We test this dual sport tire from KENDA
When it comes to off-road riding, a good tire with excellent traction is necessary. After all, you don’t want to drop your heavy adventure bike because of slippery tires. Our friends from Dan’s Powersports have been listening to what adventure riders want and have brought in the KENDA motorcycle tire brand from Taiwan.
For this particular test, we were handed out KENDA’s most aggressive adventure bike tire for the off-beaten tracks: the Big Block.
Big Block
According to KENDA, the Big Block is a 50/50 tire, meaning it was designed 50% to handle off-road and 50% to handle the pavement. As the name suggests, the Big Block features large blocks as tread pattern that should be capable of handling any type of terrain.
These large tread blocks were also improved for longer tread wear on the pavement.
Off-road
For this test, we went to what trail riders call “Trail mayaman” in Antipolo City to test the Big Block tires. The reason why it’s called Trail mayaman is that the trail is supposed to be an easy one – “Trail mayaman kasi walang mahirap” (mayaman = rich, mahirap in this context means difficult).
But, it rained hard the night before so the trails were not so easy, especially on a big and heavy adventure bike.
Here’s my take: on the rocky portions of the trail, with loose sand and gravel, these Big Blocks were able to tackle the terrain with ease, even without deflating the tires. For example, at some of the river crossings, I never felt losing traction that much, and I was able to climb the sandy river bank on the other side with ease.
Since it rained pretty hard the night before our adventure, there were lots of muddy (and slippery) portions of the trail. I had to deflate the tires to improve traction and the Big Block did not disappoint. After deflating, the muddy inclines and steep descents were like highways due to excellent traction coming from the Big Blocks. These tires just eat and chew the slippery mud and even the wet tree roots. It’s like cheating on off-road on these Big Block tires.
Road
As they say, “you can’t have it all,” and the KENDA Big Block is no exception. So when I first installed the tires on the CFMOTO 450MT, with tire pressure set to manufacturer specifications, it was a little slippery to my liking. So I said it’s fine because it needs some breaking-in to prepare the tires for regular performance. This tire break-in period usually lasts between 500 to 800 kilometers.
To get results fast, I managed to join a group ride to Tabuk, Kalinga, which is approximately 1,000 kilometers back and forth from where I live. Anyway, on the way to Tabuk, our group was blessed with fine weather, and the KENDA Big Block felt planted all the way. On the way back to Manila, we took the twisty roads from Tabuk to Paracelis, and then to Ramon, Isabela. Again, on dry mountain curves, the KENDA Big Block tires performed excellently even if I was pushing the limits of my riding skills on the 450MT.
But somewhere in Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya, the weather turned south. It was raining up to the beautiful Malico, down to the twisties before reaching the town of San Nicolas, Pangasinan. This was the part where the KENDA Big Block was a bit of a disappointment, and riding in the fog and rain made it more difficult for me to control the bike.
By this time, I thought that the KENDAs were already done in their break-in period. Needless to say, I found out that the Big Blocks were not as planted on pavement, especially on asphalt, in wet conditions. Good thing that the skies finally cleared when we reached San Nicolas and it was all smooth sailing or should I say, smooth riding, all the way home – because it was dry.
There’s really no perfect tire that is excellent on both off-road and road. There’s always a tradeoff. It's either an off-road-biased tire or an on-road-biased tire. Overall, if your adventure ride calls for more smiles on mud and slippery rocks, in my opinion, the KENDA Big Block is for you.
