Golden Tyre GT216AA review

[Motosportz]

Major success. Loved the tire. Will do a more extensive report later. Tinken, order another container, your going to need it.

 

[Russ Henry]

Looking forward to riding your bike tomorrow. Let me know what time and where to meet. I am staying in Portland tonight

 

[reveille]

Major success. Loved the tire. Will do a more extensive report later. Tinken, order another container, your going to need it.

Yeah he sells you the first one and gets you hooked then nails you when you come back for more! Haha just kidding Tinken. I love mine on the 501 so far too! Thinking about ordering 2 more for the shop stock.

 

[Huskynoobee]

I took my front wheel to a small local bike shop named FactoryMX since they only charge $15 for a tire swap and don't beat the rim like I'm prone to do. The guy looked at it, and said "Whoa, I've heard of these but I've never seen one, where'd you get it?" I told him I picked it up at ZipTy the day before. I told him it's also DOT and he relpied Hmmmm.

 

[Motosportz]

Yeah he sells you the first one and gets you hooked then nails you when you come back for more! Haha just kidding Tinken.

I have to say Tinken has provided some real solid info and products and I for one really appreciate it. Has been instrumental in making my 511 better and this tire is just another good suggestion from those that know (ZipTy). Thanks Tinken.

 

[robertaccio]

I swear it looks like a rear tire sized thing, just looks weird to my normal senses of what a front usually looks like.

 

[Motosportz]

It is huge. And it works amazing.

 

[Motosportz]

Ok so the actual quicky review, will add more later.

I immediately noticed it was different in the first 20 feet. Just feels somewhat different. This area is near Mt St Helens and is a lot of decomposed rock and ash from the eruption. Silty loose in some areas, loose rock, nice loam, off camber fresh trail with slick brush, embedded rock, a bit of everything but mud. At 11 psi the tire has ridiculous traction, more than any other tire I have tried. I rode these same trails last Sunday and fought to get traction in the silty stuff. Not yesterday, crazy good hook up. Does very well on everything I tossed at it. Seems to span terrain types like nothing else. The huge carcase makes it playable and makes your front suspension feel a good bit better. Goes where you point it all the time. On many trails here you will go from rock to silt to off camber to loam to brush in 2 corners. This tire spans different terrains better than anything I have tried. I felt super confident on it and had to readjust my trail reading to ignore stuff I used to brace for. It was getting crazy good and made rocks disappear when I noticed it seemed low on pressure. Went to check it and found my stem was leaking. At 5-7 PSI it was still working crazy good and the traction and rock absorption was second to none. I tightened my valve core and the leak stopped. Side note: I run the steel caps with valve tool built in and it has an o-ring. I highly recommend these as even if your valve stem leaks these hold the air in. So when refilling I thought i would try 13 PSI. Noticeably stiffer ride from 7 psi as you would expect but still amazing traction. Dropped it back to 10-11 psi and it is perfect.

Pros:

- Ridiculous traction
- Instills crazy confidence in the front end
- makes your front suspension feel noticeably better
- Nothing works better in silt
- Adds stability at speed from the rotating mass
- Unrivaled braking power, crazy good
- better feel when landing from jumps
- Best tire in loose rocks ever

Cons:

(these are nitpicks as I absolutely LOVED the tire)

- Can feel the size in the bars
- Makes steering feel slightly slower / heavier
- every once in a while would grab some trail trash and pull the bars to one side. (odd feeling about 3-4 times on a 40 plus mile ride)

- When it does loose traction it does it semi abruptly.

Regarding that last one. It is the biggest Con I had with this tire. It has "next level" type traction over other tires. As such you tend to push it further and further trying to find its limit to seemingly unlimited traction. When it does break away it does so semi suddenly. Not like "oh crap, I might not save it" just does not give a lot of feedback when it is going to let loose. I think this is a combination of the crazy traction and advanced speeds it lets you carry in addition to a brand new tire with a huge footprint. When it finally lets go to does so quickly. Again not an issue just an observation. Never put me on my ass or felt like it would and I was way past where I would even remotely consider pushing other tires.

This was my first ride and the honeymoon is still in affect but I am VERY impressed with this tire. My other favorite fronts are the Motoz Terrapactor and the Bridgestone M59. I also like a few Pirellis and various other tires. Like Chilly found out this tire craps on all those. It is noticeably better everywhere. Soaks up terrain like crazy, hooks up like mad, super ridiculous stopping power, provides crazy confidence, allows silly lean angles, etc. I am not going out on any limb proclaiming this the best front tire I have ever used. It is my new gold standard. It works as ridiculous as it looks.

 

[boisedave]

Where do we get one from? ZipTy?

 

[Motosportz]

Where do we get one from? ZipTy?

I believe they are the only importer. Thats where I got mine. Happy to support them as they have made several of my bikes much better than if I hadn't got their info and benefits from all there testing and hard work. I can't imagine this is not going to be at the top of most anyones best tire list once they try it.

 

[reveille]

I fully agree with your review Kelly. I kept pushing mine faster and found the breaking point while on some solid rocky trails. Once the traction let go things went bad fast and before I knew it I was sliding along on my butt. It was my fault, not the tires but your review is spot on from my experience. I just suck at articulating reviews and you don't Great review

 

[Tinken]

I'm really happy you guys are enjoying the tire. One of my goals coming to ZipTy was to be able to take factory race secrets and translate them to everyday riders to take their riding experience to a whole another level. The 216 helps with that, it takes a lot of the fear factor out of riding and makes your ride that much more enjoyable. This high quality tire with Zipty suspension, and our other great products, is how we race at high speeds across wide spans of terrain. But you don’t have to be racing to enjoy the same elevated quality of riding.

I know that this tire holds a hefty price tag too, but bringing those tires in through customs is crazy expensive. And that's factory fresh rubber from Italy, not like a tire you bought at Chaparral that has sat in a hot shipping container for six months to a year. For us, it's one of those products like XF where we sell it close to our cost, that way you guys get factory race team quality gear without having to have a factory budget. Nobody else sells this tire because they cannot afford to.

 

[Xcuvator]

What drives me crazy is the way my 610 handles in sand and talcum powder. The bike is hard to get up on top with especially tanked up and with luggage.
It sounds like this tire could help out a little?
Would be worth every cent.

 

[Huskynoobee]

I think if you factor in long wear (from what some riders including Ty and Tinken have reported), DOT legal status, and seemingly nothing but rave reviews, well it's a bargain. For us mere mortals who are lucky to get in just a couple of good riding days a month, it's a worthwhile investment.

 

[Motosportz]

I think if you factor in long wear (from what some riders including Ty and Tinken have reported), DOT legal status, and seemingly nothing but rave reviews, well it's a bargain. For us mere mortals who are lucky to get in just a couple of good riding days a month, it's a worthwhile investment.

If it lasts twice as long it is a $55 tire. I already know it works great.

 

[Motosportz]

What drives me crazy is the way my 610 handles in sand and talcum powder. The bike is hard to get up on top with especially tanked up and with luggage.
It sounds like this tire could help out a little?
Would be worth every cent.

Seems to work great in those conditions as per Ty and Chilly. Worked great in the Gifford silt / ash but I am riding the 250. The big size should lend itself to those conditions. Worth a try.

 

[Tinken]

We originally ran the 216 on Ty's 630 with baja fuel tank. It helped support the heavy fuel load over the front tire. Then we put it on my 511 and realized it was going to be a real hit.

 

[Motosportz]

Will be riding coast range with CH buddy Russ and his FE350 tomorrow. This area is lots of rock and loam and slit. A different mix of ground cover and terrain so more good testing.

 

[jmetteer]

If they are not bringing the tire to the US through normal channels why did they bother getting it DOT approved?

I am intrigued by the reports, I wonder how it would work in Baja on a 125? At the Tecate enduro? I have to decide what tires to run down there.

Don ran the 216X at erzberg and loved it, I wonder how that would work for our terrain up here.

Later,

 

[Xcuvator]

We originally ran the 216 on Ty's 630 with baja fuel tank. It helped support the heavy fuel load over the front tire. Then we put it on my 511 and realized it was going to be a real hit.

I had one in my cart earlier today. I think I will add it back again.
I have extra wheel sets so I can switch it around to my other bikes. I just need to decide which front tire I like the least before I mount one