Tire/Tube Suggestions

Hello guys,

My rear Dunlop D606 120/90 18 tire is wearing out. The front D606 is okay for a few more thousand miles but I would like to get suggestions if you have it for the front too. As for my riding styles. The trails are far from my house so I normally ride 70% street and then 30% trails. Sometimes I go camping with a lot of stuff strap to the back of it. I do like the D606 but just wondering if there is a better choice to rack up some more miles and easier on the wallet. I would also like some new tubes and rim savers.

Should I go for a thicker tube?

What size tube do I need?

The tires that I'm looking at are:
Shinko 244
Kenda 270
Dunlop D606

Any other?

This is for a 2009 WR250r version. Thanks

have you flatted any tubes?

shinko 244 - last and are cheap

I have not flatted any tube but I've only put 1500 miles on the bike since I owned it about a month ago. The fear of getting a flat in the middle of no where still rests behind my head.

I did the Dust to Dawson trip this summer up to Dawson City, Yukon - 2,500 miles on a new D606 rear and toasted that thing as expected by the time I got home... The BMW guys I talked to run Heidenau brand tires. The ones I saw had a couple thousand miles on them and they looked brand new... I'm waiting on a K60 Scout rear to show up in the mail - should be a good 50/50 tire and I'm hoping I can get some good mileage outta them...

For tubes get the more expensive ones from the Yammy dealer - their thicker and I have yet to blow one yet riding hard 75mph down crappy gravel roads.  I did blow the original tube on the stock rear tire with less than 400 miles on the bike hitting a small pothole on a dirt road...

I have no clue if the previous owner replaced the tube when he put the D606 on so I'm just replacing them as a safety precaution. The tire that you show in the picture seems like the are too much of a road tire for me. I'm leaning toward the shinko 244 but I'll keep those in mind if I do more road riding in the future.

What do you guys recommend I run for the rear tire size? Its a bit different sizing then our regular 120/90 18. Either 4.6 - 18 or 5.1 - 18.
This is what I'm referring to:
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/15034/i/shinko-244-dual-sport-front---rear-tire

Bump: Anyone running the 5.1 shinko 244 in the rear? Does it fit? Should I just go for the 4.6?

Pretty sure 120/90/18 isn't the standard size. Isn't it a 110 number? I know you have to oversize if you go d606, it was one of the reasons I did not go 606 myself.

I'd rather run a pirelli rally front and a michelin t63 rear than 606s any day, they wear about the same on the road, work about the same off road, the rears the right size and they're a lot cheaper.

IRC TR8s are good tires too and not too much money.

I had 244s on a KLR, I wouldnt like them on the WRR as I find myself pushing mine and its limits offroad trying stuff I'd never do on the KLR. If its really dry where you ride you might like them, they're great where its dry but its a bit muddy around here.

If you do get the 244 get the 4.6, its still a bit bigger than stock. Stock size would be 4.0 or 4.1.

WRthump wrote:

I have not flatted any tube but I've only put 1500 miles on the bike since I owned it about a month ago. The fear of getting a flat in the middle of no where still rests behind my head.

If you ride in the middle of nowhere, sooner or later you are going to find yourself fixing a flat in the middle of nowhere.  Fact.  Inevitable.

You might want to get flat fixes down pat some place comfortable - like the lawn beside your driveway for example.  That way you can make sure your flat fixing toolkit works, as well as getting practice. And if you're a slow learner, you can spend the night at home in bed before flying at it again the next day, instead of spending the night sleeping in your riding gear leaned up against a tree... far, far away from home.

You do have the necessary axle wrenches and tire irons, spare tube, pump, etc, right?

Right?

I ride with my KTM buddy.  He refuses to carry a flat fixing kit, go figger.  Feels lucky or something like that.  I'll do what I can to help him when the inevitable day arrives, but I'm pretty sure my Pro Motion axle wrenches/tire irons aren't going to fit his orange crush.  Which means I'll probably be riding out of the bush with him riding bitch on the back of the WRR...  You don't want to be that guy.  Besides, most tires found on these bikes are much easier to work on than the much bigger and stiffer tires found on the supertankers.

Quote :

The tire that you show in the picture seems like the are too much of a road tire for me. I'm leaning toward the shinko 244 but I'll keep those in mind if I do more road riding in the future.

The Heidenau K60's are one kick ass tire, or at least I think so.  The rear's shown in that picture aren't exactly the same in WR factory sizes - the center rib you see on that tire is not on the smaller ones (or wasn't yet as of last year).  They aren't going to be like a 606 in mud, sand, etc., but they are one hell of a lot better and longer wearing tire for true 50/50 dual sport.  I don't have a problem with them crawling around and over and back through the Continental Divide here near Glacier Park...  You'll see them discussed elsewhere here in the Tires sub-forum.

I have a WR250 with 29,000 miles and have run most of the tires and reached several conclusions. The bike is stock with the addition of bags, 3 gallon tank and a rack. Just returned from the Colorado Tin Cup area where I used a T63 that had 2,000 miles on it before we rode 1,000 more out West. The tire has about 1/8" + tread left and will be replaced with a 244. This is roughly the same as 606's have done. Of the 3,000 miles on the T63 about half are highway at 55-65 MPH. I have also run MT21 on the rear as well as 4.00 trials and use 14/48 gearing. I run a heavy duty front tube at 18#. In the rear I run a standard tube and run flatproof. It balances the tire and may save the need for a trail fix. Again I run a bit higher rear preasure at 22#

1. the 606 & MT21 rears are to large in diameter and heavy and will hurt overall performance.
2. the 4.60 & 120/80's are the right size for the power and weight of the bike.
3. For me the fronts have been less of an impact. Right now I am using a 244 and find it works well

Just my experience. I might add I am an old person and not an aggressive rider.

It really boils down to what type of riding you want to do. If the rear tire slips a bit off road riding it's manageable, if the front slides it often is painful. For what you describe an MT21 is hard to beat in the front & for the rear a K60, Mefo Explorer, Kenda 270 Shinko 244 type tire will do fine in everything but clay type mud. I'm currently running the MT21 front & M43 rear. The front has 1200 miles on it & has worn very little, the rear doesn't look like it's going to make it much past 2k

In CO I would probably think that MT43's may be a good choice for the rear.

I like the 244's over the Kenda 270's since they don't seem as skittish on the road - they side lug design is a bit different between the two.

I agree it is more important for the front to bite well than the rear. MT21 seems to be pretty good in that regard. However out here things can get a bit more sloppy with the red clay mud and I have found that the Pirelli XCMH front works better than the MT21 when those conditions prevail.

For myself I have settled on the XCMH front and rear when I know I will be in dirt for most of the ride and 244's when I am doing a mix of dirt and street. I have two sets of wheels so swapping back and forth is pretty easy.

I have used a number of MT21's and find that the wear pattern is that the center lug wears down much more than the double lug requiring replacement by 3,500 miles. The T63 and 244 fronts seem to last much longer and hold well on all surfaces other than paint strips and tar snakes. What experience does anyone else have?

jdubb wrote:

I have used a number of MT21's and find that the wear pattern is that the center lug wears down much more than the double lug requiring replacement by 3,500 miles. The T63 and 244 fronts seem to last much longer and hold well on all surfaces other than paint strips and tar snakes.  What experience does anyone else have?

I have seen a weird wear pattern on my MT21's... like every other lug. I suspect it is from braking hard when on pavement. I suspect you could flip the tire around and maybe get some more miles out of it.