Testing Shinko 505 Hybrid "Cheater" w/ MX-216 Fat Tire Front

fascinating...

I am interested to hear what sort of mileage you get from these since I also commute on my WR250R from time to time.  Right now I have two sets of wheels and one set is for mostly offroad riding (XCMS front and XCMH Rear).  My daily use wheels have a MT43 rear and a MT16 front.

Are they DOT approved?

rsteiger wrote:

fascinating...

I am interested to hear what sort of mileage you get from these since I also commute on my WR250R from time to time.  Right now I have two sets of wheels and one set is for mostly offroad riding (XCMS front and XCMH Rear).  My daily use wheels have a MT43 rear and a MT16 front.

Are they DOT approved?

They are DOT approved- I double checked with a Shinko factory rep.  The rear tire has a "hard" and a "soft" compound version.  The soft compound says "not for highway use" on it.  I got it anyway.  The deal with that is if you are running a heavy bike for long distances and high speeds in the heat- the soft compound can heat up, get soft, and wear quickly.  Our bikes are light, and I don't spend much time on freeways- maybe 10 miles during a commute.  if you get the hard compound it's a non-issue.

The Shinko rep told me of a lot of big D/S bikes running this rear and front without issue.  I told the rep their site didn't list them as DOT, and he said he would get the DOT specs added- didn't realize the spec was left off the site.

I've ran 90/100-21 fronts on other bikes and I love them for the desert. I just put a 90/100 GT216 Fatty front the WR and so far it's been awesome. I've had great results with Golden Tyre so far.

Having said that, I've been wanting to try one of the Shinko 90/100's because they're half the cost of a Golden. I was also told that the Shinko is made from the same mold as the GT216 and it's identical.

I've been looking the 120/100-18 for the rear so I'm really interested on how it performs for you. I think hybrids are where it's at. I have a Maxxis 7320 going on this week but it's softer than I wanted to run. However, it's $30 cheaper than the Motoz Extreme Hybrid that I was eyeing.

Jerry

The Shinko and the Golden Tyre look pretty close to one another.

My 2016 Beta 300 Xtrainer came from the factory with Golden Tyre GT216 rear and 80/100 front tire.  I liked them both but two things became quickly apparent to me: 1) I wanted to try a 90/100 front tire at low pressure with Tubliss for steep technical trail riding, and 2) Goldentyre tires are crazy expensive.

So last season I switched my Beta to Shinko 505 Cheater rear tire and Shinko 546 90/100 front, both running Tubliss at 6 psi.  I love the performance of both of these tires and plan to continue with the same next season.  The great thing about the 505 Cheater is the crazy hookup in firm terrain when combining the soft "sticky" rubber compound with the low tire pressure of the Tubliss system.  The downside is that the soft rubber wears a faster than a typical dirt tire.

I wouldn't put the 505 Cheater rear tire on my WRR, or any other bike seeing signifigant highway or hardpack dirt road use, especially at high speeds that might lead to faster tread wear.  The first one on my Beta lasted for 39 hours ride time and the second one is currently at 41 hours and only has a few more hours left in it at best. (Sorry, I don't know how many miles that is.  But is was almost exclusively in rocky SW Idaho volcanic desert and gnarly mountain single-track.)

Below are a couple of photos of the Shinkos on my Beta.





These tires are amazing in the rocks though!

That's pretty rad, I wanted a Xtrainer but you almost need a plate in California these days, hence the WR.

I think I'm sending my hubs to Dubya this month to have them build me an A60 wheelset, I thought of going the Tubliss route to finish them off.

Just found this cool comparison.

darngood1 wrote:

I am testing 2 new Shinko tires on my WRR that I haven't seen many review yet.  I have 25 miles on them now.  I will update the post with new photos and editorial at around 500 miles.  FYI: I commute 30-40 minutes per day on my WRR, and get into mix of desert and mountain trails whenever I can.  These are aggressive tires for D/S, but we will see how they perform as a 90/10 or 80/20 type tire.  Running on stock rims, added rim locks, heavy duty tubes.

Rear Tire Info Link
The rear is a Shinko 505 Hybrid "Cheater", 120/100-18, in the soft compound selection.  Load rating 68, higher than stock. Shinko makes this tire in soft or hard compound.  Both are DOT, but the soft variation says "not for highway use".  For those of us who ride 90/10 or 80/20 off/on road, and use the roads for short commutes or just to get to the woods, the soft or the hard compound are both fine.  This tire reminds me of the D606 in it's approach, but maybe a little more pliable across the top of the carcass.  It will flex more over rocks and roots and increase your footprint.  Air up for the road, down for the trail and you have one hell of a tire- and it's very affordable.  My initial impression is pure joy.  Traction is 10/10 and no wobbles or vibration at any speed so far on the road.  Have not had them on wet pavement yet.


Front Tire Info Link
The front tire is Shinko's MX-216 "Fat Tire" in 90/100-21.  Load rating 57, higher than stock. I definitely need more time off road with these and will report back later.  So far seems excellent.  On the road I had no vibration or wobble over 5mph.  As expected on an aggressive front, I could feel the lugs just a little coming to the end of a stop on pavement.  Being a wider, bigger tire for the stock rim, it took some work to spoon it on, but the increased footprint will be well worth the extra few minutes.


-Another note about this setup is they are both taller than stock, and I feel like the bike raised an inch or so.  Good news is both are similarly taller, so no fork height adjustment was needed.

It looks like a great off road tires, I like kenda and shinko tires you get the most bang for the $$$. I have kenda washougl 90 100 21 and trackmaster 2 110 100 18 both are dot but they dont last long on the black top, been through a lot of differant knobby on the street they just dont hold up. I have to ride 15mi befor I hit dirt now im running 50/50 tires mt21 front and k270 rear, carry a air pump just air down 11lb for the dirt and 20+lb for the hard top seems the be the best for both worlds

I just put a Shinko 505 in the hard rubber. on the back of my WR. I was running a T63. And was happy with it. But could not find them anymore? I have not tested it out yet.

Oh yeah. I am running a 606 on the front. That is about half gone. And I have liked it so far.

How's the 505 holding up? I think it's next in my queue.

Jerry S wrote:

How's the 505 holding up? I think it's next in my queue.

I haven't gotten a whole lotta riding in because it's been off/on snow and rain in Idaho. There's been a few good riding days, and what I'm seeing from the 505 rear tire is that it's very soft, so I like it and it holds up fine for the trail riding I do. It's kinda like a trials/trail tire. Seems to me that if you ride the road much or spin the tire a lot in rocky terrain it's going to wear down very fast and/or chunk off because it's so soft. The riding I've done so far has been wet, some mud and wet gravel mix, and some roots. It's been a beautiful tire for all that.

If I buy it again, I will get the harder compound though because I want it to handle better when I commute to work or to the trails. They make it in 2 compounds now, and I'm guessing the harder compound version will handle and wear more like a D606 than like a soft trials tire.

wwguy wrote:

My 2016 Beta 300 Xtrainer came from the factory with Golden Tyre GT216 rear and 80/100 front tire.  I liked them both but two things became quickly apparent to me: 1) I wanted to try a 90/100 front tire at low pressure with Tubliss for steep technical trail riding, and 2) Goldentyre tires are crazy expensive.

So last season I switched my Beta to Shinko 505 Cheater rear tire and Shinko 546 90/100 front, both running Tubliss at 6 psi.  I love the performance of both of these tires and plan to continue with the same next season.  The great thing about the 505 Cheater is the crazy hookup in firm terrain when combining the soft "sticky" rubber compound with the low tire pressure of the Tubliss system.  The downside is that the soft rubber wears a faster than a typical dirt tire.

I wouldn't put the 505 Cheater rear tire on my WRR, or any other bike seeing signifigant highway or hardpack dirt road use, especially at high speeds that might lead to faster tread wear.  The first one on my Beta lasted for 39 hours ride time and the second one is currently at 41 hours and only has a few more hours left in it at best. (Sorry, I don't know how many miles that is.  But is was almost exclusively in rocky SW Idaho volcanic desert and gnarly mountain single-track.)

Below are a couple of photos of the Shinkos on my Beta.





These tires are amazing in the rocks though!

I just put a deposit on a 2018 Beta 300rr. Pretty stoked, been wanting one for a while.

Jerry S wrote:

I just put a deposit on a 2018 Beta 300rr. Pretty stoked, been wanting one for a while.

Congratulations, they're a blast to ride!

Here are a couple of forums that'll help you learn and answer any questions as you get to know the new bike better:
http://www.betarider.org/forum/
https://thumpertalk.com/forums/forum/353-beta/

There are also several Facebook groups dedicated to Beta bikes.

Thanks for the links!

I've been wondering about a few things like range, oil...

Looks like the Beta forum is good to go!

Float adjustments for improved mileage, look legit.

Jerry

My wife has pretty much taken my WR for herself so I swapped some tires to lower the height a little. Mounted the Shinko MX216 80/100-21 in the front. Great tire for $52