What tyres do is more than just roll. Just like how a shoe makes all the difference to an athlete, tyres also play a very critical role in the correct running of a vehicle. They are the only point of contact between you and the machine, and the road beneath. In other words, it all boils down to the tyres effectively transferring speed, shedding speed, or providing the necessary grip to navigate a corner. On parallel lines, the motorcyclist of today doesn’t limit his/her saddle time to just commuting to the office and back on weekdays and highway trips on weekends. Rather, they are evolving and developing an alter ego, a personality of an explorer with the thirst to travel on their motorcycle beyond the paved tarmac.
While not every moto-explorer has the luxury of having a dedicated bike for the weekends, most of them have to do with their daily workhorses to get to places far and wide. For such applications, standard street tyres are incapable of delivering the kind of performance and grip that is required for the ever-changing surface. Sighting this need for dual-application tyres, Apollo has launched the Tramplr ST and XR tyres for motorcycles that fall in the displacement bracket of 150cc to 500cc in the Indian two-wheeler market.
Let’s begin with the Tramplr XR tyres, as I got to sample them first. These tyres are designed to have on-road to no-road applications. Basically, if you are planning on taking your personal motorcycle to Leh-Ladakh, these are the tyres you want to be riding on. Designed with a rough road context, the Tramplr XRs feature block pattern, and hof-shaped tread patterns, with alternating centre blocks for striking the perfect balance between grip on the tarmac and traction in the dirt. The design of the tread pattern also incorporates grooves to channel water outwards, along with stone ejection.
On the curated route to test the tyres, I got to ride on multiple terrains, ranging from tarmac, dirt, and grit, to concrete, slush, and even rock. Despite the limited time available, as an initial impression, the Tramplr XR does offer the required confidence when it comes to varying road conditions. Apollo is offering the Tramplr XR in sizes 17, 18 and 19 inches, covering a variety of motorcycles including KTMs, TVS Apaches, Yamahas, and Royal Enfield.
Next to the test, were the Tramplr ST tyres. There are mainly road-biased dual-purpose tyres that are designed for those who mostly ride on tarmac, but do occasionally venture off it. For the tyre tread construction, it features staggered central blocks, with alternate large shoulder blocks in providing sufficient grip levels even while leaning the bike during cornering. The grooves are an open cross design for efficient water channelling and are progressively rising in design to allow for better stability and acceleration.
During the test, the tyres performed well, with consistent grip available when ridden straight or leaned over while cornering. In terms of application, Apollo is offering the Tramplr ST in sizes ranging from 90-140 section tyres in 17-inchers. This covers most of the motorcycles that fall within the displacement range of 150cc to 300cc.
Apollo has priced the Tramplr tyres between Rs 4000 and Rs 13,000, depending on the size, for a pair. Furthermore, the company also claims that the tyres will last for about 25,000 to 45,000 km, thus making them a very value-for-money option when opting for fresh tyres.
