Tread Talks: TVS Eurogrip Adventure Touring Tyres Review

TVS Eurogrip has been producing some amazing tyres over the past few tyres and last year, launched their new range of adventure touring tyres: Beamer HS+, Duratrail EB+ and Terrabite DB+. Recently, I had the chance to visit their factory in Madurai along with other fellow automobile journalists, where we were briefed about the tyres and also about the various processes and technologies the tyre manufacturer uses to make the products and it was followed by a tour of the factory. 

TVS Eurogrip had arranged a 300km ride from their factory in Madurai to Thekkady and then back to the factory the next day, testing those tyres during that process. There were a variety of bikes available for us: a TVS Apache RTR 160 4V along with a few Suzuki Gixxers, Yamaha FZs, Royal Enfield Classic 350s and Royal Enfield Himalayan 411s. So, after the factory tour, we suited up and headed out for the ride. As soon as we started, though, all of us realised that the majority of the bikes were not in good condition. But we still managed to get a good handle on the tyre’s on-road performance on some of the bikes that were in decent condition.   

TVS Eurogrip Beamer HS+

The Beamer HS+ tyres are available in these sizes: 90/90-19 52P, 80/100-17 46P and 100/80-17 52P and we tested them on an Apache RTR 160 4V, couple of Suzuki Gixxers and a few Yamaha FZs (a combination of the current models and one second-gen model). For some weird reason, only the front tyres on these bikes were the Beamer HS+ ones while the rear ones were Protorq Extremes. So, getting a sense of how both ends of the bike will perform with the Beamer HS+ was out of the question.

Nevertheless, on the highways, the front tyres performed quite decently. TVS Eurogrip says that the central groove in the tyres are designed to provide better grip and I am not sure if it was because of that specific reason, but the tyres kept the bike’s front-end glued to the road and stable at the same time at high speeds. We encountered some hairpin turns on the plains enroute to Thekkady and when leaned over those turns, the tyres maintained good contact with the tarmac and offered good confidence to maintain the line through the turn.

TVS Eurogrip Duratrail EB+

The Duratrail EB+ tyres are proper off-road tyres and we tested them on a couple of Royal Enfield Himalayan 411s. We didn’t get to test the tyres’ off-road capabilities as the route we were on didn’t have any off-road trails. On the road though, the tyres offered good grip for block-patterned tyres and the round profile helped in maintaining stability in the corners. I didn’t get the chance to spend much time with these tyres as we were rotating the bikes amongst us auto journos but I was impressed with its on-road performance in those short periods of time. 

TVS Eurogrip Terrabite DB+

The tyres that really stood out among the three were the Terrabite DB+ tyres. They were fitted on the three Royal Enfield Classic 350s made available to us for the trip and I spent much of my trip riding those bikes. What impressed me the most was the excellent grip and stability the tyres offered in the tight turns while we were climbing up the hills to Thekkady. 

The Classic 350 is quite a hefty bike and is not meant for leaning over during turns like a typical modern roadster. But the aggressive tread pattern helped in turning the motorcycle quite easily without much steering effort. And on the straights, the tyres allowed me to simply ride at my own pace while they took care of keeping the bike stable and gripped the road well at all times. 

Summing Up

Now, at the start of the trip, I was a bit disappointed with the condition of the bikes on offer. We did provide the feedback to the executives at TVS Eurogrip during the post ride debriefing and they were quite responsive to it. Fair game. Nonetheless, I was quite impressed by the overall performance of the tyres during the whole trip as I never felt like I was out of grip at any moment. With price ranges of Rs 1,600 - Rs 2,000 for the Beamers, Rs 2,125 - Rs 3,675 for the Duratrails and Rs 2,100 - Rs 2,500 for the Terrabites, it’s safe to stay TVS Eurogrip is offering good quality adventure touring tyres at a great value. And this in line with their offerings over the past few years, which we have really been impressed with, like the Protorq Extremes and the Roadhound sport touring tyres.