Best "50/50" tires in your experience for our WR250R

I have a new wrr that I bought in the spring. Right away I switched out the stock tires to D606's. I haven't been overly impressed with them like I expected to be from all the rave reviews on the net. They are at 2000 miles and already need to be changed. The front wore really unevenly, cupped really bad, I'm guessing from braking on street. My last ride was 150 miles all road and the tires, mostly front, were vibrating so bad I had to adjust my suspension softer and don't want to ride with these tires again.

I ride more street than dirt, so I don't want another 90% dirt tire. I still have my stock tires, so I'm going to toss them back on again. But I'm still considering my options for a more dirt-worthy 50/50 tire in case I don't like these and want to switch them right soon. I've been looking at tires like the Mefo Explorer, Mitas E07, Motoz Extreme Hybrid and Heidenau K60 Scout to give you an idea of what I'm considering. I'm looking for more of an adv or trials tread pattern, so it's better on the road, but still decent on dirt. I usually hit dirt roads, forest roads, and the occasional desert trip as far as my offroading goes, nothing crazy. I had some Kenda K270's on my last bike and those were the worst and scariest dual sport tires ever, felt like I hit ice anytime I touched the dirt, I stay away from any tire that resembles the K270 tread pattern. I am in SoCal, so mostly desert terrain is hit when offroad, even the forest roads out here are dirt and rock, very little 'foresty' roads with mud/roots/etc.

So basically I'm looking for:
-good road handing and quiet-ish
-long wear, 5k+ would be nice
-reliable brand/model with no chunking or other abnormal wearing or deteriation
-matching front/rear, seems like some tires only come in a rear like Motoz Extreme Hybrid
-ability to handle dirt/gravel/forest roads without feeling like I'm on ice
-affordable, unless there isn't a 'cheap' option for my standards, I realize you get what you pay for and if a tire lasts 5-10k and offers great performance, then it's worth spending $100+ to me, I only ride about 3k a year.

Thanks!

The stock tires are exactly what you are looking for.
Good on pavement and good on dirt as long as it's not muddy.

I gotta disagree with eram. I found the stock tires ok for the road at best. They are fine on dry pavement and dry dirt, but if it gets wet (road or dirt) they suck. Also the front wear pattern was horrible on mine (too much road use I guess).

I have since switched to the heidenau K60s. I get about 10k km from the rear. The front will last ages. I changed my last front after almost 30k km mostly because I don't like having an old tire. there was still about 30% or so of thread on the front! no weird wear pattern either (but some squaring off, which is inevitable doing a lot of commuting with few corners). I think the tire is designed with a lot heavier bikes in mind, with more weight on the front, so that's why the front lasts ages

For the dirt I also found them an improvement compared to the stock deathwings. they do really well in rocky stuff. As is to be expected with the thread pattern, you should avoid deep mud, and be careful on wet grass. Any other terrain is no problem. I do get some instability at high speed riding in small/medium gravel roads (speeds of 90+ km/h). Keep the speed below that and they feel solid (although maybe playing around with the pressure could cure the high speed gravel problem).

I haven't tried other 50/50 tires as I am happy with the K60s so cannot compare. Have had them on now since I removed the stock ones. Maybe someone here has tried more options and can compare better. But the K60 is certainly a good 50/50 tire (as long as you stay away from mud )

Mitas E-07 's would be a great tire for your needs and they will last forever on a WR. I used them on my Tiger 800 and I was very impressed by them in all aspects.

I liked the TR8's a whole lot better than the stock tires. The front wore really well. Not a sand use tire, but it worked in the terrain around here pretty well. The rear wore evenly, but I can see it being about a 3000 mile tire if ridden sanely. It's actually very good for dirt traction. The front would have gone a whole lot longer I'm pretty sure. I swapped to Kenda Parker DT's for more of an offroad bias. Surprisingly, they do quite well on the street, but they are definitely an aggressive DOT tire. I can't see them lasting on pavement very well.

I run full knobbies for 50/50. Love them in the dirt, and they're fine on the street. No specifik brand, but pretty sure I have michelin S12 XC spooned on right now.

CRFan1 wrote:

Mitas E-07 's would be a great tire for your needs and they will last forever on a WR.  I used them on my Tiger 800 and I was very impressed by them in all aspects.

I think you're right, they seem to get better reviews than the K60's for traction, but get less mileage. Think I might have to step up to these if the stockies prove terrible or just when they wear out. Revzilla has chosen it as a top tire a few years in a row, so that give the E-07 a lot of credibility too https://youtu.be/-pfpgMW-JhY. Thanks!

after chewing up 3 sets of Pirelli MT21 on the street I bought a set of used wheels w/rotors for 300 bucks and a set of Kenda K761 Dual Sport tires. Now my knobbies are fresh every time I do some aggressive dirt riding. takes less then ten min to change them.

for the price of two sets of Knobbies I have a extra set of wheels for the street

Wow, good deal.

Von551 wrote:

CRFan1 wrote:

Mitas E-07 's would be a great tire for your needs and they will last forever on a WR.  I used them on my Tiger 800 and I was very impressed by them in all aspects.

I think you're right, they seem to get better reviews than the K60's for traction, but get less mileage. Think I might have to step up to these if the stockies prove terrible or just when they wear out. Revzilla has chosen it as a top tire a few years in a row, so that give the E-07 a lot of credibility too https://youtu.be/-pfpgMW-JhY. Thanks!

You are welcome! As an aside, my good friend has them on his Tenere and they are still good after 12K miles and a trip to Alaska, hehe. He was a die hard Heidenau K60 guy but now he loves the E-07's because they get better traction all around.

So far so good on the stock Trailwing tires. I've done a few hundred miles on them and they seem as capable as the Dunlop 606 tires... as long as I air them down 5psi. At full psi they seem a little sketchy on loose dirt, but aired down that goes away.

The trailwings which came straight from the factory did a pretty ok job for my recently finished trip. Rode on motorway at full throttle, turned off and went on gravel roads. Went on twisties super moto style. They did it all astonishingly well.

That said, keep the pressure rather at the lower limit. Worked well for me.

Definately no recommendation for rough terrain though.

/rapete

I am also considering the same tires! which ones did you go for? cheers

Bumping this up.

I just picked up a 2010 WR with 400 original miles and have replaced everything consumable on it to get back to a “ready to go” state except the tires. The 10 year old TWs look fine, they still are fairly soft, but riding 10 year old tires down the highway are not a risk I’m wanting to take.  

So I’m a 50/50 rider, probably more 70% street and 30% dirt, but I don’t want the tires to be too sketchy off road and from past DS experience 50/50 seems that sweet spot where they aren’t too awful off road but aren’t squirrelly on the road. And this will be my dirt bike, though pretty much a light trail, gravel road kinda dirt bike for now. I’ve been riding over 40 years and I know how to ride within a tires limitations if needed, I’ve just not had a DS for 5 or more years and am not sure the good tires now.

I’ve used T63s, someone earlier showed some Kenda 761s which I had on a KLR at one point, those were both were ok but pretty street focused, so I’d maybe like a little more dirt traction. Then research yesterday showed the Mefo Explorer might have been the one until it got discontinued recently.  

Questions:
- On M21/D606 combo which everyone still seems to love, will they last on the road and not be too squirmy? I like to corner a bit, I’ve got street bikes for the serious curves, but I will be riding the bike to and from work at times.

- The stock tires seem ok for what I’m currently doing but are there better options?

- Anything else I should consider? I’m not too worried about price as long as the work great.

Edit: I guess what I’m asking is are there better, newer options for dual sport tires than there were 5-10 years ago when I had my last DS? Looking around I see the T63, K270, D606, and the like still out there. And the TW new is the same TW that came on the bike in 08. That seems strange to me.

Thanks!!!

I run full on knobbies for 50/50 riding, because i want the tires to perform when i hit the fun stuff.
"Everything" works on a dry road, and you can still push the bike quite hard if you want to.

Sure, you need to replace them a bit more often, but a crash where you brake parts or yourself is way more expensive than changing a set of tires more a year.

I know this isnt for all, but it works for me. Having said that, a d606 is pretty popular, and the rear looks like a decent threadpattern for what you want.

I'm about on the same page as Jens. I'd run T63's but I think they're about discontinued, don't see them in WR sizes. Went with a 606 the last rear change, will likely stick with them.
Can't get any mileage out of a front either (haven't tried a 606 there yet). Would using the rear brake on the street help?

The M21/D606 combo IMO is fantastic. I can see @Jens' point for a full knobby but for me the D606 feels like a full knobby, I've never needed more. I would say if you're riding this bike at the limits of its off-road capabilities (I think @Jens races enduros with his and @wwguy takes this bike about to the limits) then you have to think about the bike in different terms. I have a WT250F for that stuff. I ride this bike as dual sport, with an emphasis on off-road and fairly technical, but I'm also connecting trails on tarmac and at times have to do long runs on tarmac. Take that for what it's worth.

At the same time, as Jens says, going too far the other way can have consequences. I just returned from Utah where I was riding the BDR. Some time back I decided to try the Motoz Mountain Hybrid Gummy rear instead of the D606. It was great locally (California), it was indeed "sticky". But in Utah I had two rear flats on the same day. Those were my first flats since buying the bike two years ago. I suspect the sidewalls weren't as rigid as the D606 but not sure. Lots of serous rocks but no more so than my rides in California or doing the New Mexico BDR last year. I also noticed this tire struggled in deep sand, where the D606 didn't blink.

In Utah I had to hit a bike shop and get the tire replaced. The best tire they had was a 120/80x18 MT21 rear. I was hesitant to go with a 80x18 and I'd seen the MT21 not well reviewed for the read (front seems to get good reviews and I like it). I rode three days and over 400 miles on it, with my full luggage for camping, etc., and was really pleased. Again, not fully knobby but designed for 80/20 or 70/30.

The main thing I'd say when reading all these tire threads is to identify with riders who you riding similar terrain to what you ride.

I use my 250r for "everything", a month ago I had a day with 650km tarmac.
Its kinda my mini adventure bike, but I tend to look for the small trails and challenging stuff when I can.

I have a wr450f for the endurostuff, but still take my 250r to many of the same places.

Just this weekend a friend hurt his leg when he couldnt get up a hill because of worn tires.
He had to call in sick from work for 2 days, and is still humping around.

As I said not for everyone, but worth a thought.

wear the stock tires first then try kenda k270 4.50 18 rear its cheap and long lasting, on the front I like kenda trackmaster ther under $100 for both tires, I have 2 sets of wheels one set has trackmaster front and k270 rear and other set has tubeliss with pirelli mxsm front and trackmaster rear and lately I only been switching the rear only tire because the front trackmaster is pretty good on the dirt

@paulie1960, I totally agree! the Kenda K270 is a great 50/50 tire in my opinion. I run the 4.50 and I run a Kenda Trackmaster K760 front. The K760 front is always spooned on. Here in East TN and Western NC Appalachian Mountains for the riding that my group does(mostly off road and gravel but paved connections) the K270 works awesome. I've had good luck with the Motoz Tractionater as well as the Trackmaster rear but nowhere near the wear. We ride a good bit of rocks and some slimy root filled hollows. The 270 doesn't like the slick stuff or mud but is perfectly acceptable at 15lbs of air. For under $100, you can't afford not to try them!

Kenda K270 rear with an MT21 front is a good combination also.

Fairly new to the WRR but have used the Sirac's in the past and they are great on the road and pretty good on gravel.
They will cake up pretty easy over wet trail due to the really small block thread. But if you are doing a lot more city/urban running compared to heading out to the trails, these are perfect.

Take winding roads with ease (as long as preload is adjusted), take gravel with equal amount of easy at a fairly good speed, will last more than 5000kms (they are known to be slow wearing tires).

More importantly, they do come available with a rear size that is pretty close to stock size as well.

Had them on for about 1500kms and very happy with their ability so far on gravel & some amount of dry dirt.