Testing Apollo’s New Range Of Go-anywhere Off-road Tyres For Upto 500cc Bikes

Making dirt riding more accessible for non ADVs

Off-road riding is now very popular but the biggest hurdle however is finding off-road tyres for street bikes, which is near impossible or very expensive. And that’s exactly what the new Apollo Tramplr range of tyres are aiming to change: offering accessible dual-sport tyres for premium 150cc-500cc bikes. Here’s a guide on the tyres if you’re in the market for a dual-sport rubber to go off-roading on.

The Apollo Tramplr is available in two variants. The Apollo tyre XR ranges from Rs 6,500 to Rs 12,000, whereas the ST is more affordable, starting at Rs 4,500 and going up to Rs 6,000.

1. Tramplr XR - Will cater to 250cc-500cc ADVs, sport tourers, roadsters and cruisers too.
Rim compatibility:

2. Tramplr ST - Will service 150cc-250cc street and sporty bikes.

The XR is primarily a dual-purpose tubeless tyre with large asymmetric blocks. A tube can be purchased separately for non-tubeless rims. The tyres are made from a special grippier compound and have an extended shoulder line to grip better while turning on dirt. The engineers have also created channel ways between treads to stop small stones from getting lodged between them.

I tested the XR on a KTM 390 Duke and a BMW G 310 R. The tyre was stable through shlush and hard packed mud but on sand, it felt a little out of its comfort zone. That said, I was able to hold good speed on dirt, on the 390 Duke and even took some light jumps. The tyres held up fine. 

If the XR is, say, 60 percent road use and 40 percent dirt use, the ST is a toned down 80-20 split. The front tyre has more prominent block treads compared to the rear and in all fairness will be good over road-roading surfaces than proper dirt tracks.

They are aiming at street bike owners who are looking to take their small sporty bikes over new terrain, and for that, it should suffice. We had limited time with these, but over broken tarmac, it felt composed and making the transition on tarmac and finding grip quickly for spirited riding was not a challenge either.

Both tyres are tubeless, radials and most importantly, available in varied sizes. That said, do be alarmed if you do not find 21-inch tyres in the list for your Himalayan or Xpulse 200, those will arrive sometime in December, says Apollo.

On our short off-road outing with these tyres, our key takeaway was how confident it helped us feel and how accessible it’s mading riding street bikes on dirt. That said, we will be reviewing these tyres very soon on our fleet bikes and will update you about its performance over long term use.