The Tire Thread

No worries. That II I had was bald and old after I thoroughly raped it. I know with some tires they go thru some changes like composition and tread pattern. Not sure if the II's were subject to that. I know the IRC's I had certainly did. I wanted to get a replacement set and when I went o the shop to order them, the damned tread had changed.

aaronhall555 wrote:

BPG, I'm assuming your rear tire size for the TRACK MASTER II K760 is 100/100-18?

SheWolf, just by the look of the tread pattern on the K760's looks like they would be exceptional in the mud. I'm still going to give this tire a try considering I'm off-road about 90% of the time and it's starting to dry up over here; I can't really pass up the price of $45 and a more off-road tire.

I run the 110/100 rear Trak Master II, but others have run the 100/100 just fine, and it is a bit lighter. FWIW, the 120/100 Trak Master is really massive (more like a 140 tire) and weighs a LOT more than the 110 or 100...

And yeah, the rear Trak Master rules in mud (and most other terrain). However, the front Trak Master isn't as great from the research I've read, so I went with a Dunlop D952 non-DOT multi-terrain tire up front. They're an excellent match for the rear Trak Master, and even w/ lots of road miles will outlast them about 1.5:1

DOT and the cops are getting real picky around here now with the use of non DOT rated tires.

ms. wolf, any more reviews of the mitas on the road? or how it is wearing?

Mitas are holding up like champions so far! Wear is exceptional, but have yet to ride them on wet pavement. Hardly any wear at all, just on the very edges of the inside blocks, but minimal, at best.

speaking of wear...

1000+ miles now on the Pirelli MT43.


Spankin new about a month ago


This pic, guestimating about 750 miles, all but about 50 are pavement, at 12psi.




Pros: GRIP. These are like velcro on pavement, loose gravel and hard pack dirt, rocks, roots, mud, you name it, its got grip. Haven't found any sand with it fwiw, not much sand where I ride normally though. COMFORT - partially because of the big squishy sidewall, partially because of the low low pressures, these have a really nice ride on the road and are very quiet. They're also very easy to mount.


Cons: Wear. Stock tread depth is supposed to be 14/32" according to the specs. The outermost knobs are at 13/32". The second row knobs are at 11-12/32". The center knobs are currently 8/32" tall, give or take a little. So call them effectively at 40-50% worn I guess? A lot of that wear is from running 15psi for a while I think, they really do work just fine at 12psi on the street and since I dropped pressures (about 500 miles ago) tread wear has become much more uniform...

I'll be putting them to a real test for traction at the end of the month when I go camping with some DAMN guys at Green Ridge State Forest for three days of mud, rocks, single track, ORV loops, and I'm sure a few motard friendly roads. It is very likely as of now that I'll be going with something else, especially since it appears that the price on these have gone up by about $8/tire to $73 while Dennis Kirk has the D606 for $54 and the K760 II for $38...

hello all first post here just thinking about some new tires for the wr. something a little more dirt worthy. I checked out the link to the mitas tires and they look good to me and the price looks good too. I noticed there is another DOT approved front tire on that site C-21 is the model number. wondering if anyone has seen or tried this one
thanks for all the reviews, it certainly makes deciding easier when you can get a few opinions before making the purchase.

The C-21 is ok, but it isn't all that good in the mud according to some Orange Koolaid riders who have them. They went to the ones I have.

ordered a set of the mitas tires to keep on hand, the price was right.
now I will just see if I can make it till the stockers are worn out or if I will be changing them as soon as I see the more aggressive ones.

one thing about those trailwings, they sure do keep you on your toes when riding off road


*** just as an update, got my mitas tires a while back and they sure look good, havent put them on the bike yet but they look more aggressive than some pure moto tires that I have had. hope they last a while when I put them on.

So, I recently purchased a WR250R and have maybe 900 miles on it. About 175 of that was on the street (120 of that being from one trip). But, it looks like my knobbies on the back tire are already starting to disappear!

I don't remember tires wearing out this fast back in the day when I was into motocross, so is the street really to blame that much? Or do the stock tires suck that bad? Or, both?

Also, just curious what is the best replacement tire for the WR 250R for offroad performance, yet still does okay on the street for those occasioanl commutes to a trailhead?

The most popular replaced tire is the Dunlop 606, so far. Great traction both on and off-road, and wear (at least for me ) was incredible. I'm trying the Mitas C16/17 StoneEaters right now (wore out the 606's after 7000) to see how they stand up to the 606. If you do decide to go with the 606, you won't be disappointed. Others are using Michelin AC 10's, Pirelli MT21's and Kenda Trakmaster II's. I'm missing a bunch here, but by far, from what I've seen, the 606 is the tire of choice for replacement. Not just with this bike, but with other makes of dual sports as well.

thanks SheWolf! I'm gonna look into that Dunlop 606 and may get it sooner than later.

I really must ride like a granny I now have 3400mi on a stock Trailwing with about 3/16" tread remaining in the center, and my riding is about 60% commuting, 30% fireroads/gravel, and 10% hard offroad. I guess I can't complain about getting that much out of the tire though...

I've used the stock trailwing (dead at ~4100 miles), 2 D606's (first lasted ~5500 miles, second was going strong at 3500 miles), a Kenda K761 (flat worn out under 2000 miles) and a MT43 (about 60% worn at 2100 miles). Best traction so far was with the MT43, with the D606 close behind and lasting at least 2x longer. I'll be trying out a Kenda K760 Trakmaster II in about a week, depending on how long it takes to get here and how itchy I feel to change tires (again).

got about 2500 miles on the stockers. 75/25 Dirt/Street. Probably could have gotten another 500 with street only.

Currently riding the Michelin T63s. Put about 4oo miles so far with 60/40 dirt/street and they are wearing well.

I put about 5400 miles on the stock deathwings,,the rear was bald in the middle,,I have the 606s and it was a huge improvement,,I wish I put them on sooner..the 606s have about 800 miles on them and they look good..

Just wondering if anyone has put on the Shinko 705's on their R, using the stock rims. They seem to get good reviews from the X folks.

Thanks for any input.

Yeah I don't know of many R riders running those, if any. Most of the R riders are running knobbies. Some have both R and X wheel sets, but the majority of R riders run knobbies because the 705's are too slippery in technical stuff that the knobs shine in.

SheWolf- I hear what you are saying about the knobbies, I am looking for a less agressive tire to commute during the week. I have read that some guys get a set of X wheels for the SM tires, maybe that is the best route to take. I am making the jump to two wheels after being an ATV rider for the better part of my life, and so far, I am digging it.

Thanks, Don

Hey no worries! That's pretty much what the R riders who have gone the SM/dirt route...going with the 17" wheel set and then swapping between the two.

dont437 wrote:

SheWolf- I hear what you are saying about the knobbies, I am looking for a less agressive tire to commute during the week. I have read that some guys get a set of X wheels for the SM tires, maybe that is the best route to take. I am making the jump to two wheels after being an ATV rider for the better part of my life, and so far, I am digging it.

Thanks, Don

try a set of pirelli mt-90 at's.

they work very good on the street, and handle everything but mud if you slow down.

3000 miles on a D606 Front and MT 43 rear (pics today)





5500-6000 miles on a front and rear D606*





*apparently SheWolf and I are the only people capable of getting that kind of mileage out of the dunlops.

Nice shots of the mileage wear Dave, thanks for posting up yours.

Skierd.... What pounds of pressure you running on the 606s for dirt/street?

Fronts works best at 15psi for me.

Rear, anything from 20 to 28 psi. Normally 25 for around town, 28 loaded up, 20 in really snotty stuff or when the tread got really worn and I needed more traction.