Shinko SR241

Hi,

Do any of you have any experience with the SR241 tires?

http://www.shinkotireusa.com/tire/sr-241-series

They're priced more or less the same as the 244's, and I'm considering trying out a trials tire for the winter.

A few questions:

With respect to fitment on the stock rims, will the 4.00-18 and 3.00-21 work, or should I consider other sizes? The 4.00-18 is the largest size for an 18" rim I see available, and I know that 4.60-18 Shinko 244's are fitted to the rear so... From what is in the service manual, the front is 100/80-21 and the rear is 120/80-18. I'm not to good with the conversion, nor have any experience with what's going to fit other than the stock size listed.

As far as running pressure is concerned, I'm going to assume I'm going to have to run lower pressure overall on these. At what pressures are rim locks suggested/not suggested, and at what speeds is it alright to run with rim locks? I've never used them before.

Before you ask, my riding is going to be 90%+ city streets (which includes potholes everywhere, gravel, cobblestone and slick brick), but the weather is very crappy this time of year. I'm just looking for a little extra traction.

Budget wise, I'm going to be sticking to Shinkos. If I could afford to put on a high dollar tire that won't last me too long on the street, I would, but I can't. I'm typically pleased with the overall brand performance anyway, so that's what I'm going to stick with, but I appreciate your suggestions otherwise.

The Kenda K761's I currently am using (came with the bike) are fine and handle great in the dry... until it gets wet out. Then it's a pucker-fest. My front is cupping like hell as well. So ... it's time for some new tires.

Copy'd from the ADV thread, no idea if the IMG tags are going to work.

I had seen some of you WR250R riders using the Pirelli MT43 trials tires, and I had stumbled across these:

https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p/742/29851/Shinko-SR241-Series-Trials-Tire

There really isn't too much out there on these, and I was going to get the Shinko 244's. I ride mostly on city streets, and I ride all year in whatever I can stand. The Kenda's that were on my bike when I bought it were great dry street tires, but as soon as it got even slightly damp they became extremely slippery. At nearly the same cost as the Golden Boy's, why the hell not?

Here's what they look like (sorry for the crappy pictures, this is the first chance since mounting them I've been able to get a picture in the light. Blame the weather).







4.0 x 18 in the rear with 13/48 sprockets and a 112 link chain, 3.0 x 21 in the front.

I mounted them myself, they went on without issue/cursing/blood. Getting the bead to seat was a little difficult, but that was my first time successfully mounting a set of tires so it may have been my inexperience. They didn't come with dots marking the light spot, but balancing them wasn't a problem. Needed about 1/2-3/4 oz of weight per tire.

Initial impressions are good. Ran the street at 45-50 mph max the first day, at around 18 psi. They're a little squirmy on the street, likely due to scrubbing them in and the lower pressure than I'm used to combined. I didn't lean hard anywhere, so I can't comment on that.

Running on rocks (~ 2-3" diameter) next to railroad tracks, I felt they performed well. They didn't squirm around in flat shallow mud any less than I thought they should, given it's ... mud. Going about 50 mph on wet, hard packed fine gravel/cinder road, they stuck pretty well.

I aired them down to ~12-14 psi for the commute in the snow/slush today, and I'm pretty impressed with their traction. I could climb up some slight hills that I wouldn't have been able to on my V-strom (I got stuck on my hill in the snow last year, I had to turn the bike around and leave it at the bottom!), but there's a variety of factors involved with that. Places I was fully expecting to slide for a bit, it didn't happen. I tried locking up the rear wheel at low speed in some slush, and it didn't really. If I were to try this on the Kendas I was running previously, I probably would have turned around and took the bus.

Not a huge amount of snow, but most of the roads were more or less just salted instead of plowed, if at all. Cars driving over it were doing most of the work, haha.



I'm not saying that I'm going to start taking more chances on the street in the snow now that I've got some rubber that can handle it, but at the very least, the chances of it being an uneventful trip have increased dramatically. :clap

Anyway, the first impressions are good, in my opinion. I'll report back later with updates on wear/longevity.

I have the Shinko 241 on the front and will be replacing my Maxxis Desert IT rear soon. The new Motoz hybrid looks interesting as well as putting a Shinko 241 on the rear. Thanks for the pics of what it looks like on the rear.