Knobbies on 17's

Sorry guys I get tired of reading through all the threads... What is the consensus on dual sport knobs for the 17's?

Now that you all have some miles on them.

MT21...

Shinko 244...

Kenda 270...

I might add that I live in Northern Michigan and our trails can be quite sandy and would sacrifice on road handling for off road bite. And I wouldn't be opposed to mix and matching if a Trackmaster or 606 would be a better rear tire.

I have the R but trakmasters work great for me, even in the deep sugar sand around atlanta or st. helens

OR, do yourself a favour and get a second set of wheels.
Unless you're in mud or sand over 4+ inches deep, the big front wheel has more effect in many conditions than the actual tread.

denniswrr wrote:

I have the R but trakmasters work great for me, even in the deep sugar sand around atlanta or st. helens

Dennis I'm not 100% certain, but I do not believe that the Trakmasters are available in the 17" size the original poster is referring to...

That said, to answer the OPs inquiry, I believe the Kenda 270s worked very, very well off-road for my needs. I rode in everything from sand to river stones, hard packed dirt, loam, through many water crossings, through mud, up dry or muddy, root-infested hills, and paved roads. I got great wear from them as well.

It takes a while to dial in the proper air pressure to run them at for your taste. I felt the front tended to "fall" from the center knob to the next row until I lowered the front air pressure a bit.

I currently have the OEMs back on my 17" rims and I have a set of dirt rims shod with Michelin AC-10s

My Kenda 270s have about 400 miles on them and are hanging on the wall (5.10x17 and 4.6x17) as backups or until I decide to sell them.

I plan on adding a set of "off road" tires for my X, those kenda 270's look agressive enough for what i'm going to be doin on the weekends. I've planned to buy an "extra" rim/wheel/hub set for quick week-end changes. Would the kenda's work well on OEM X rims? or should I just buy an aftermarket rim set? Don't mean to threadjump....just askin...

MotoDad wrote:

I plan on adding a set of "off road" tires for my X, those kenda 270's look agressive enough for what i'm going to be doin on the weekends. I've planned to buy an "extra" rim/wheel/hub set for quick week-end changes. Would the kenda's work well on OEM X rims? or should I just buy an aftermarket rim set? Don't mean to threadjump....just askin...

The Kendas work well on the X rims, but you won't be carving and canyon roads with them. I would just have a set of Dirt wheels made up so that you can quick-swap.

clint wrote:

MotoDad wrote:

I plan on adding a set of "off road" tires for my X, those kenda 270's look agressive enough for what i'm going to be doin on the weekends. I've planned to buy an "extra" rim/wheel/hub set for quick week-end changes. Would the kenda's work well on OEM X rims? or should I just buy an aftermarket rim set? Don't mean to threadjump....just askin...

The Kendas work well on the X rims, but you won't be carving and canyon roads with them. I would just have a set of Dirt wheels made up so that you can quick-swap.

So the Ac10's work better for you? My intent is to swap the wheels on friday, and on sat. haul the bike to the woods and go from there. Sound like what you do?

MotoDad wrote:

clint wrote:

MotoDad wrote:

I plan on adding a set of "off road" tires for my X, those kenda 270's look agressive enough for what i'm going to be doin on the weekends. I've planned to buy an "extra" rim/wheel/hub set for quick week-end changes. Would the kenda's work well on OEM X rims? or should I just buy an aftermarket rim set? Don't mean to threadjump....just askin...

The Kendas work well on the X rims, but you won't be carving and canyon roads with them. I would just have a set of Dirt wheels made up so that you can quick-swap.

So the Ac10's work better for you? My intent is to swap the wheels on friday, and on sat. haul the bike to the woods and go from there. Sound like what you do?

For the type of off-road riding I do, the AC10s work better off-road. They're oriented 90% dirt/10% street use. I do not recommend the AC-10s on the pavement if it is raining or just after it rains. You will fall. you.will. fall. I bought the Michelin tires for my KLX250S, but never got around to
throwing them on. Then I got my WR250X. After a week of riding it I
decided to sell the KLX and just kept the tires since I knew at some
point I'd be buying a set of Dirt Wheels for the WR.

If you plan on trailering to the trail head, then riding, AC10s will work fine, as will the trakmaster IIs and several other DOT approved dual-sport tires like Pirelli MT-21s, and Dunlop 606s. Those are all very good dual sport tires. I have MT-21s on a 2001 XT225 and they work great on that bike.

If you want a 50/50 tire that you can just throw on the 17" OEM rims for all your riding needs, the 270s work well in that role. They're good on-road, and damn good off-road.

If you do go the route of throwing some 17s on your OEM rims, the 270s are a good choice, as well as the shinko model that rydnseek uses (can't remember the model number). Go with whatever is available at the cheapest price.

If you're going to get an 18" and a 21" dirt wheel set, it will take several weeks while they are custom drilled and built, so keep an eye out on tire sales at places like bike bandit, chapparal, dennis kirk, and rocky mountain ATV (among others) because most of those places will price match the lowest price of their competitor.

clint wrote:

...
If you're going to get an 18" and a 21" dirt wheel set, it will take several weeks while they are custom drilled and built,
...

Or, they can be ordered from Forest at Wheeling cycle. I tries to keep them in stock.

I got a set a couple of weeks ago and just ordered a second set. There's a review coming soon.

i broke down and ordered a set from wheeling. they're supposed to be on their way once he gets the rotors and +2 rear sprocket. putting knobbies (mt-21s) on the 17s wasn't confidence inspiring at all for me... i also didn't like cutting the front tire to fit between the forks.

more importantly, i can now switch from street to dirt/mud/snow riding in under 30 minutes.

marty wrote:

i broke down and ordered a set from wheeling. they're supposed to be on their way once he gets the rotors and +2 rear sprocket. putting knobbies (mt-21s) on the 17s wasn't confidence inspiring at all for me... i also didn't like cutting the front tire to fit between the forks.

more importantly, i can now switch from street to dirt/mud/snow riding in under 30 minutes.

If you don't mind my asking, how much are you paying for your setup? I plan to do the same and was wondering how much coin I need to save. thanx

it ended up being just over a grand for the wheels, oem rotors, and sprocket.

That's not so bad, then it's an easy swap cuz u don't have to mess with the rotors and sprocket. I can't wait til I can order mine. Thanx