Dunlop Geomax MX14 Review: The New Soft Terrain Standard

Dunlop's Geomax MX14 arrives as the successor to the MX12, a tyre that dominated soft-terrain motocross applications for nearly a decade. The new design promises improved traction in mud and sand while addressing the MX12's primary weakness: rapid wear on anything approaching hard-pack conditions. After three months of testing across varied British conditions—which means predominantly muddy with occasional clay sections—the MX14 largely delivers on those promises, though with caveats that matter for riders making purchasing decisions.

The knob design has evolved substantially. Where the MX12 featured tall, narrow blocks optimised purely for cutting through soft surfaces, the MX14 uses shorter, slightly wider knobs with buttressing at the base to improve durability. This means less pure mud penetration but significantly better resistance to the tearing and folding that plagued the MX12 when conditions firmed up. In practice, the difference in deep mud grip is minimal—the MX14 still hooks up remarkably well in slop that would have intermediate tyres spinning uselessly—while the improvement on transitional surfaces feels substantial.

Testing methodology involved running MX14s on two bikes: a Honda CRF250R used primarily for practice days at local tracks, and a KTM 350 EXC-F for weekend enduro events. The motocross application consumed three rears over 25 hours of riding, which represents slightly better longevity than the MX12 in similar conditions. The enduro application, with its greater variety of surfaces and lower average speeds, saw a single rear last approximately 40 hours before knobs wore to the point of compromised performance. For soft-terrain specialists, these are acceptable consumption rates; riders regularly encountering hard-pack should consider the MX33 or MX53 instead.

Pricing sits at €89 for the rear and €65 for the front in standard sizes, roughly comparable to competing soft-terrain offerings from Michelin and Pirelli. The Dunlop offers better mud performance than the Pirelli Scorpion MX Soft in our experience, while the Michelin Starcross 6 Mud remains marginally superior in the deepest conditions at the cost of faster wear. For most UK and northern European riders facing typical conditions, the MX14 represents the optimal balance of grip and longevity. It's the tyre we'd fit for a winter race series without hesitation.