Something harder wearing than a Dunlop D606

Hey Guys,

I'm looking for something a little harder wearing and more road capable than the D606, without sacrificing too much off-road capability. Looking around, it seems anything harder wearing sacrifices off-road performance a lot. So what's the next step down from the D606?

Cheers

wardrop wrote:

Hey Guys,

I'm looking for something a little harder wearing and more road capable than the D606, without sacrificing too much off-road capability. Looking around, it seems anything harder wearing sacrifices off-road performance a lot. So what's the next step down from the D606?

Cheers

Actually I think if you go too hard you will lose the DOT rating. Most of your knobbie tires that are meant for soft soil conditions are made with harder rubber compounds and typically are not street legal. They do tend to work ok on the road when it is dry but once the pavement gets wet it is like riding on ice.

To get longer wearing and not lose the DOT rating most of the time you have to increase the amount of rubber contacting the road which sort of hurts you on lose soil or mud.

The D606 is probably one of the best compromises out there when it comes to both dirt and pavement performance. You could try a TR8 but I don't think that would last as long.

Another option would be to stick with a fairly aggressive front tire (MT16, XCMS) that is street legal and go with something more street orientated on the rear (Shinko 244). In my experience having a front tire that will bite in the lose stuff is far more important than having that same performance in the rear so you may be able to sacrifice the rear performance a bit. I am also assuming you are wearing out your rear tire faster than the front which is what usually happens with me.

Another option is a second set of wheels. One will have more street orientated tires on it and the other the dirt orientated tires... but that can be a pain in the ass too.

Right now for me I am running a XCMS front tire and a TR8 rear.

Try the motoz tractionator desert ht.
It has very deep tread but its closer together than the d606 tread so it last longer, I'd say these motoz are half way between a d606 and a shinko 244 offroad traction wise.
I'm planning on running one on the rear of the wrr next but I have a couple of 1/2 used tires to use up first, I'm sticking with more aggressive front tires tho like a xcmh or kenda Washougal or motoz enduro it.

The MT43 wears a lot longer than the D606 in my experience. It also has better offroad performance. It works really well on the pavement too, but it feels squirmy which takes getting used to.

The lastest tire I'm trying is the Michelin T63. Mainly because it's cheaper.

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated. Thanks rsteiger for the info regarding DOT approval and harder tread blocks too.

So as a general rule, the wider the spacing between tread blocks, the faster wearing it is on the road? Makes sense.

For the Motoz Tractionator Desert, would the 130/90-18 or 110/100-18 be the best fit for the WR250R?

Would the Dunlop D603 be worth considering? It's Dunlop's next step down from the D606 from the looks of it. They say 30/70 (road/dirt) which seems close to the ratio I ride, though 20/80 would probably be even better. The D606 I believe was designed with 10/90 in mind.

Pirelli Scorpion Rally also looks to be a harder wearing option.

I run 110/100 or 100/100's if I can get em, not all tires come in the smaller 100/100 size, if you get a motoz get the 110.
The WR250R doesn't have a lot of power so wasting some of it running a large rear tire doesn't help the bike preform better at all, the 120's and 130's are for hopped up 450's and 690's IMO.
I found the bike corners much better with the smaller rear tires and still has tons of grip for getting up and through nasty sections in the trails.

Biglake wrote:

I run 110/100 or 100/100's if I can get em, not all tires come in the smaller 100/100 size, if you get a motoz get the 110.
The WR250R doesn't have a lot of power so wasting some of it running a large rear tire doesn't help the bike preform better at all, the 120's and 130's are for hopped up 450's and 690's IMO.
I found the bike corners much better with the smaller rear tires and still has tons of grip for getting up and through nasty sections in the trails.

+1 on the size.

I run 110/100 on the rear of the bike.

I would say if you want to try a different tire make up a list. Keep an eye out for sales and when you see a good deal pick up a tire on the list and give it a shot. Generally speaking, you will get recommendations all over the map and will find most of them won't work out for you. Why? Well it isn't due to the fact that the people recommending the tire don't know what they are talking about. But rather, they are not riding your ride which makes a big difference - where, how, and how long you ride can make a big difference in tire selection.

From my experience it is hard to beat a D606 rear tire for an all around good DS tire. But with most of the riding I do I find an XCMH rear works out a lot better for me but then again I am not spending a lot of time on pavement and the life span of the XCMH is pretty short when compared to the D606. But it works for me.

So far for the money (79 bucks) i really like the T63's....no idea how long they will last yet though. They perform very well though.....

wardrop wrote:

So as a general rule, the wider the spacing between tread blocks, the faster wearing it is on the road? Makes sense.

Not necessarily; it also depends on the tread compound.

The general rule is that wider spacing and softer compounds wear faster, both on-and off-road.

If the compound is made too hard (or if the spacing is too wide), the knobs will start chunking on asphalt.

Guys swear by the Maxxis Desert IT, but not sure if wears longer than the D606 though. Even my stock Trailwings don't seem to be wearing much better than my D606 did. I think most decent offroad performing tires won't last past 1500-2000 miles. I think the trick is just finding an affordable tire to get more bang for your buck...

I had the same idea to try and get a bit longer life on the rear tire. So I am tryin out an MT21 on front and a Kenda K270 on the rear. I have read reviews that the K270 gets longer life because the rubber is a bit harder. But folks give warning to watch out for wet pavement. I rode Big Ben Ranch State Park with this these tires. Traction was fine.

I've bit the bullet on the D603 and will see how they go!

I see only one member here mentioning a Trials tire (Pirelli MT43 I believe). Unless you ride mostly MUD off road, I've found Trials tires work better than any knobby I've ever used. Run low pressures and you can climb just about anything. They also wear really well ... outlasting by double your typical knobby or something like the D606.

On pavement they seem to hardly wear out at all. I got two seasons out of my MT-43 riding my former WR250F. Wow! what a difference from previous knobby rear tires.

In my experience, the D606 was mediocre at best in terms of performance both ON and OFF road. Also, the D606 is quite expensive at around $90 USD. I used D606 on XR650L and DR650. Not impressed riding Moab, Sierra and Baja. Back then I followed the herd as many were still using D606. Sub standard tire IMHO.

Also, a good compromise tire that works surprisingly well off road is the Kenda K270 50/50 tire. At around $65 bucs, very hard to beat. I put 6K miles on one on my
heavily loaded DR650 riding Mexico, Baja. Only about 1500 miles were off road, sand, serious rock in Baja. Pleasantly surprised with the Kenda 270. I rode highway
at 70 MPH for days and lots of Baja sand and rock. The cheapo Kenda did great ... but VERY hard to break the bead if you get a flat on the trail.  

I've also used the TR-8 and Michelin T63. T63 is bargain priced, works well, wears fairly well ... and, IMO, is better than the D606 regards handling. Wear about the same as D606. (not great)

I'm now shopping for a WR250R after a few IMPRESSIVE test rides. First choice rear tire for me will be a Trials tire. Only question I have about using this tire on the little WR is tire HEIGHT and WIDTH. Some Trials tires are limited in sizes, many very TALL.

Anyone tried this tire?
https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p/4286/64933/Shinko-R505-Hybrid-Cheater-Tire

The Pirelli MT-43 made my WR250F quite a bit TALLER. (taller sidewall) It's also WIDER ...(400-18). But now I see more size choice with some brands like the Hybrid Shinko link listed above. It comes in a 110-18. Some below offer the same or offer a 120-18.

Also, check out these tires:
https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p/4286/52136/Motoz-Mountain-Hybrid-Rear-Tire
https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p/4286/31676/Shinko-Trail-Pro-255-Radial-Trials-Tire
https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p/4286/55309/Dunlop-D803GP-Trials-Tire

The shinko cheater is soft and sticky, its works very well but doesn't last long at all.
The shinko trail pro and Dunlop 803 trials tires are very soft flexible trials tires that wont hold up for long or corner worth a dam on a 300lbs dual sport, google some reviews of them, they spit the knobs off when you ride down the road at high speed. These tires may look like a Pirelli mt43 but the mt43 is way stiffer and tougher for use on a dirt bike or dual sport. I tried a mt43 once, if I didn't ride on muddy grass a bit I'd have kept it, its horrible on our local scramble courses and in a few spots I ride but if all your riding in is rocks and dry dirt, its great.

The motoz mountain hybrid is worth a try, based on reviews its a better long lasting dual sport tire than hybrid dirt tire. Its a hard long lasting compound and pretty stiff too, the 110 size would fit the wrr ok. The 120 physical fits but it's a huge heavy tire which is not something you want on a little 250.

CB emeritus wrote:

The Pirelli MT-43 made my WR250F quite a bit TALLER. (taller sidewall) It's also WIDER ...(400-18).

The MT-43 fits the WRR; it is a very tall tyre though, expect seat height to go up at least half an inch.

BTW, I did not like how the MT-43 cornered on asphalt, so I removed it; trial tyres are not made for cornering, so plan wisely.

I have run the 606 tires for most of the 38k on my WRR. I get between 4 to 5k miles on them riding in Connecticut Riding about 50/50 dirt/street. I think the 606 handles pretty well on street and off-road. I recently put at set of shinko 244 on So far so good I have lost a little traction off road But they seem to handle a little better on road. I came very close to going with the MT-43. But the fact that they are taller stopped me. That was my only complaint about the 606, they are a little bigger than stock. If the WRR had more power,it wouldn't make a difference. I wish they made a 350 or 450 WRR. But that's a whole different subject. Just my 2 cents.