Is it ok, not to mix manuf on front and rear tire?

[Georgiapeach]

I'm having trouble finding a set of the tires I want for the DR-Z. It seems nobody makes our front tire in a DOT knob except for Dunlop. I have heard the front D606 is not very good handling for the front tire. As I spend alot of miles getting to the dirt this is a concern for me. What are your opinions of the Dunlop 606 and can I buy one make of tire for the front and another make of tire for the back? How about this, can I leave the trailwing on the front and just knobby the back? or is that just as terrible an idea as it sounds. I really want Pirelli's, but no makey front tire.

[kurt]

The MT-21's don't come in that size? What size are they?

[bushwhacker]

I have a set of Maxxis C6006 in the closet in 90/90-21 Front and 130/80-18 Rear that I am going to put on when the Deathwings are toast -

http://arizonamoto.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=SWMT&Category_Code=C6006

-

[WoodButcher]

The dunlop 606's and the Pirelli MT21's are very popular 80/20 dirt/street tires for the DRZ. I found the MT21's good in all pavement situations and dry dirt. The only time I didn't like them was in the fresh mud and the front tended to wash out. Not bad, but this was on some tight single track that I was riding hard and it was disconcerting. I've heard the same thing about the front 606.

For what you ride either setup would make you happy. Many of the pirelli fronts are DOT, but not advertised as such. I'm running a Teraflex on the rear which has been good on the dirt, but the jury is still out on the street. Basically okay, but it has very tall knobs and feels a little squirmier than the Pirelli was. I have a Maxxis in the front and it is good in the dirt, but is very squirmy on the road. It isn't DOT, but also doesn't say "Not for Highway Use" and will pass inspection. I won't try it again. The combination is not as nice on the road as I had hoped.

Oh yeah, mixing manufacters is fine, but make sure they are similar use. Don't mix a 50/50 dirt on the front with a 100 percent street on the back.

[Tourmeister]

I have the D606's on the KLR right now and they handle fine on the street. No wiggliness or surprises. I ran them down FM 149 last night at a rapid rate... No problems ;-) Fun in the dirt :twisted:

[Georgiapeach]

The MT-21's don't come in that size? What size are they?


The DR-Z front is 80/100 - 21, The Pirelli MT 21 comes in 80/90-21 and 90/90-21. How much can I deviate from the stock dimensions? The dunlop front is 90/90 -21.

Another option is to try the dunlop Trailmax on the rear which would match the stock bridgestone trailwing on the front. You guys know I am not that aggressive in the dirt anyway, I just don't like the squirrley trailwing on the rear, they are scary in the sand. The dunlop looks like a better tread pattern (I am comparing pictures on the Thumper talk store). I can only hope they are a little better in sand. Either way, I really love the DR-Z and am glad you guys let me ride with you.

[Richard_]

georgiapeach,

I run different tires front & rear on my KLR. On the front is a King's nobby and on the back is an Avon Gripster. I've been running mixed like this for 10,000 miles with no issues and no problems caused by running different tires front and rear.

[bushwhacker]

You can deviate quite a bit.

A 90/90-21 tire has a 90 mm wide and the side wall is 90% of the width or 81 mm.

An 80/100-21 has a 80 mm width and the sidewall is 100% of the width or 80 mm.

So the 90/90 is the same diameter as the stock tire and is 10 mm or ~.4 inches wider or basically the same size tire.

As far as the rear is concerned, The stock is a 120. I have a 130 in the closet (.4 inches wider) and most of the guys on ThumperTalk put a 140 or even a 150 on the rear.

I know of at least one guy who put a 160 on the rear. This would be over 1.5 inches wider than stock. He said it was a tight fit and he had to work on the chain guard a bit but was able to get it to work.

The rims, especially since they are wire and use tubes can accomodate quite a bit of variance.

Here is a pretty good article explaining all the numbers on the side of a tire.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=46

And that is just metric sizes. Here is a metric to inches conversion for those few tires that only come in english sizes.

http://www.heeters.com/tirechart.shtml

=

[greengoose]

The Metzler Karoo 2 is another good choice for a dot knobby up front I ran one 5k on the front of my KLR it performed great onroad and off. Ive always mixed brands of tire and never had a problem.

[Georgiapeach]

Cool, so I can go 90/90 on the front, this gives me two choices, dunlop or pirelli. I've read some other good things about the Karoo's too, I'll have to check their sizes. I'm gonna study on it for a bit.

[bronco78]

DOT or not, makes no difference. in all the years of riding I've done,, I've never seen a LEO, insurance agent, inspection place check. :clap:

As for mixing,, yes it's done all the time with motorcycle tires.

I despise compromise tires.... but understand,, some have a use for them :rider: I never did really get in to the long distance DS deal.. even though that is what my DRZ started out as. :mrgreen:

I just have two sets of wheels and swap when I want good dirt tires,, or good street tires :rofl:

The Karoos worked in the dirt for me,,, nothing special.,, but they were ok.. about as good as a worn out Mitch S12 :rofl:

The Dunlop 606,, front was a down right a waste of rubber. Might as well stick with the Trail wings that came stock. Which by the way are a nice street/hard pack, easy dirt road tire.
:clap:

The Pirelli MT21 is a pretty good off road tire. Not sure on street wear though.

DS to me means a plate,, so I can ride those trails that have some regulated road connecting them. For others,, that ride to the Dirt.. and back... :clap: :clap: you have to choose where you want to have good traction.

[bushwhacker]

The Maxxis C6006 tires are classed as 50/50 tires.

From what I have read, they are supposed to be as good as the Deathwings on the road and much better in the dirt.

-

[WoodButcher]

Right, 90/90 in the front is fine. On the pirelli mt21's, I ran a 130 in the rear. The teraflex I'm running now is a 150 and it is huge.

My personal reccomendation is the pirelli's for what you ride. As I remember you do a decent amount of pavement plus dirt roads. With some temptation to get more dirt in. They will work great for that.

On my next set I will go with the MT21 in the rear and one of the other Pirelli's in the front because I want something more dirt oriented up there.

[Tourmeister]

I've never seen a LEO, insurance agent, inspection place check.

I was stopped a few weeks ago on the KLR and the LEO checked the tires. So... for me, I will be sticking to DOT ;-)

[bronco78]

I was stopped a few weeks ago on the KLR and the LEO checked the tires. So... for me, I will be sticking to DOT ;-)

Well there ya go.. Just when I think I know something, someone comes along and proves me wrong :giveup:

Scott,,, where was this?? in TX? If I may ask,, why were you stopped?

Was he looking at some outlaw dirt bike rider.. and found a law abiding citizen riding a street legal motorcycle? :mrgreen:

[XR650Rocketman]

Hey Rusty....We did some testing with DRZWillsy's tires and came to the conclusion that the Teraflex on the back was the problem on the pavement.....After it was switched to a Maxxis all the handling problems on the pavement went away....IMO most "Front End" problems are usually a result of something on the rear.....Tire pressure, tire selection or suspension settings....
After riding about 30 miles in the dirt one day with a very low rear tire Irondawg stopped and said " I think there's something wrong with my front end "

That's the way the symptoms show up many times....

Steve

[WoodButcher]

Yeah, my goal is to wear that teraflex out so I get something better for the road. It is definitely a factor. The Maxxis on the front is fine in the dirt, on dirt roads and smooth pavement, but it causes some funny floating on chip sealed roads where there are ribbons that parallel the direction you are headed. I ran with the pirelli front for a while with the teraflex, so I know that started with the maxxis. I can feel the rear squirm on some corners so I know it is part of the problem. I may try the maxxis front with pirelli rear next. I'm basic looking for a combo I like and what I have isn't working for the mix of riding I do.

[vfrhugh]

This is very interesting tread. I still have the original equipment Bridgestone’s on my KTM. They do have the “not for highway use” stamp on the side. Maybe I was lucky at the inspection station. I’ve put maybe 350 street miles on since I became legal. The rear 64M is about 1/2 gone. The 51M front is showing a little leading edge knob wear from braking. I intended on replacing them all along, they are 4 years old. It’s hard to know what to do. I’ve been buying tires at www.tiresunlimited.com for my street bikes. Their web site makes it easy to compare tread patterns. What’s bugging me is not having any brand experience other that Pirelli, Metzler, or Dunlop(my favorite).
It does seem that more tires will be used up on the KTM that my VFR. That said I’m cheap at heart. The price of Cheng Shin, IRC, Kenda, Maxxis, ect. are very attractive. What it all comes down to is rubber compound for street traction and knob size for dirt. After following Scott in the twisties on his old GS, I know it’s compound. I’ve kept that in mind exploring the limits of the KTM on the pavement. The stock knobies are surprisingly good on the street. The ultimate DS tire for me would be knobies that have close spacing in the middle with a rubber compound similar to a Dunlop 208 or Metzeler M1.

If I had to guess, I’d say Scott got checked in Polk County. It’s a revenue driven traffic enforcement county.
Hugh:rider:

[bushwhacker]

you might want to check these for tires -

Southwest MotoTires

http://arizonamoto.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?

Ron Ayers

http://www.ronayers.com/

American Mototire

http://www.americanmototire.com/index.html?lang=en-us&target=d2.html

[Tourmeister]

No idea the county. It was Thrall on Hwy 79 East of Taylor.

[Tx Rider]

I've used all of those tires, they all worked ok for me. I've mixed and matched em too.

MT-21 comes stock on my '04 ktm 625, They handle great on the street and wear ok, but I didn't care for the front it didn't seem to bite too well and wanted to wash out a lot on forest roads.

My '96 came with Michelin Baja tires, they seemed great on dirt, a little too much space between knobs for street but rode and wore ok. Noisy buggers though, make you sound like a big 4x4 with mud tires.

Karoos were a good dual purpose, but the rear wore pretty fast. I used a karoo front and TKC-80 rear for Big Bend last year on my '96, it seemed a good combo for all the highway and gravel roads, front hooked up fair and the TKC was fun to slide through turns on.

I used a 606 front and a TKC-80 rear in N.C. on my '96, seemed to be a real good street knob as I was hanging it out on the pavement to the edge knob and it handled great, did the forest service roads ok but I haven't done a lot of real dirt with it.

Some folks swear by the Maxxis 6006, haven't tried one yet.

A lot of KTM guys like using Kenda DOT knobs up front, I'll probably try those soon as they look like they would work pretty nice.

And yeah I've been checked for DOT tires a couple times over the years. Not often enough to worry about.

My KTM's take a 140/18 rear though, many DOT knobs don't come larger than a 130, which I've used in a pinch.