Last Updated on: November 29, 2025

The Metzeler Karoo 4 set stayed on till the very end of the season and will be on come spring 2026. Here are some more reflections.

On the way into the woods with Karoo 4 shoes.

Choosing a Karoo 4 set for the heavy bike was an experiment of a sort. Definitely the most offroad oriented tire I’ve had on any of the big adventure bikes I’ve owned. But as plans for a euro-adventure faded the choice seemed more right. It would even perhaps bring some advantages while riding alternatively.

That assumption turned out to be correct. And, as I came to realize, even if a 50/50 tire, the road manners are surprisingly good. Significantly much better than those of the previous Karoo 3. See this page for more technical details.

September 2025; roaming around in the woods on Karoo 4.

Rear first, front later

The Karoo 4 rear tyre was put on by chance, while on a mini-adventure north in the country. That whole story you can read here. The front tire came on September 2025, as the prior Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR was done. Changing of the front tire was much more noticeable than the rear, which wasn’t a surprise.

The differences between the STR and Karoo 4 front are pretty significant. In more ways than one. The steering is very offroad like. Strange at first, takes some getting used to. One instantly have the feeling of sitting on top of the bike when cornering, or more like you would do offroad or on gravel or dirt.

Along the gravel road, beautiful nature.

The tires gives the same feeling when I ride my veteran Honda Transalp. Which also is fitted with a Karoo 4 set. I think the steering behaviour is more distinct on 19″ front wheel size than on 21″. The offroad steering feeling changes with speed. The Karoo 4 set has phenomenal grip, also on pavement, which allows aggressive cornering.

I’ve talked about noise in the previous post, so there’s no need to go back into that topic. It’s there and of course, now running a Karoo 4 set it does amplify noise. The good part is that it wanes right above 80 km/t on the 1250GS. So long distance touring isn’t a problem.

It’s when you go off-pavement Karoo 4 really proves its worth. As for the front, well is it offroad like on pavement, the behaviour, whether grip or stability, on anything from sand, dirt, gravel or mud, is highly predictable.

Karoo 4 set summary

If you want a quiet tire experience, look elsewhere. If you are a adventure seeking rider who wants offroad performance if and when an opportunity present itself, then it’s absolutely worth considering. Mentioned earlier Metzeler made it with big adventure motorcycles in mind. As such it feels tailored for the GS. With the minuses I have mentioned already.

September 2025, riding across Norwegian mountains.

if you can live with that, then it’s worth considering. But I think the set will last much longer than the previous model. But I don’t think it will be an ideal choice for a 5000+ kilometers 08/20 or 90/10 euro-adventure. Freeway or motorway pounding will probably square the rear tire too much. At season’s end, after around 4-4500 kilometers, it looked pretty good.

At EICMA this year Metzeler presented an upgrade of the street version named Karoo 4 Street. I have plenty of experience with the old Karoo “Scream”. One such you can find here. Karoo 4 street may very well be my next choice. Maybe it will turn out as a good 70/30 alternative, for long adventures. One such awaits me early summer.

But that is, as one says, quite another story.

See also