Replacing only rear stock trailwing tire. Good idea?

I've had my new 2015 WRR for a couple of weeks now.  I plan on mainly using it on the dirt.  I've taken it out a few times and can't stand how squirrelly it is in just an inch of sand.  Sand is mainly what we have here in New Mexico.  The rear end just hunts around constantly.  My original plan was to put a couple of thousand miles on the stock tires but I feel like I'm in danger off road.

I've read many online reviews and posts here and feel that the Dunlop D606 would be a good choice for the rear tire.  I'm not certain what would be a good choice for the front yet other than the popular Pirelli MT-21.

Would the stock front Trailwing with a Dunlop D606 rear give me better performance in loose dirt and sand?  Should I upgrade both at the same time?

I was born in New Mexico, and have ridden my 2011 WRR there on several occasions, every time was with both original TW's. It did much better when aired down to 15lbs. Currently I have a D606 on the rear, and the stock TW back on the front... long story. At any rate while there are better tires for the front, the 606 in the rear made an appreciable difference in Florida sand (no NM rides yet with the new rear tire).

You'll do well with your proposed set-up.

I'd put a new front tire on it too, the mt21 is a good choice.

I ride in sand on the beach a bit, I wouldn't want a good rear tire and a stock front tire, it will be just as squirrelly as it is now but the front end will be all over the place not the rear which feels even more unsafe.
I can handle the rear squirming around a bit but when the rear tire has a lot more grip than the front it pushes in corners and the front tire is constantly sliding around feeling squirrelly.

I bought my 2011 WRR last winter with 700 miles and stock everything, including tires.  I had terrible problems keeping the rear end hooked up in sand and loose terrain.  This includes a couple of low speed turns where the rear end literally went AWOL, leading to spontaneous code 30 experiences.

I found quite a bit of relief by swapping the rear tire for a D606.  That was 1200 mountain miles ago.  I discovered further improvement, perhaps even more notable than tire swap, by adjusting my suspension settings.

I had previously adjusted  the rear static and race sag using guidelines found in these forums.  So I left the sag settings as they were and adjusted the compression and rebound dampening as suggested by Sputter in this thread:
http://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/585124-wr250r-suspension-set-up-thread/

Wow, what a difference!

I'll either move to MT-21 or D606 front tire eventually, but for now I have no significant complaints about the stock front tire in off-road conditions.

Great input guys.   Thanks!  For the $80 investment I think I might as well put the MT-21 up front as well considering Biglake's experience.  

I also have not adjusted my preload at all for my 205lbs frame. So that's a freebie.

Do you guys mount your own tires or take them to a shop?  I figure I should put them on myself since I might need to do a tire or tube change on the trail sometime.  Also it seems like dealer balancing would be overkill?

First thing is to air down for tomorrow's ride.  At what point should I be concerned about not having rim locks?

Two times rim locks will prove useful while at or below 15 PSI...

1. Hard acceleration
2. Heavy braking

Both these can spin the tire on the bead, and shear the valve stem from the tube...

#1 is more problematic as HP and torque increase. WR can be forgiving to a point in that regard
#2 affects WR as easily as any other bike (with good brakes).

I've aired down and ridden plenty as low as 15 psi front/rear on the WR's stock tires w/o issue, with tame throttle and brake usage.
If you ride aired down extensively, the rim-lock will eventually be on your "to-do" list, either from personal misfortune, or seeing first hand what happens to someone else who waited too long

I think the pirelli MT 41 front with either the dunlop 606 or even the pirelli MT 43 trials on the rear is the best all around for where I live is a great combo, 606 better for sand and mud, MT43 up here for wet everything, rock, stumps, roots, I run front 18lbs and 15 rear, why the front so much, already bent the rim, the son of a bitch that put that rock there should be ashamed of them selves hahaha I might have been going a little too fast though. My son runs a Kenda trackmaster on the rear of his Husky, like a DOT motto tire great in the sand and mud, cheer`s

Fiftygrit wrote:

I think the pirelli MT 41 front with either the dunlop 606 or even the pirelli MT 43 trials on the rear is the best all around for where I live is a great combo, 606 better for sand and mud, MT43 up here for wet everything, rock, stumps, roots, I run front 18lbs and 15 rear, why the front so much, already bent the rim, the son of a bitch that put that rock there should be ashamed of them selves hahaha I might have been going a little too fast though. My son runs a Kenda trackmaster on the rear of his Husky, like a DOT motto tire great in the sand and mud, cheer`s

MT21 on the front right?

I have used those before and thought they were pretty decent for a front. I am going to try a MT16 next since it is also DOT approved for the Front.

wwguy wrote:

I bought my 2011 WRR last winter with 700 miles and stock everything, including tires.  I had terrible problems keeping the rear end hooked up in sand and loose terrain.  This includes a couple of low speed turns where the rear end literally went AWOL, leading to spontaneous code 30 experiences.

I found quite a bit of relief by swapping the rear tire for a D606.  That was 1200 mountain miles ago.  I discovered further improvement, perhaps even more notable than tire swap, by adjusting my suspension settings.

I had previously adjusted  the rear static and race sag using guidelines found in these forums.  So I left the sag settings as they were and adjusted the compression and rebound dampening as suggested by Sputter in this thread:
http://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/585124-wr250r-suspension-set-up-thread/

Wow, what a difference!

I'll either move to MT-21 or D606 front tire eventually, but for now I have no significant complaints about the stock front tire in off-road conditions.

I think I'll have a little time today to play with my suspension setup.  I'm going to start with trying to emulate sputters configuration. Wwguy, are you closer to sputter's 165 or my 200lbs? I have a couple of new tires in my cart over at rocky mountain but I should probably try this first.

I'm 210 lbs. without gear.

My rear suspension is full stock height and my front forks are fully extended in the triple clamp.

My suspension settings:
Rear compression: 10 clicks out (factory setting)
Rear rebound: 3 clicks out (stiff)
Front compression: 1 click out (stiff)
Front rebound: 15 clicks out (soft)

Very cool. Thanks for the help!

I finally had a chance to adjust my shock configuration last night and just got back from a quick 'lunch-hour' ride.  It may just be a mind-set thing but I have to say that I felt a lot more confident on the trail with the new settings.  I rode a little faster and a little harder than before.

I think I could finally discern the difference between my traction issues being a result of the tires vs. the suspension not keeping the tires on the ground. Now for a new set of tires.

Thanks again.

I'm running the D606 and Mt21 combo on mine and im happy with it, but still sucks in sand. Any deep or loose sand is real squirrely until you punch it. Now, another bike with different gearing like the 450f and no prob. The tires will help for sure but not going to go away completely. Consider playing with gears also. Sprockets are cheap!

mcdoudlehopper wrote:

I'm running the D606 and Mt21 combo on mine and im happy with it, but still sucks in sand. Any deep or loose sand is real squirrely until you punch it. Now, another bike with different gearing like the 450f and no prob. The tires will help for sure but not going to go away completely. Consider playing with gears also. Sprockets are cheap!

Well, I was able to get the rear D606 on last night.  I took it for a spin up to the mesa after lunch.  What a difference! I feel so much more traction, I felt like just running the bike straight up the sandy arroyo.  Like mcdouglehopper said, it's much better when you punch it.

Now I'm not sure what's more dangerous.  The squirrelly trailwings or the new found confidence I have in the new tires.  Found myself catching air (tiny little hops) on the whoops that were throwing me around previously.

Now to tackle the front tire tonight after the kids are asleep.

Which front tire? I agree about the 606 out back. Much easier to ride in sand, and use the throttle to navigate. Same as you I'm still running the front TW. Have been too busy to mount my new TR8 up there.

I bought the Pirelli MT-21 for the front. The rear was my first tire change so it took me over an hour and a half last night to get everything swapped out. Even with the help of youtube. Hopefully the front will be a little faster.

running the MT21 in the front as well but avoid sand if at all possible. keep us updated - as this is the most popular combo I hear about.

So i got the new MT21 on this weekend.  Man that was so much easier to change out than the rear.  I wish front tires were the ones that needed replacing the most.

So far, with a limited 45 minute test ride, I couldn't really tell a difference between the MT21 and the Trailwing.  Now, this was only on a single type of trail for a few minutes so YMMV.  I was really looking for a big difference like the switch to the rear D606 but couldn't really feel it.  Also, my dirt riding skills are rusty to nonexistent but I was able to maintain around 35-40 through the wash so I don't feel too bad about it.

Overall, I feel much better driving around in loose dirt / sand with the new tires so I'm super happy with the upgrade.  Of course, now I feel a little less confident on the pavement with the knobbies but I'm hoping that will lessen as then get worn down a little.

I'm trying to link to an image I have hosted on dropbox below so people get the sense of my little test area.  However, it's not working properly in the preview.  If it doesn't show up I'll move the image over to servimg.com.

If I remember right there are two MT21 tires that will fit the front of the WRR.  A 90/90-21 and a 80/100-21.

The tread pattern is a little different between these two.  The girlfriend use to struggle with her Super Sherpa in the sand but after I put on an MT21 rear (110/80-18) and the 80/100-21 on the front she has never looked back.  Feels comfortable in the sand.

The reason I mentioned the size difference for the front is that I noticed the 80/100-21 worked better on my WRR when I ran that size.  Seemed more planted in the sand.

The best thing I did to improve my confidence in the sand was to install a steering damper on the WRR.  Is it necessary? No, but it makes the ride so much more enjoyable.

Wow, Looks like some really sucky sand there...... Wouldn't ride the 250r in those conditions with any tires. Just the completely wrong bike for that terrain. Give me my 426 back and I would be willing.

For my own $.02, don't let the \nobbies, scare you. Get a good feel for them and gain some confidence on the road. I have never had any tire slide or wash on pavement and can ride the hell out of the nobbies on pavement without any concerns.

mcdoudlehopper wrote:

Wow,     Looks like some really sucky sand there...... Wouldn't ride the 250r in those conditions with any tires. Just the completely wrong bike for that terrain. Give me my 426 back and I would be willing.

Yep, it's not all that bad but we do have a lot of that type of stuff around here.  Figured I'd might as well try to enjoy it the best that I can.

mcdoudlehopper wrote:

For my own $.02, don't let the \nobbies, scare you. Get a good feel for them and gain some confidence on the road. I have never had any tire slide or wash on pavement and can ride the hell out of the nobbies on pavement without any concerns.

Well, I'll give it a shot.  I've noticed that the rear will skid if I downshift too aggressively on the pavement.  I realize that all tires will do this but the threshold is a little lower with the D606 than the Trailwing.  Guess I'll just need to recalibrate.

By the way, I pulled the trigger on a 48T rear sprocket and new 512 link chain yesterday from rockymountain.  The tire upgrade was so good that I figured I'd follow the pack and try out the highly recommended sprocket upgrade.