TVS Eurogrip has this long tradition of bringing in journalists from across the country to its factory to see the process of tyre manufacturing and then sample said tyres on the road or track. In the last edition of TVS Eurogrip Tread Talks, we tested their premium RoadHound tyres on the racetrack and for this edition, we are out on a ride from the tyremaker’s factory in Madurai, to Thekkady, a picturesque hill station in Kerala and back. We are testing their new range of adventure touring tyres that include the Beamer HS+, Terrabite DB+ and Duratrail EB+.
The fleet of motorcycles shod with the tyres are the Yamaha FZ-S, Suzuki Gixxer and Hero Xtreme 160R. These are shod with the Beamer HS+ at the front tyres. Then we have the Royal Enfield Classic 350 featuring the Terrabite DB+ at the front and rear and Royal Enfield Himalayan fitted with the Duratrail EB+ tyres at both ends. On the first day, we have a quick tour of TVS Eurogrip’s factory where we closely experience how a tyre is manufactured. It is a fascinating process that starts with sorting raw materials, forming a recipe depending on the tyre, mixing it all together to form a compound and ends by adding the treads and grooves to the rubber.
The next day, we leave for Thekkady, a 330km round trip ride. First, we hop onboard the Hero Xtreme shod with the most road-bissed tyre in the range – the Beamer HS+. It comes in three different sizes – 90/90-19 52P TL, 80/100-17 46P TL and 100/80-17 52P TL. With 50km of pristine four-lane and two-lane highways, the roads feel blissful thanks to the fantastic front end feel and grip levels offered by the tyres. In fact, even under hard braking on dusty surfaces, the tyres remain composed.
Post lunch, we jump onto a Royal Enfield Classic 350 shod with the Terrabite DB+ tyres. It is available in four sizes – 90/90-19 52P TT, 110/90-18 61P TT, 90/90-19 52P TL and 110/90-18 61P TL. The tyres feature an aggressive tread pattern given its intended usage on rough unpaved roads. The large block treads on the Terrabite DB+ do result in noticeable tyre noise at highway speeds but the tyres offer a good amount of comfort and the Classic 350 felt surprisingly eager to lean into corners even on smooth tarmac.
An hour later we make another quick stop where we hop onto the Royal Enfield Himalayan shod with the Duratrail EB+. TVS Eurogrip claims that these are the most trail ready tyres in their lineup but unfortunately, our route didn’t involve any such terrain to test them out. But we did get to test their on-road performance and they turned out to be quite impressive, especially with the cornering grip they offered on the ghat section just before Thekkady.
The next day was fairly uneventful, except for the ride down the hill station where we were pushing slightly harder than the day before. Riding the Yamaha FZ-S, we were quite impressed by the feedback under braking and cornering that affords the rider more confidence.
Prices start at Rs 1,600 for the Beamer, Rs 2,125 for the Duratrail and Rs 2,100 for the Terrabite range of tyres. Overall, like before, this edition of TVS Eurogrip Tread Talks was a successful one, having given us a theoretical and practical schooling in the art of tyre making.
