stock tires vs. 17" knobbies

I got the pirelli mt21's that fit the X. When i put them on, i compared them for size:


The front tire.. much bigger. almost 4" taller.


The back tire. Still almost 2" taller.

I don't notice that much with the gearing. It's already pretty high. I'm thinking of going with a bigger rear sprocket.. maybe getting a better chain..

Handling is different. I lowered the front, & it's not quite as smooth on low speed cornering.. might need to raise the forks a bit.

Anyway, i thought everyone might like to see what the pirelli's look like next to the stock bridgestones.

scotty

christ! That front is huge, must look like a TW200 now!

i ordered a set of these for some winter duty on my wr... hopefully they work a bit better than the stock bt090s do when it's cold and slippery!

ok, one newbie question: do i need tubes for these? if i do, can i use the tubes that are on the bike now?

Yes you need tubes. It's not the tire that determines whether you need tubes or not, it's the rims.
I don't know if the ones on there will work thou.

*well I guess that's not completly true. The tire does matter

Looks good - can you give the sizes of each tyre please?
Thanks
Lloyd

the size is 130 rear and 120 front. although after doing some more searing, i found these in bike bandit and wonder if they would have been a better choice due to a 100/100/17 being available: http://www.bikebandit.com/irc-ve33-motorcycle-tire

anyway, i have the pirellis mounted and had to trim some of the knobs on the front because they were rubbing the fork. i've got to admit that i don't like the change in handling. at all. the flickability is almost entirely gone from the bike, and i can feel it 'falling' from one row of tread blocks to the next when cornering. still very rideable, but it feels more like a chore and less like fun. traction in mud and snow so far seems to be much better than full street tires though.

The problem we have with the 17" sm rims is they are too wide for the 100/100's. The 120's are stretching it... just barely fitting. In order to put on narrower tires, we'd need narrower rims. The best solution is probably getting another set of rims, so you'd have the 17's for street, sm use, & 18/21's for offroad.

I don't loft the front tire much, so the little extra weight is barely noticeable for my riding style. I have ridden my buddie's wrr, & can't really tell much difference in handling. It rolls over the rocks fine, plows through mud & sand, & does fine on pavement. Knobbies will never be as good on pavement as a street tire, but this combo has been pretty good for me so far.

It also makes the bike very low.. which makes cornering even easier, & lowers the CG some, too.

i was wondering if the front was too wide for a 100 section width tire. oh well. i think i'll just keep an eye out for a set of wrr wheels and front brake or eventually plunk down the cash for a set of the 18/21s from wheeling cycle.

How does adding the knobbies make the bike lower? I thought they were taller than the SM's that come with the bike? Or are you comparing it to the R?

i think he's comparing to the r. the knobbies worked well enough to get me to work this morning in ~5-6 inches of snow.

^^^ what he said..

Do you have a height comparison of your 17" w/Knobby to an 18" with a similar Knobby. I just ordered a 21" front and am wondering if just throwing a Knobby on the stock 17" would throw the chassis out of wack...Also how much vibration is added to road travel with Knobbies vs. stock?..

Just a little up date bout going to the Kenda 270 on my X. Rear is showing very little wear & I'm not easy on tires.

Have added well over 1.5k miles & over half of that on everything from lava flats, into deep sugar sand . Ride Big Bend TX for a solid four days & any tire will earn a good testing. These tires are tops for me. I run w/ about 30/30 psi...I know I can go way lower & on this wks group DS ride it will be 20/20. When new, they were slippery, a little more slippery than other tires I have used on other DS scoots.

I have several DS events I am going to this yr & will keep using these 270.
When the 270s get thin I want to try the IRC VE33.
I like trying other tires just cause I have great selection out there.
One thing I will be going to soon is the Tubeless conversion for all my DS scoots.
Yes you can actually use a tube type tire on your stock rims.
Will let you know how that works out.

28marcb wrote:

Do you have a height comparison of your 17" w/Knobby to an 18" with a similar Knobby. I just ordered a 21" front and am wondering if just throwing a Knobby on the stock 17" would throw the chassis out of wack...Also how much vibration is added to road travel with Knobbies vs. stock?..

there is negligible difference between a 17 & 18 with knobbies. My buddy Tom has the R², & it's visibly the same.. if i measured it there might be 1/2" in diameter, or 1/4" in height.. the tires & wear would have more to do with the height.

The front is a little more difference, although putting a bigger knobbie (like has been outlined in this thread) makes the front a lot bigger than stock, but still a little smaller than the R². I also lowered my triple clamp (raised the forks) about 1", to compensate for the raised wheel size. I'm sure there are minor tweaks that could be made to optimize it for different situations, but what's on mine is a pretty good balance for everything i've thrown at it. It does fine on the trails, even in some pretty technical riding. It's also fine at speed & in the paved twisties. So if i wanted to tweak my triple clamps more, i wouldn't know which way to go. I might like a little softer springs in the forks & in the rear suspension, but they are ok. I'll probably go with the same setup, or look at the kenda's Ponchov has been using.

The knobbies definitely vibrate more than the stock sm tire on pavement. But they also grip better off road. I'll take that trade off.

scotty

My rear tire has a few more rides in it, but will need a change.. i'll look into the kenda's. I can not complain about the mt21's.. they've been great. But if i can save a few bucks with the kenda, that's a no brainer!

I did a tubeless experiment when i put my knobbies on.. they held the air fine, but popped off the bead when out on the road.. a scary event! Mine was the cheap silicone & duct tape kind, but i think the wider rims of the X doomed this as a viable proposition. Other's have had success with this on regular dirt rims & tires, as well as sm rims & tires.. but when we start mixing dirt tires with sm rims i think it gets a little sketchy. But if you pull it off, i'd be keen on hearing about it.. i'm always doing some mad scientist projects with my bike.

Good luck with the riding this year, Ponchov! Sounds like you've got some great trips planned. I'm looking forward to hearing about them, & maybe even joining you on some!

scotty

PonchoV wrote:

Just a little up date bout going to the Kenda 270 on my X. Rear is showing very little wear & I'm not easy on tires.

Have added well over 1.5k miles & over half of that on everything from lava flats, into deep sugar sand . Ride Big Bend TX for a solid four days & any tire will earn a good testing. These tires are tops for me. I run w/ about 30/30 psi...I know I can go way lower & on this wks group DS ride it will be 20/20. When new, they were slippery, a little more slippery than other tires I have used on other DS scoots.

I have several DS events I am going to this yr & will keep using these 270.
When the 270s get thin I want to try the IRC VE33.
I like trying other tires just cause I have great selection out there.
One thing I will be going to soon is the Tubeless conversion for all my DS scoots.
Yes you can actually use a tube type tire on your stock rims.
Will let you know how that works out.

Here's the link to my tubeless experiment, along with some heckling from the gallery..

https://wr250rforum.forumotion.com/adventure-reports-f9/az-first-off-road-ride-oak-creek-canyon-williams-mud-t1011.htm

What sizes for the Kenda K270 have you guys used on the X?

is there enough sideways clearance to run a 130 front and 140 or 150 rear?

the 120/17"s rubbed a little at first.. not all the time, but on occasion when the suspension loaded. There seems to be plenty of clearance in the back, but i don't know how a 140 would fit.. do they even make 140 17" knobbies? If they were more dual sport tires, i'm sure they'd fit fine.

The 120's are plenty wide.. i wish i could get a 110 on it, but the rim is too wide.

I'm thinking of trying out the shinko 244's next.. they look a lot like the kenda 270's, but cheaper. I priced the mt21's & they're going for about $100!

I can get both shinko's at moto superstore for about $80, & that's shipped! I'm sure there will be some times i will wish i had the full knobbies on, but i thought i'd try them out. I'll report on them if i get them.

was looking at metzler sahara 3 or karoo2.

they come in a 130 and 140/17, but not 120

When you say the MT21 front rubbed did you need to cut some of the knobs?
Thanks
Lloyd.

nah.. it only touched the forks briefly.. just enough to leave a mark, but not a problem with any damage.. I figured i can wear the knobs down by going fast around corners!

just found out shinko makes a set of tires that should work. cheap too. the 244's and the 700's would need the 4.60-17 and 5.10-17. roughly 120/17 and 130/17.

Are you running these tires on the stock x rear rim. All the suggested rim sizes on the knobbies are 17x3.0, and I thought the x had a 4 inch rear. Does it matter??