07 Dakar lasts for an average of 20,000 to 25,000 kilometres.
I am a little harder on my rear tire.
REAR Mitas E-07 Dakar 4 ply at 17,000 km
I have recently ordered a new rear tire for Big Ethel, and like the E07 Dakar’s I have ordered my new rear from MX1 Canada in Richmond, BC. Their service is excellent, and my last order arrived at my door 4 days after purchase; unfortunately, the E07 is currently on backorder and I will be have to wait until September for their arrival.
Oh, and I think I will like this new rear tire when it arrives . . .
It is, after all, a Mitas E07 Dakar.
Joe
Thank you, ADVJoe. This review will be what sold me on the E07. Thanks again for the thorough review.
I am happy to see that this review is still being read Kevin – glad to be of help, and I am hopeful that the changes Mitas have made over the last couple of years do not leave my review being misleading. I have to say that I have read some reports of the new Mitas E-07 not being up to the same standards as the old E-07 Dakar version.
Please offer some feedback after putting your new tires through the paces – I am interested to hear feedback from you.
Joe
Hi. Are you referring to the E-07+ tires? I’ve also read that they tend to lose pressure; a point that many different reviewers pointed out. I’m considering the E-07 rear with a Shinko 804 front. Just to see. (ride: ‘16 VStrom 650XA, armoured and adjusted for off road)
Hi Peter – wow, it took me almost a full year to respond – thats gotta be some kind of record, lol!!!
No, I have never tried the E-07+ tires – I have only used the original E07 Dakar version, which if I understand correctly is no longer available. I guess it lasted too long and did not generate enough replacement needs, lol.
Thanks again for riding along with me sir,
Joe
This is a few years old but I do agree. I ran the Mitas E07 on my BMW F800GS. I’m glad to say on my south America trip I had 18,000km on a rear E07. It had good depth left on it but was damaged. it had been through it all sand, snow ,mud, stone, wet and dry salt and always hooked up enough to push through with a full travel load through everything. Ive had the engine guard touch the road during a need to lay the bike over in anger and still the tires held around the bend.… Read more »
Thanks for dropping by Ron.
The Mitas E07 Dakar is still my tire of choice. I’m almost 9,000 kilometres into an adventure through Canada’s east coast and my rear tire is still in great shape – another 7 or 8,000 kilometres of life left for sure.
I’ll be posting a detailed ride report starting later this month.
Thanks again for riding along!
Joe
I can only agree 100% with this write up. I have run this tire on my BMW1200GSA, which everyone knows is a beast. I just got back from an 650mile weekend of 380 miles of off-road at the Pine Barrens 500. I have over 77k miles on the bike now…so do the math how many tires I’ve tried. The tires lowered to 25/20 performed perfectly in the sandy trails and large water pits we crossed. Pumped back up to 35/30 and riding at 80 mph on the highway is a breeze. I have over 7500 miles on the tires now.… Read more »
I agree 100% these tires are the real deal. I have them on my Tenere and have used them in deep sand as well. These tires are great both on and off road. I’m just waiting to run through my TW on the V2 and replace them with the E07.
I think it will be difficult to find a tire that I like better on my big adventure bike Triman11427
The Mitas Dakar E07 performs really well in pretty much every condition / surface that I might find myself riding Big Ethel – with the exception of real mud. Which is why there is a DR650 with a D606 and a TR8 coming soon…
Joe