wr250X Tires

Put the wheel on this morning (shop installed tire because was only $20 including balancing.)
It's a tight squeeze getting tire around the brake caliper.

I can tell the bike is a little bit taller, and thus the gearing too (had to be a bit more careful in first from stop.)

Unfortunately there is a tiny bit of chain rub on the tire. I'll have a closer look at the wheel allignment, and maybe I can adjust the right side a tiny bit back. The profile of the BT023 150/70/17 is much better than the stock BT090 140/70/17. The 023 is a little steeper at the edge, should not run out of tire now. It's too bad there isn't a 140/70/17 in the 023 - I didn't really need a widder tire, just a better profile.

I plan on using my X as my commuter. Any recommendations for long wearing tires? I don't care how sticky they are, I just want them to last forever.

thanks,
Hugh

hughtwg wrote:

I plan on using my X as my commuter. Any recommendations for long wearing tires? I don't care how sticky they are, I just want them to last forever.

thanks,
Hugh

easy......

michelin Pilot Road 2s. 150/70. might be a lil tall. but they will last forever.

Matty wrote:

hughtwg wrote:

I plan on using my X as my commuter. Any recommendations for long wearing tires? I don't care how sticky they are, I just want them to last forever.

michelin Pilot Road 2s. 150/70. might be a lil tall. but they will last forever.

Also the Bridgestone BT023 150/70, and they are about 1/2" taller. Harder center, softer edges.
http://mc.bridgestone.co.jp/en/products/battlax/bt023.html
Your stock tire:
http://mc.bridgestone.co.jp/en/products/battlax/bt090.html

150/70 might have chain clearance issues. Chains do move around side to side a bit while riding.

Vortac wrote:

plenty of clearance here...

Vortac,

Are you having any clearance issues with the chain?

My 150/70/17 BT023 installed has about the same clearance, and it rubs the tire when riding (chains move side to side a bit when riding.)
I'm wondering if I should have gone to a 150/60/16 tire, maybe BT016??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC_jMznc5_k

Above is a video of WR250X with bridgestone 003rs tires !!! Watch and then read thread.

I have used both stock tires and sizes and the 003rs in the 150/60/17 rear size. Both tires perform well for my riding style.

The 150/60/17 fits nicely and the 003rs compound is AMAZINGLY sticky when you get them hot !

I feel that the stock 090s wore down WAY too fast... I got 1200 miles out of mine. I have 3000 miles on the 003s and there is still some left!

The conditions in this Video were good with mid 80s air and tarmac temps, Tire pressure was 28 front 26 rear and I had them up to temp just before recording the shoot.

I did have a low-side crash with the 090s that I felt was caused by me riding OFF the tire... too much lean angle for available rubber surface area.(can't rule out stupidity though).

With the 003rs 150/60/17 I DO have an 8th inch chicken strip on both sides even though I drag my toes, knees, legs, pegs etc.... The front tire 110/70/17 is completely worn to tires edge so that seems to be set up correctly.

If you have any performance questions please view video again for visual confirmation of the tire kicking ass.

In the end I would choose the Bridgestone 003 rs 150/60/17 for road racing purposes but I am not discounting the 090s performance, just prefer the feel of the 003s !!!

love2lean wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC_jMznc5_k

Above is a video of WR250X with bridgestone 003rs tires !!! Watch and then read thread.


In the end I would choose the Bridgestone 003 rs 150/60/17 for road racing purposes but I am not discounting the 090s performance, just prefer the feel of the 003s !!!

Nice video!
Bridgestone actually recommend BT003s in the UK as a replacement for the tubed version of the 090, & it is available in 140/70/R17 - maybe this is country specific???? Anyhow, I'm too old for all that knee down stuff, particularly given winter road conditions which are starting to set in here : Rain, rain & more rain, & gallons of diesel fuel spillages which seem to be on every corner! To combat this, & to use the bike for commuting, I have gone for the BT45 tyre, also available 140/70, but in bias ply. I have heard they last 3 times longer (at least) than 090s, & are way cheaper. Grip is fine, unless you really get your knee down etc., & may suit others who do a lot of commuting. I doubt I will be emulating your video antics any time soon!! I will update when they need replacing next .

motokid wrote:

A fine testiment to the grip of the Distanzias on the hard surfaces....

I ride Distanzia's right now... they work great for street and packed-dirt fire roads, lasting longer (over 3,000 miles) than the crap stock Bridge's (2800 miles).

If you want more aggresive dirt-style tire, then go with SHINKO 244's or KENDA 270's, both work well and have good reviews.

If you wanna drop some dollars, then get Dunlop D606's, more tread-but less tire life and wobble-wearing.

Done my fair share of research, and SHINKO 244's are cheap, realiable, and seem to meet our (wr250x's) needs for true dual-sporting.

I just put on Bridgestone BT45 tires and I'm pretty happy so far. Grip seems to be good and there is no slippage leaned over.

I wanted something with a longer tread life bc I use the bike primarily for commuting. I will post photos in a bit, but I think these tires are a good compromise for canyon carving/commuting.

has anyone used the Duro HF918 ?



they have a real good price

nobody had anything to say about the duros huh , well I went for em , and they are sweet , and the price is fantastic

debaisley wrote:

nobody had anything to say about the duros huh , well I went for em , and they are sweet , and the price is fantastic

Can you follow-up with a write-up here once you've put some miles/kms on them? I'm interrested in them....

just put a kenda s/t cruiser tire on mine. hooks up great offroad i can pull wheelies on the trails fairly easy. 65 shipped for the tire, fairly round but works great for stunting street riding and hooks up way better for trail riding that the junk stocker. Front tire hates mud tho i know that. need a more semi aggressive tire for the front for trails, dont want to jeopardize my stoppies tho.

My opinion on WR-250X tires:

I bought my 2008 WR-250X used this past December, with 3,911 miles showing on the odometer.
The stock Bridgestone BT090 tires (and I assume they were the original tires off the showroom) were in good condition on the front, and about 95% worn down to the wear bars on the rear.
Riding the bike about 10 times finished-off the rear.
Considering that somebody else wore them out for me, the bike didn't feel too badly, with my chief gripe being the noticable worn flat spot in the middle of the rear tire (from lots of straight-up-and-down riding) that I could feel.

Last month, after the winter layover, I mounted my favorite sportbike tires:
Michelin Pilot Powers.
My WR-250X is a 100% street bike, and I have no desire whatsoever to ride it off-road - that's what my 2009 Yamaha WR-250F is for.
My WR-250X is, literally, a light-weight sport bike.
In my opinion, riding a bike off-road that's equipped with street tires is like going mountain climbing wearing ice skates, and I have no desire to trade pavement grip for off-road grip by mounting some kind of wanna-be motard tire.
That's basically it for me. :)
So, Michelin Pilot powers it is, then.

I'm not a fan of mounting wider-than-stock tires to my bikes, but if I wanted to use Pilot Powers, I had no choice since the narrowest rear Michelin offers is a 150/60ZR17, and the stock size is 140/70ZR17.
The front Pilot Power is labeled the same as the stock 110/70ZR17, at least, and the Michelin USA website recommends these tires as direct replacement for the WR-250X, so, I went for it.
I mounted them myself with the same tools I use on my dirt bike, balanced them wth the same static balancer I've been using since about 1998, and hit the road.

Results?
Awesome, in one word.
A couple shakedown rides had me settling on 21 psi per tire and pulling the fork tubes up in the clamps about three millimeters since the rear felt a bit lower than before (or the front felt taller - take your pick).
Not really surprised I felt the need to make the front height change since the tires are from a different manufacturer with the rear being a different size.

Once I had my setup finalized, I really got a feel for how these tires felt on my WR-250X.
Basically, if you ride your WR-250X as a sportbike like I do, you'll be in heaven.
Outright grip is very high, indeed, giving massive confidence to do, basically, whatever you want.
The tires give the feeling that you'd have to do something very stupid in order to break their grip on the road.
They are very compliant on the bumps and ripples and pavement cracks, something that not only makes the ride more comfy for your butt, but also (much more importantly), lends even more grip on the road by absorbing and conforming to these pavement irregularities instead of skipping over them as a stiffer tire would do.
A Dunlop D208SM is like the latter.
Boo.

On top of that, I get the feeling these tires will last longer than the stock BT090s, too.
What a deal. :)

Has anyone tried the BT-003 yet? They have a 140/70R17 and for the time being, I'll be needing just a rear and sticking mostly to the street until later this year when I go with some Distanzias.

Ushuaia Or Bust wrote:

Has anyone tried the BT-003 yet? They have a 140/70R17 and for the time being, I'll be needing just a rear and sticking mostly to the street until later this year when I go with some Distanzias.

Got them on right now.
Not a bad tire, I think I'll go back to distanzia's next round though

f3joel wrote:

Ushuaia Or Bust wrote:

Has anyone tried the BT-003 yet? They have a 140/70R17 and for the time being, I'll be needing just a rear and sticking mostly to the street until later this year when I go with some Distanzias.

Got them on right now.
Not a bad tire, I think I'll go back to distanzia's next round though

Is that because you use them for dirt too, or are they actually grippier on pavement? Would be interesting because there would be less rubber touching pavement with the grooves.

Do you guys replace the tubes with new tires? If you get a diffrent sized rear tire do you need to get a larger tube?

003's in a 150 rear

Howd you make your axel sliders? I was looking at a long threded rod and thinking about getting wheels and some nylon lock nuts. any tips? have you "tested" yours yet?

basically that. long threaded rod, couple of washers, couple of nuts and some skateboard wheels.

haven't been tested, knock on wood

Time to start adding to this tire thread I guess. :) Replaced the stock rear tire on my R/X with another X rear tire with around ~150 miles on it. Old one was down past the wear bars and turning into a slick, PO said it was original to his X and had about 6500 miles on it so probably 7000 now.


Mileage is 25,888. Update in a couple months I hope :)

Im getting pretty excited about replacing my tires once the stocks wear out. I have no previous knowledge of good handling street tire.....but I been thinkin alot about these.....anybody have and opinion???
Continental Contiforce SM Supermoto Tire

I notice most people posting about tires are using them on the track, anyone have strictly street tire experience? A lot of the tires mentioned on this thread make great track tires, what is the best street tire?
Coming from smaller motards my experience with the IRC tires have been good on the street and they are available in our stock size and are standard on the Klx250 motard, suprised nobody on here mentions them. The picture below is what I am running currently on my Derbi supermotard:

I've got IRC RX-01's on my WR250RX, they were inexpensive & installed on the rims. The tires are okay for commuting, and they seem fine in the rain. I expected that center gap on the front to follow tar snakes etc but it's not too bad. I'm a pretty conservative rider, YMMV.