Bridgestone’s Adventure Experience, Serra Da Estrela (Portugal)
Bridgestone has a wide and unique range of adventure tyres, with four different models each coming to market at different times. So, wouldn’t it be a good idea to test the main three side by side?
Sure, both the A41, AT41 and AX41 have already been tested extensively over the past few years. But it felt like a great plan to put Bridgestone’s adventure range through the test, find out what the strong points of each separate type are and how the tyres compare amongst one another.
Before taking a further look behind the scenes of the event, this is what each tyre in Bridgestone’s Adventure line up stands for:
- The A41 is a road tyre for adventure motorcycles, but suitable for dirt roads.
- The AT41 is essentially road tyre like the A41, but its more adventurous pattern looks bolder and gives it a slight advantage off-road over the A41.
- Finally, the AX41 is a knobby tyre for heavier off-roading, yet performing well on the road.
Thorough testing
As usual Bridgestone came prepared, shipping no less than 25 bikes to Portugal – accounting for 16 different models. Three groups of 10 journalists flying in to the Serra Da Estrela. In two days’ time, every journalist tested at least 3 different bikes, some even testing no less than 6 motorcycles.
Bridgestone organized a lot of testing time per tyre. Once you are testing a tyre on a particular model, changing bikes is not always easy. So, most journalists used one or maximum two bikes for every type of tyre. Random example: Journalist X could ride for 10 hours on the A41 (on an MV Enduro Veloce and a Ténéré 700), 5 hours on the AT41 (on the R 1300 GS) and 5 hours on the AX41 (on a Ducati Desert X). That totals 20 hours in the saddle, clearly more than enough to judge the bikes and the tyres.
Eye openers
For many the road performance of the A41 and AT41 was a reminder of how great these tyres function on asphalt. Grip comparable to a sports tyre and a handling that is second to none. Another surprise was the AX41, the popular knobby tyre that also does well on the road. That seems contradictory, but it ended up being one of the biggest eye openers of this extensive test in Portugal. Once you build up the confidence, this tyre allows you to ride – almost – at the pace of the road tyres. Amazing angles, good grip in the wet and surprising durability. One journalist told us that he had AX41’s on his Honda Africa Twin long term test and they had just put 4000 km’s on the rear tyre. Impressive.
Special
Ever been to the Serra da Estrela? Don’t worry if you haven’t. Not many people go to the Portuguese natural park southeast of Porto. It reportedly attracts barely 5 percent of the tourists that visit Portugal. Not so great for the local hotels and restaurants, but excellent for motorcyclists, because it means there is hardly any traffic on the roads. Moreover, the scenery in the Portuguese mountains is downright impressive. At the highest point, you climb up to about 2,000 meters – 1993 to be exact – but that’s high enough to get above the tree line.
Reportedly there is a 7-meter-high pile of rocks there, making the highest point in continental Portugal reach that 2-km limit after all.
Rough rocks and perfect asphalt are the main ingredients of your ride in the Serra Da Estrela. A bit lower down, the mountains are littered with off-road trails of all kinds. From easy going to area’s where the enduro rider would have a blast. Never thought the latter would be part of the itinerary for an AX41 test, but hey, you’d be surprised what a modern tyre and an old offroader can handle together.
More grip than you think
Thanks also to the AX41 for putting itself on par with the established names in the class in terms of off-road qualities. But the tyre especially amazes on the road. We had that figured out when we raced through the mountains on the A41 and Bridgestone’s Mike ‘The Rider’ De Ridder smoothly followed the group on an Africa Twin with AX41’s. And on the next day, when we turned onto the winding roads with the AX41 ourselves, we were amazed about the sheer grip. There aren’t many knobby tyres that tolerate effortlessly pushing the footpegs of an adventure bike to the ground, but the AX41 has no problem with this at all. The biggest hurdle with the AX41 is simply believing that the tyre is capable of this kind of performance on the road.
Still A41?
So why still choose an A41 or AT41, one could ask. Well, because the grip is even higher on those tyres and because the rolling noise is lower at high speeds. The AX41 remains stable up to speeds at which you could lose your license, but at that moment the tyres become a bit noisy. The strength of the A41 and AT41 is that on top of offering the grip of a sports tyre, they also offer greater comfort. With special kudos to the front tyre, which in both cases has the quality to make your bike handle better. Including the excellent feedback that all Bridgestone tyres offer.
This became very clear while riding the MV Agusta Enduro Veloce and the BMW R 1300 GS. Both bikes had sharper handling than we remembered as standard thanks to that A41 front tyre.
Conclusion
After three days of testing, these were the main conclusions of the journalists:
- The AX41 is an excellent off-road tyre with surprising qualities on the road.
- The AT41 looks more adventurous than the A41 but has similar qualities. Those who occasionally leave the public roads nevertheless better opt for the AT because it offers a slight advantage on unpaved surfaces.
- The A41 is a road tyre with amazing grip, high comfort and handling, making your bike better than it already was. It can handle off-road use, but that is not the primary focus of this tyre.
All three tyres offer the advantages of all the “replacement” tyres, meaning they perform excellent on a wide variety of focus points, such as grip, wet grip, longevity, feedback, high speed performance, etc. The winner in the comparative test of adventure tyres? The Bridgestone customer who gets to choose a tyre that perfectly fits his or her needs and, in any case, gets the quality and advantages all Bridgestone tyres are known for!
AX-41 tires: https://grippingstories.com/featured/battlax-adventurecross-ax41/
AT-41 tires: https://grippingstories.com/motorcycle-tyres/new-battlax-adventure-trail-at41-motorcycle-tyre/
A-41 tires: https://grippingstories.com/featured/battlax-adventure-a41/
