Shinko 244 Quick Review

For what it is worth I have two sets of wheels for my WRR.

On my stock wheels I pretty much always have a Pirelli XCMH rear and XCMS front mounted. If I know I will be riding in some tough or sloppy conditions I will put that set of wheels on the bike.

My other set of wheels are from Warp 9 and I usually have Shinko 705's mounted up which I tend to use when commuting to work and some light trail riding.

We this weekend one of my friends and I decided to ride up to Tellico Plains, TN (~190 miles) and then spend the weekend with some friends riding some of the trails out in that area and then riding back home on the Interstate on Sunday.

Well I would have liked to have my Pirelli's on the bike for the trail ride but I also know I would pretty much kill them off on this ride. On the other hand the Shinko 705's just do not seem to wear out on the little WRR and would be great for the ride up and back and running down some of the tamer FS roads up there but if we should hit some loose dirt or a little bit of mud I would have concerns.

So after realizing I had a bunch of points at RMATV I decided to order a set of 244's (I use to run them on my DR650) for the grand sum of $89 (yeah one other thing I like about those tires is that they are cheap). Tires arrived 2 days later and the front did not need any weight for balancing and the rear required 1oz.

The next morning we took a route that runs a bit west of Atlanta to get up to Tellico Plains in order to avoid all the ATL traffic. Most of this route consists of 2 lane black top and the tires worked out just fine. However on the way up we decided to do some exploring at Oswald Dome and for the most part the 244's ran great on the gravel. The only thing I did not care for was there performance in sand. There were a couple of spots that had some pockets of sand and the front tire would want to push or was out on me. This is something I typically don't have when I am running my XCMS up front.

The next day we hit multiple FS roads and an 'Outlaw Trail' (more about that later). Performance on the FS roads was good with no issues. The 244's handled rocky areas well (I was running 18F and 20R) but again the front got a bit skittish when we would hit and sandy sections. The performance on single track was good with the only caveat being that it was dry out and we did not hit any mud.

We ran across a couple of other riders who were coming off a series of trails and some of our group wanted to go check them out. But in talking to the guys they told us that those trails were ok to ride but they were outlaw trails. One of our guys asked "Ok I am a dumbass so explain to me if these are legal or illegal trails" Their response was that hey are legal since they were not gated but it is frowned upon to ride them. Maybe I am becoming a prude in my old age but that sounds like the Forest Service has not approved these trails for Motor Vehicle Use so we opted not to ride them.

After this section we went up to Lakes End Diner for lunch and were foiled on our return route due to a series of FS road closures. So we diverted to Tathum Gap road and decided to run the Dragon on our way home. No surprises from the 244's on the Dragon - very smooth and no surpises (unlike the XCMS which can get a bit squirrely when you start to lean it over and push hard)

The next morning I aired the tires up to 30 PSI and took and interesting paved route to Two Wheels of Suches for lunch and then jumped on the Interstate for the remaining 100 miles home. I was actually a bit shocked on how well the WRR did on the the Interstate and again there were no issues with the 244's.

I did not see much wear on the tires and I think I will be leaving those on the bike for my commuting and sometimes DS tire.

Love the Tellico area and cannot wait to get down there with my WR.....Kyle from the Tellico Farmhouse Inn is a great guy, great rider and we had a blast with him during the March Moto madness this year (still had my KLR unfortunately). :)

Glad to hear those tires work well for you!

rsteiger wrote:

So after realizing I had a bunch of points at RMATV I decided to order a set of 244's

What sizes did you order? I can't seem to get a straight answer out of the conversion tables that I've found...

Thanks

Plebeian wrote:

rsteiger wrote:

So after realizing I had a bunch of points at RMATV I decided to order a set of 244's

What sizes did you order? I can't seem to get a straight answer out of the conversion tables that I've found...

Thanks

For the front I went with the 3.00x21 and the rear is a 4.60x18.  They also have a 5.10x18 which may fit (I use to run that on my DR650) but since this is a 250 I went with the smaller 4.60.

The sizes are pretty easy to figure out without a table.  18 and 21 refers to the wheel size and the the 3.00, 4.60. or 5.10 is the width of the tire in inches.

In metric you get a bit more info.  120/80-18 is for an 18" wheel and the tire is 120mm wide (4.72") and 96mm tall (80% of 120mm or 3.78").

Thanks for the info! I am looking at these and the IRC TR8s. Sounds like the 4.0 size in the rear is their recommendation for a 120 match. They have a 4.6 as well, but that matches to a 130...

Plebeian wrote:

Thanks for the info! I am looking at these and the IRC TR8s. Sounds like the 4.0 size in the rear is their recommendation for a 120 match. They have a 4.6 as well, but that matches to a 130...

I have tried the TR8's as well.

In my opinion they are a good tire but probably a bit more dirt orientated than the Shinko 244's.

I really like the rear TR8 but was lukewarm towards the front tire. I think an MT16 or XCMS front tire with a TR8 rear tire would be a pretty nice dirt biased setup.

rsteiger wrote:

I really like the rear TR8 but was lukewarm towards the front tire.  I think an MT16 or XCMS front tire with a TR8 rear tire would be a pretty nice dirt biased setup.

Yeah... I'm in that perfect "unicorn" spot. I don't ride really aggressive on the street, so would prefer a performance edge for the dirt. That said, I spend a lot more time on the street. So, a soft, aggressive, dirt-biased tire will mean lots of tire iron action for me. Offroad performance is more important to me, but reality has me spending many more miles on pavement.

Performance/control is more important to me than longevity, but it would be nice to find something that wears in the D606 range. I also like the 606's availability and "staying power", just don't like the height and weight.

I am hoping to stick with one "pretty good" option over the long haul and learn to ride with those tires' limitations, rather than try to find the "perfect" tire and always be learning new limitations. Any DS tire is going to fail at something... as long as those failures are consistent and predictable, you can make them work...

I also like the tradeoffs of the T63. But, again, it appears that the fronts are universally disliked. Lots of MT21s matched with that rear...
What's up with manufacturers nailing the rears, but blowing it on the fronts? Or, are the mismatches just a result of riders going with a little more off road control (softer, more aggressive) on the front, and better longevity on the rears. I like the idea of finding a matched set to stick with, but maybe it will have to be a mixed solution.

Plebeian wrote:

rsteiger wrote:

I really like the rear TR8 but was lukewarm towards the front tire.  I think an MT16 or XCMS front tire with a TR8 rear tire would be a pretty nice dirt biased setup.

Yeah... I'm in that perfect "unicorn" spot. I don't ride really aggressive on the street, so would prefer a performance edge for the dirt. That said, I spend a lot more time on the street. So, a soft, aggressive, dirt-biased tire will mean lots of tire iron action for me. Offroad performance is more important to me, but reality has me spending many more miles on pavement.

Performance/control is more important to me than longevity, but it would be nice to find something that wears in the D606 range. I also like the 606's availability and "staying power", just don't like the height and weight.

I am hoping to stick with one "pretty good" option over the long haul and learn to ride with those tires' limitations, rather than try to find the "perfect" tire and always be learning new limitations. Any DS tire is going to fail at something... as long as those failures are consistent and predictable, you can make them work...

I also like the tradeoffs of the T63. But, again, it appears that the fronts are universally disliked. Lots of MT21s matched with that rear...
What's up with manufacturers nailing the rears, but blowing it on the fronts? Or, are the mismatches just a result of riders going with a little more off road control (softer, more aggressive) on the front, and better longevity on the rears. I like the idea of finding a matched set to stick with, but maybe it will have to be a mixed solution.

I suspect some of this boils down to how the bike is setup and what you have experienced before.

I know for dirt I use to run a XCMH on the front all the time and as very happy with it. But then one day I found out the XCMS was DOT rated and gave it a shot and what a difference on the trails.

Some of my friends run the D606 front and are very happy with it while others go with the MT21 or MT16.

A friend of mine just came off the TR8 rear on his WRR and is now running a D606. His initial review after our three day ride last weekend is that he is probably going back to the TR8 rear (btw he is running a MT16 front but is a maniac on the street and is using two fronts for one rear - he really grabs a lot of front brake which chews up the knobs on the front pretty good).

rsteiger wrote:

I suspect some of this boils down to how the bike is setup and what you have experienced before.

I'm a total noob, still riding the Trailwings, which I find to be just fine on the street...

I get the feeling that I am going to be pretty easy on tires. I take it easy on the street, and don't feel like I use the front brake a whole lot. Lots of generous spacing and downshifting whenever possible. I actually use the rear brake a fair amount. Lots of BMX and mountain biking has me surprisingly comfortable whenever I've locked up the rear.

I haven't gotten off the pavement yet but that is why I bought the bike and I'm going to lean a little towards performance there for now. For that reason, I think I am going to try the TR8s or T63s before the 244s.

Thanks for all of the info...

I have two dual-sport bikes, I have the 244's on my DRZ and the T8's on my WR250.
I like the Shinko's on the highway, the T8's are also good on the pavement.
Here in Colorado where I ride it's decomposed granite which is small gravel mixed with sand.
The T8's hold well on this, the 244's are not great, the front wants to wash-out.
I'll change the DRZ's front to a T8 in the spring, that will be a great combo.