My Take On Shinko 705's

Got the wheels back on the bike. 140/80-17 rear, 120/90-17 front. Rear axle is approx one inch taller, front about 1.25 inches taller at axle. Raised the fork tubes .25 inches. Took about a 20 mile or so trip last night on pavement and pushed them a bit to scrub them in. I'm not a peg scraper but even new they held dry road at speed as far as I care to lean. Drove a short run on gravel and didn't notice any bad behaviors. Handling seemed just as snappy as the battleaxes to me. So far they are a great option for dualsporting an X. Will post up some pics tonight weather permitting.

Now you just need to get that bitch dirty!!!!

galland1 wrote:

Got the wheels back on the bike. 140/80-17 rear, 120/90-17 front. Rear axle is approx one inch taller, front about 1.25 inches taller at axle. Raised the fork tubes .25 inches. Took about a 20 mile or so trip last night on pavement and pushed them a bit to scrub them in. I'm not a peg scraper but even new they held dry road at speed as far as I care to lean. Drove a short run on gravel and didn't notice any bad behaviors. Handling seemed just as snappy as the battleaxes to me. So far they are a great option for dualsporting an X. Will post up some pics tonight weather permitting.

I cannot find these in UK

Hi Galland1:

You would not happen to know how much heavier (or lighter) your Shinko 705’s are over the OEM BT90’s by chance, would you?

Thanks in advance

Wayne Gerdes – CleanMPG

Sorry didn't weigh them. Bt90's weigh about 18.1 lbs per UPS. The 705's are definitely heavier. I have a couple hundred on these they are great on the pavement, gravel roads and firelanes. They are pretty good in sand although I haven't been in the really deep stuff yet. Haven't tried any wet pavement or deep mud, but I would bet mud is likely a weakness. So far I'm lovin' em. Will post thoughts as I get into different terrain.

Speedo with these tires and stock gears is 3mph fast. GPS

Hi Galland1:

That is news for anyone considering the Shinko’s! Good price on those tires too.

Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG

galland1 wrote:

Got the wheels back on the bike. 140/80-17 rear, 120/90-17 front. Rear axle is approx one inch taller, front about 1.25 inches taller at axle. Raised the fork tubes .25 inches. Took about a 20 mile or so trip last night on pavement and pushed them a bit to scrub them in. I'm not a peg scraper but even new they held dry road at speed as far as I care to lean. Drove a short run on gravel and didn't notice any bad behaviors. Handling seemed just as snappy as the battleaxes to me. So far they are a great option for dualsporting an X. Will post up some pics tonight weather permitting.

I'm looking in to these. What's your thoughts on them these days? AND do you think the 150 will fit an X?

I highly doubt the 150 will fit. The 140 is snug enough that if your chain isn't in good condition you're going to get rub (I did).

I put 6500 miles on mine and the back had probably 1500-2000 miles of life left when I removed the last week.

I took the tires off for the following reasons:
1) I wanted something much more sticky/agressive
2) I bought an offroad bike and didn't have a need for dual sport tires on the X anymore
3) To get lighter tires, less inertia, more acceleration
4) I wanted something with a smoother shoulder transition. If you lean the shinkos too much the tread just disappears and you start sliding. They were very predictable and stable even when sliding.

I changed to pilot powers and here are the differences I have noticed so far. Keep in mind I haven't really pushed the pilot powers as I low sided the bike and have lost some confidence.

1) The pilot powers do not seem to have any more ultimate grip so far. It's hard to tell on our roads.
2) The pilot powers are much less forgiving of road conditions and debris. The shinkos might slip an inch or two in the same corners that the pilot powers slide a foot or more in.
3) They are certainly lighter weight. The bike has much more acceleration, lifts the front wheel easier, and rides smoother over bumps/potholes. I think this has a lot to do with the unsprung weight. It should also be noted that when I originally went to 705s, the ride was improved over the stock bt090s.
4) Turn in is lightning fast compared to the 705s. It's like riding a mountain bike instead of a dirtbike.

Arkmage wrote:

I highly doubt the 150 will fit. The 140 is snug enough that if your chain isn't in good condition you're going to get rub (I did).

I put 6500 miles on mine and the back had probably 1500-2000 miles of life left when I removed the last week.

I took the tires off for the following reasons:
1) I started getting much more sticky/agressive
2) I bought an offroad bike and didn't have a need for dual sport tires on the X anymore
3) To get lighter tires, less inertia, more acceleration
4) I wanted something with a smoother shoulder transition. If you lean the shinkos too much the tread just disappears and you start sliding. They were very predictable and stable even when sliding.

I changed to pilot powers and here are the differences I have noticed so far. Keep in mind I haven't really pushed the pilot powers as I low sided the bike and have lost some confidence.

1) The pilot powers do not seem to have any more ultimate grip so far. It's hard to tell on our roads.
2) The pilot powers are much less forgiving of road conditions and debris. The shinkos might slip an inch or two in the same corners that the pilot powers slide a foot or more in.
3) They are certainly lighter weight. The bike has much more acceleration, lifts the front wheel easier, and rides smoother over bumps/potholes. I think this has a lot to do with the unsprung weight. It should also be noted that when I originally went to 705s, the ride was improved over the stock bt090s.

On your PP's did you go with the 110's or the 120's ?
I had a close call on a lowside a few weeks ago and I'm running 110's up front. I hear the 120 is the way to go on the WRX.

I'm running a 110. The lowside was not the fault of the front tire. There is a list of "contributing factors" to my dumb ass mistake in another thread if you want more info.

Arkmage wrote:

I'm running a 110. The lowside was not the fault of the front tire. There is a list of "contributing factors" to my dumb ass mistake in another thread if you want more info.

Same here. We must be related
I was wanting something a little more SUMO rather than street. I like the looks of the AVON's and the Shinkos.
Any suggestions?

In all honesty, I was really happy with the 705s. I wanted something that would be more appropriate for the track which is why I moved to pilot powers. I preferred the road manners of the 705s so far.

I'll probably man up and spend the money on the distanzias next time and see if they are the "middle ground" I'm looking for between the 705s and pilot powers.

I'd say for someone commuting or just pleasure riding, that has no intentions of putting their X on the track, the 705s are pretty hard to beat. I may very well decide the price premium for the distanzias isn't worth it and go back to 705s myself in the future.

If I ride to work, it's only 4 miles. So no biggie there. Most of my riding is urban assault. Steps, jumps ect.. I never really come outta 4th on my rides.

Once you got used to the sluggish turn in I think you'd be happy with the 705s for general hooligan stuff. The extra air volume means you never have to worry about a pinch flat jumping a curb at 30 mph ;)

Is it only me or have the guys running the shinkos notice that the front tire is rubbing against the forks? Mine rubs the part that has the silver housing. So when ever the suspension compresses it rubs against that part.

I was pretty unhappy with the 705s, but I have to admit they grip pretty well for street. I just took them off on tuesday and put on pilot powers. The weight difference between the two tires is very noticable. I've been caught off gaurd on a few take offs of having my front wheel want to pop up after I just switched back to pilot powers.

You should see my used set of 705s on the wr250x classifieds for 30 bucks pretty soon. lol