The Tire Thread

When I had mine I ran 18 on the rear and 21 on the front for tarmac.

SheWolf wrote:

When I had mine I ran 18 on the rear and 21 on the front for tarmac.

thanx x2.

I'm liking the T63s right now. Thinking i might try out the 606s next time around.

For mostly trail, a little street: I've had good luck with a rear Kenda Trak Master II.

Inexpensive (like 50 bucks, shipped), wears fairly well (I've had them last over 2K miles), handles great on the street. Off road, they crank through the mud like no other dual-sport tire available, and are very good in the rocks/roots/grass as well.

I know everyone loves the 606, but I never liked the (relatively) close lug spacing. While a 606 will fling mud better than a 50/50 tire, they gum up quickly w/ mud when it gets REALLY gooey. That's where the more aggresive design of the Trak Master has a significant advantage over the 606, IMHO. To get better wet off-road traction, you need to go non-DOT (see below)

FWIW, the FRONT Trak Master supposedly stinks. With that in mind, I've been liking the Dunlop D-952 up front - great wear & excellent on & off road traction. In fact, this week I'm also going to try a D952 rear, just to see how it compares to the rear Trak Master.

New shoes



Might be the easiest tire I've yet mounted. I literally walked the first bead on, then easily ironed the second. Beaded up nice and quick too. Won't be long before I get to give them a real test, going to ride the Durty Dabbers Dual Sport in PA next weekend (june 5-6). They look real gnarly so I hope they live up to their looks and net hype. Trying out 28psi in the rear to start... suggestions from the gallery? Oh yeah, starting tread depth of 20/32nds and 0 mileage at 3826.

Also took the time to grease my wheel bearings (http://www.wrrdualsport.com/tech-guide/maintenance/111-how-to-grease-your-wheel-bearings), one side was very low the other side had been contaminated with water. Bike has ~3800 miles (since late Jan) and has been under water and ridden in lots of rain and snow.

granite4brains wrote:

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?

My experience is that "knobbie" style tire wear is not linear. The knobs seem to wear fast for the first 20 to 30 percent of tread, then stabilize into a longer-wearing mode for the rest of their life. Saw the same thing with some agressive snow tires when I was a car mechanic. Don't know for sure, but I suspect that the deeper the tread, the more squirm and therefore more wear.

Getting ready to replace my stocker racing slicks after about 6800 miles with a pair of Michelin T63s. I think they might be just the right tire for my riding.

Getting ready for the durty dabbers dual sport this weekend, with my front D606 fading (~3100 miles) I decided to try a new front tire. This time, a IRC Volcanduro VE-39. Not DOT, but still speed rated to 80mph-ish, so we'll see how it does. I am not tossing the D606 yet as I know I can get another 1000 miles or so out of it and it still had pretty good traction on and off-road, I just wanted a fresh knob for the next two weekends (SJER dual sport next weekend, which is more or less on their enduro course). Decided on the VE-39 after reading a brief blurb on thumpertalk where our very own SheWolf said she used and liked them.










Mileage is 4103 on the bike, lets see how long this puppy lasts...

Oh, and I got a chance to play off-road with the trakmaster II on memorial day... woooo that sucker grips and rips! Went through some she-wolf mud like it wasn't there, and pulled me up a fairly snotty loose hill with ease. The knobs are just starting to round off a little, no noticeable wear yet.

I got decent wear on those; I had both front and rear. I'll be watching to see what you get on the R².

~250 miles of dirt rocks gravel rocks mud rocks pavement and more rocks on a IRC VE39, wore the hairs off and thats about it. :)



~500 on a trakmaster II, same but with about 250 miles of pure pavement, worn down to 14/32nds


Because of the rocks I was hesitant to run less than 15psi on either end.... turns out 15psi worked great on both tires. Any higher and either was just awful and bouncing me all over the place on the trails with no traction or control. I could steer through just about everything from deep mud to loose rocks with whoops and ledges with the IRC and it seems to have barely worn at all. I missed the trials tire badly on the first day, bad technique coupled with an tire not in its happy spot cause two crashes and numerous brown moments throughout the day. At 15psi it just hooked and went (and at least part of it was becoming more comfortable with the tire along with rain causing the terrain to turn to loam and mud from hard pack and rocks).

I'm in the middle of trying to plan a 4000+ mile trip. Are there any more streetable tires that will last that long? I was thinking about trying the Kenda K671's, but saw that Skierd only got a couple thousand miles out of them. That won't work.

I could just put on a new set of 606's for the trip since I know they'll make the mileage, but I was kind of hoping for something a little more street oriented since pretty much this whole trip will be on asphalt.

I'm headed to Newfoundland-Labrador next month on a set of T63's. I ran those over 4,000 miles on my XT out to Moab last year and still had good tread when we got home. Hope they work as well on the WR.

Sarah

I really want something even more street oriented than that. I'm thinking about trying the Shinko 705's now that I've been doing some research. Seems people are getting really good mileage out of them.

Eh, n/m. I just did some re-routing for my trip and it's turning out to be less than 4k miles and I might wind up near some decent trails, so I'll just put on a new set of 606's before I head out. I know they'll last that long and they will be a hell of a lot better in the dirt than "street" tires if I can squeeze in some trail time, which I'm pretty sure I'll be able to do.

greer wrote:

I'm headed to Newfoundland-Labrador next month on a set of T63's. I ran those over 4,000 miles on my XT out to Moab last year and still had good tread when we got home. Hope they work as well on the WR.

Sarah

So far so good on mine. i have about 2K on them and looking ok. however, i did run about 26 psi on the freeway at about 70-75mph for about 300 miles (3 seperate trips) which took a lil toll on them. But now have them back up to 36 on the street and about 19-22 in the dirt.


My goal now is to find a tire that will do good in pea gravel.

Krabill wrote:

I could just put on a new set of 606's for the trip since I know they'll make the mileage, but I was kind of hoping for something a little more street oriented since pretty much this whole trip will be on asphalt.

I heard that Deathwings work well on the street.

Ha I still have mine with only 30 miles on them. They're not going back on my bike.

duanew wrote:

Krabill wrote:

I could just put on a new set of 606's for the trip since I know they'll make the mileage, but I was kind of hoping for something a little more street oriented since pretty much this whole trip will be on asphalt.

I heard that Deathwings work well on the street.

Yeahbut I didn't get anywhere near 3,000 miles out of my stockers (well, the rear anyway). I'm going to need a tire that can handle 3k+ with zero issues.

Thanks, Matty. I'll be loaded heavy so I'll keep them pumped up for the blacktop, air down for the gravel across Labrador. Thanks again.

Sarah

Matty wrote:

greer wrote:

I'm headed to Newfoundland-Labrador next month on a set of T63's. I ran those over 4,000 miles on my XT out to Moab last year and still had good tread when we got home. Hope they work as well on the WR.

Sarah

So far so good on mine. i have about 2K on them and looking ok. however, i did run about 26 psi on the freeway at about 70-75mph for about 300 miles (3 seperate trips) which took a lil toll on them. But now have them back up to 36 on the street and about 19-22 in the dirt.


My goal now is to find a tire that will do good in pea gravel.

Ok, I've been able to get some decent road and wet running with these tires. On wet pavement, they aren't as grippy as the 606 during cornering. They do grip, but not like I would have hoped with the return the 606 gave me. For normal pavement running the tires wear fine. What I have found is that at higher temperatures (anything over 80º) they start to wear. What I found most interesting is that the front is wearing faster than the rear. I flipped the tires around so the feathering would even out before it got past that halfway point. When stopped, I could smell warm rubber. From behind, Rob thought I had locked up my brakes when I braked at one point, because he saw some blueish smoke coming out from under them; I hadn't locked them up...then again he saw the same smoke and the smell when going thru the twisties. When I got home I checked the skins and the rear was definitely warm. Where the indents are on the inside of the knobs, I had a bit of meat before hitting those indents. By the time I got home, I was just starting to get into the indents. Approx. 500 miles have been put on since that measurement. I'll keep taking tracking records as the summer progresses because we haven't even got into the heat of the season yet.

Is there a reason not to run the slightly smaller 100/100 rather than the 110/100?

Also, SheWolf, keep us updated on warm weather wear. I'm almost sold on the Mitas and may end up ordering them this or next month.

BigBird wrote:

Next Time I get tires I will try this size as I think they are plenty big enough and will be lighter and lower and will lower the gearing slightly.


100/100-18 M/C 59M C-16 TT MI
SKU: 2000026452101

The 110 is a wider tire. It's pretty much a 130 vs the 120 the 606 has. Great traction! I'll keep updating with the warmer weather. Although summer is technically here, the temps have yet to play ball.

So, the 100/100 isn't as wide, but doesn't that mean it's also not as tall? I know the 606 affects the gearing due to being so tall, so I figured the 110 might do that as well, no? Wouldn't the 100/100 fit the WRR personality a little better? Just wondering :)

The temperatures around here don't usually get very crazy, but we do see the occasional 70s, 80s, and sometimes 90s during the summer. I'd hate to do 40 miles of highway in the heat and have my Mitas melt down like a Hershey bar in the sun

SheWolf wrote:

The 110 is a wider tire. It's pretty much a 130 vs the 120 the 606 has. Great traction! I'll keep updating with the warmer weather. Although summer is technically here, the temps have yet to play ball.

A lot of riders on other bikes have gone with the 100 because it is closer to stock. Never run one myself, so I couldn't tell you. Both the 606 and the 110 StoneEaters will make your speedo register higher than what you're actually doing.

The speedo doesn't bother me, I use the one on my GPS anyway. I'm more concerned about the relatively low torque the WRR has at low RPMs, so a taller tire seems to just add to the problem. I know gearing can be adjusted to offset that, so I'm not super concerned, I was just curious why you wouldn't stick with something more "stock size" I suppose.

Do you think the added width of the 110/100 is useful in the mud and such?

SheWolf wrote:

A lot of riders on other bikes have gone with the 100 because it is closer to stock. Never run one myself, so I couldn't tell you. Both the 606 and the 110 StoneEaters will make your speedo register higher than what you're actually doing.

My driveway needs to be graded. Those tires hook up and dig right in; that's where I noticed the biggest difference between this and the 606. The 606 was great in mud. This one is incredible! Honestly, I don't have any trouble with the gearing. I can tractor thru mud like it's not even there, climb some gnarly rock infested, root ripped hills and it just plunkers up and over stuff without losing traction. Cornering? What a dream! Just aim and shoot. They dig right in and don't let go, you can steer where you want to and loose stuff gets eaten up and spat out the other end.