Tires

[Jaynen 0]

If you got a thousand miles on a 606 I don't think it would be any better in the dirt than your dual spot tire at that point. That means a new tire on the rear every 4 weeks. I would recommend what Bikeslut said, ride the dualsport tires for commuting and use them for the easy dirt rides and keep a gnarly knobbie to spoon on when you are doing a technical dirt ride. I bet you could get to where you could spoon it on in a half hour.

The 606 will vibrate more especially at low speed, not have any where near the turning or stopping ability on the pavement, and you will be replacing them every month. Give a 606 or Motoz a try and see if you like it and how long it lasts.

I think if it were me I would keep an eye on Ebay for an inexpensive rear wheel and until I found one, just spoon on a knobbie for the harder dirt rides. Drive over to my shop, I will help you spoon it on, with a little practice it is as easy as changing the oil.

As a rule of thumb, I figure 1000 miles on a knobbie rear and twice that on a front. Ken

Yamaha decided to use a brand new hub design for my bike which means essentially I have no wheel options besides buying factory hub parts and having a wheel built. So its a 1,000 dollar deal at which point I might as well have the 17" SM setup and no way I can afford that.

So maybe for now I try to swap with some help, altho I am curious to see with how I baby the bike how long tires last

[Joliet 0]

Just be patient, some newb with a worn out knobbie will total his bike and there will be parts . They didn't have a knock on wood smilie. Any time you want to change a tire, don't be shy just pm me. Ken

[Jaynen 0]

Thanks Ken what does your shop do anyway?

[carguy 1]

Thanks Ken what does your shop do anyway?

They keep the world from leaking.

[Jaynen 0]

Well I ordered the tractionators to try. I took a look at my TW301/302s and they are pretty worn. They probably will last a while longer on the street but they look pretty worn out already for the dirt.

Maybe a set of Battlewings or Avon Distanzas or something for street tires and the swapping is called for

[Joliet 0]

Thanks Ken what does your shop do anyway?

Gasket manufacturing

[Jaynen 0]

Got the tractionators already they shipped from Murrieta like Ken mentioned before. Wow do they look mean, now I want to get them on and give them a try but hopefully in some dirt as well as the pavement

[Crawdaddy 96]

And I can't stand MT-21's , never liked them after using them years ago on my DR350.

I've never been that crazy about MT21's either but that's what the previous owner had on the front of the 620 when I picked it up.....it's lasted well, worn a bit funky from all the street miles..... but the knobs on MT21's are pretty low/wide/closely spaced right from the get go......which is why I thought I'd try the MT16 this time around......might try a set of those MCXH;s next time around......or not.....who knows.....

MT16 has wider spaced knobs than MT21......yet still DOT approved

I rode my 620 ADV all over the Truckhaven area yesterday.....hard pack and SOFT sand.....I was really pleased with the MT16 up front.....very sure footed at ~14 PSI......I doubt it's gonna last that long (pretty soft compound)......we'll see how it looks after I throw another ~1,000 miles on it riding to LA-B-V, riding the event, and riding home....

[Jaynen 0]

That will be a great test for sure. Did you use the big bike more or your 520 out there mostly?

[Crawdaddy 96]

That will be a great test for sure. Did you use the big bike more or your 520 out there mostly?

50/50 split......520 all day Sat.....620 all day Sunday.....same terrain/trails.....I can take the 620 most anywhere I want.....it's just an overgrown dirt bike.......I actually prefered the 620 in the wide open washes.....a bit more weight/power combined with new rubber and 16/40 (let's go!) drive train......very fun weekend

[TrophyHunter 15]

After reading over 10 page of tire info, it appears the 606 are the most popular....

I have the stock issue D756 Rear / D739 Front on the WR. Short story..time to change. I'm not sophisticated enough in the tire evaluation area but I looked at Kenda's desert tire...Parker DT after seeing so many references to Kenda in the thread.

http://www.kendausa.com/motorcycle/mx.html

The front looks a little unstable (maybe I'm just unstable) but the back looks like a good mixture. Or, I guess I could just replace the stock with the same tires...

I know there's a lot of discussion already, but none on the Parker DT.

Thanks for the input..

[Jaynen 0]

The 606's come up a lot because most of us are talking about DoT legal tires for our plated bikes. I don't know about the parker DT but I think these Motoz tires are worth a try

http://www.motosportz.com/HVA-SS/Motoz_details.htm

The rear is especially beefy looking

http://www.motoz.com.au/shop_content.asp?p=tyreselection

Reading on ADV rider people have mixed thoughts love or hate. I think they are awesome and am trying a set now

[TrophyHunter 15]

Thx Jaynen....I like the look of the front better and the back is equivilently (is that a word?) beefy.

Best pricing???

[Jaynen 0]

Kelly at Motosportz hooked me up hes the only US retailer as far as I know I got the pair for 137 bucks shipped IIRC he wants to get the word out on these awesome tires so he gave me a slight discount. He runs them on his TE610 and loves them, he also has a buddy using them to pre-run Baja who claims better wear than he has ever had before. They are similar to those parker's in the fact they use all natural rubber. Ken (Joliet) also has purchased some of these and ran the rear on his bike on the Beach to River ride

[paulmbowers 236]

I've got one on the way as well- I'll file a full report.

[Jaynen 0]

You trying just the rear?

My only problem with reporting is I am not a very experienced rider who has ridden a lot of different tires. So I can only say that it seems to work very well. From what I have read they ride a little differently than other tires, they grip and turn more like a street tire in the dirt as far as how they track?

[paulmbowers 236]

Yes, because I'm cheap and only the rear tire's worn out. But my bike's main issues are:

A. Rider's low level of skill

2. Rear traction

I can buy a new tire. The rest, well, I'm trying.

fn

[Jaynen 0]

You make me feel bad referring to A) because I consider myself to be quite a bit behind you

[bruceh 0]

Just FYI. I went looking for a new rear tire for my DRZ-400S. It had an MX tire on the rear that was not suited for any street use. The knobs were gong.

Headed over to Ramona Cycle supply and the helpful folks there said that dual sport tires were in short supply and now very expensive. Quoted me $130 for a D606 and at least 5 days to get it.

I guess the expensive gas prices recently got a lot of people commuting on their dual sport machines.

I took a look at thumpertalk's online store and they quoted $115 for the same tire with 3 day delivery.

I was over at Alba in Poway buying some parts and took a look on their tire rack. Found a D606 on sale for just $65! Score! They still have a couple there.

Got the tire mounted this weekend and am ready to ride!

[blind_in_1_ear 0]

wha?!?!?!?! i had same numbers from some places....and then HALF from others....odd.

yeah i was pricing too....and got mine(*606's) for 72+tax....front a little less...think $130 for both....

first reports.

dirt:

trip 1 - infamous Otay debacle....not they're fault....rider weak link to the whole system.

trip 2 - really liked them, from my newb perspective, worked well....liked the "grab" at lower pressure.

street:

right after mount....felt "bumpy"(*gee rally?? ya don't say?? ) compared to TW's.

next morning, off to dirt trip one...a little, uh, slick on cement downhills....they were new, so i figured needed some scuffing for traction...then "otay" happened.

been a couple weeks, radiator stuff...shipping etc....did dirt trip 2....then kinda got busy with work, and off schedule...dirty, broken blinker etc...excuses galore....

now rode to work this morning....got a nice "buzz" from them...might be a little low pressure....but man felt like a dirt bike on it....liked it.

Blind feels more "right" looking out to his bike from the desk.

[TrophyHunter 15]

After my mind unboggled from research, I grabbed some Bridgestones (604 rear, 603 front) from Steve at C&D. He came close to matching my best online price with shipping so I kept him in business for 3 more minutes from that profit. I like to keep it local if it's close on price.

In all honesty, I read a bunch, "listened" to comments from those who piped up and knowing Steve rides the same bike, called him. Went with the harder compound (instead of the 404) as I ride every terrain and wanted to extend the wear.

They have twice as much tread depth as what's left on the 450, so I'll have to watch the right twist until I get used to the extra traction.

Thx for all the postings in the tech section...it definitely helped.

[Paul 0]

Bought Pirelli Scorpion Pros since they are DOT and had good reviews on other sites and are very knobby. Only installed the rear tire (bought two) and am still running the MT21 up front.

Only two complaints:

1.) Feels "different" than the Mt21 on the street - squisshy but not quite squirrely (18 psi same as I run all around in MT21s)

2.) Wears much faster than MT21s. But I did roast the rear when I got stuck in a boulder patch.

Off-road they hook well. I am going to put a new set on today (front and rear) and try them out this weekend - maybe? If I get the valves adjusted, oil changed and replace some missing bolts.

If anyone wants my old Scorpion Pro rear tire to try it out let me know. You could probably get another ride out of it as it has about 40-50% of its tread left.

My only point of reference is MT-21s since this is my first dual-sport

[Crawdaddy 96]

(i was thinking a plate and a slightly harder tire might allow us more options, and be cheaper for you )

I think Ozzy is on to something with that Trials Tire.....I may try a Pirelli MT43 on the back of my 520 next time around (DOT approved Trials Tire! ).....my friend Gil loves'em.....he's runs it at ~8PSI and got ~3K miles out of his last one.....hard to believe but true.....

Not nutty expensive and good reviews: http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/29/...-Rear-Tire.aspx

[paulmbowers 236]

OTOH, I'm deeply in love with the Motoz tyre I tried yesterday. It's possible that the turfy conditions helped, but I was very pleased and will be ordering a front as well.

One advantage (say the proponents of the trials tires) is they damage our trails less than knobbies. And seeing where the smaller trails in PineValley are headed, this could/should be a factor in the decision. Those once-hidden trails are showing wear. A lot of it.

fn

[bikeslut 1]

trials tires, and rekluse clutches make for some serious technical trail riding. especially if you have titanium balls.

My only point to Chris was that he toasted his tire last time.

racerbill was saying a buddy ran three ROWS of knobs completely off, and the tire still had traction... soft compounds and low pressures will do that