D/S tire questions

Well had a flat at the end of a great d/s ride. Brings to mind some questions!

After riding at extremely slow speed with the flat, having it go flat at speed is terrifying! What's the best way to run a tube type setup? Run slime, heavy duty tubes, nothing special?

Since I'm removing tire, might change, suggestions for 60/40 street/dirt.

This is 650 size bike. Has Torrence(sp) now.

TKC 80 for the tire. As far as flats, slime or Ride On help with thorns and small punctures. However they can affect the ability to patch a tube, make a mess inside the tire when they don't seal, and don't help with pinch flats and cuts.

Hey, good questions. The answer's kind of depend on the type of bike, and terrain your riding on, and rim size if you have 18 or 17 inch rear.

If you have a standard DR650 or KLR650, you can run a garden variety tire like a Kenda or Bridgestone.

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/29/393/5346/ITEM/Kenda-K270-Dual-Purpose-Rear-Tire.aspx

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.co...one-TW52-Trail-Wing-Dual-Sport-Rear-Tire.aspx

These will do you good, give decent traction in dirt and smoother ride on street.

I never run heavy duty tubes because they are harder to install and dont take well to patching if needed.

I run a standard good quality tube like Michelin or Bridgestone with slime. Slime is really helpful to help avoid flats from goathead thorns, cactus ect. As above yes, slime makes a mess if trying to patch...but Ive never patched a tube just throw in a new tube. In five years of dual sporting, only had a couple of flats that I can even remember. One was front tire flat, just from cactus thorns that were in the tire but did not do anything until on a long road ride where the thorns started to get pushed through the tire. I had to find them all and push them out.

I also run about 24 PSI rear, 21 PSI front, in the dirt, not super low pressures to avoid pinch flating. On the street I bump them up to about 30 PSI. I dont run rim locks which can make the wheel more out of balance, even on my XR650R.

you will get many suggestions, on this one

the D/S game is becoming quite magnetic & attracting lotsa folks

i get my SLIME @ TRACTOR SUPPLY, BY THE GALLON, & use it in all my OFF ROAD & D/S tires, as soon as they roll into the barn for the 1st time...

HEAVY DUTY TUBES replace whatever was there, at the first tire/tube failure, wear out a/o change, (all my toys are purchased used and i don't throw something away, unnecessarily)

when riding the DR TREE FIDDY, in D/S mode, i attach the front fender bag w/ a NEW REGULAR DUTY(lighter, more compact & will work in the rear) front tube, already SLIMED, along w/ the appropriate tools for changing

this is a hold-over behavior, from my old ENDURO riding days

sw

I like the Dunlop D606 tires. Decent life and great performance, even on pavement. I ran these exclusively on the KLR, but I was more dirt oriented with the KLR. If you are going to do lots of pavement, then a big block tire like a Tourance might be better.

On my KTM, I have been running the Pirelli MT-21 and really like them. Great street and dirt performance. I have used them out at Big Bend in the gnarly rocks, sand, deep river bed gravel, and also on the super twisties of North Carolina at FULL lean and LOTS of heavy throttle They also last a long time.

I am not a fan of Slime or similar stuff. I know some folks swear by them, but I have never had great results with it As seldom as I get a flat, I would rather just patch the tire and move on. The slime stuff just makes a HUGE mess. As mentioned above, I stay away from the heavy duty tubes as they are really hard to patch, harder to install, and easy to pinch during install. If you are really worried about it, you can run one of those foam core things (Bib Moose/Mouse?) and not mess with a tube at all. I had one of these in the KTM when I first got it. It just did not feel stiff enough to keep my rim from whacking on the rocks! Also, you are not supposed to run them at highway speeds for any serious amount of time. So I swapped to a tube. I also carry a spare front and rear tube just in case my patch efforts are not up to the job at hand.

I'm running a Pirelli mt21 on the front and a Michelin T63 (100/80x18) on the rear for now. I just spooned on a brand new set for my big 24 hour ride next month.

I like the Dunlop 606 but on my CRF450X I can't keep side knobs on the chain side. If they made a 606 in 110 width I would run it.

I might try the Parker DT next.

I've had great luck with Mefo Explorers.

I am currently running Kenda K270s...so so...not bad in the dirt, not bad on the street. have less than 1000 miles and the rear is already squared off. When these wear out, I am going back to Maxxis IT knobbies. awesome dirt, decent street, just have to take it easy on wet pavement and slow intersection corners.

MaxxTraxx said:

I am currently running Kenda K270s...so so...not bad in the dirt, not bad on the street. have less than 1000 miles and the rear is already squared off. When these wear out, I am going back to Maxxis IT knobbies. awesome dirt, decent street, just have to take it easy on wet pavement and slow intersection corners.

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Good luck waiting for them to wear out. The rear on my KLR is sitting at 8k miles and still has tread left on it. I am on my second front however, as they tend to wear out faster. I have taken those things everywhere in Big Bend while riding two-up, and they still let me drag pegs around corners on the pavement.

Am running Heiendau K60's but Mitas E09's good as well.... just depends on personal preference.?

Sent from my Lenovo TAB 2 A8-50F using Tapatalk

I'll put in for the Shinko 244. I'm running them front and rear, and while I haven't any experience with other tires besides the Death Wings that came on my bike, I have to say I like them. At 1600 miles, the rear looks to be half worn at the worst, likely less than that. I'm fairly aggressive on the throttle, so I can't say I've been kind to it.

So far they have been confidence inspiring on and off road. I have, however, avoided mud. Sand isn't too bad, hard pack is easy, gravel isn't bad at all, and even coming to a stop in cold wet grass to avoid a moron in a truck who slammed on his brakes in front of me was super stable.

Add to that the price at $90 for both front and rear shipped from amazon, I'd call them unbeatable bang for buck in a dual purpose tire.

Oh another tire thread?????

rpcraft said:

Oh another tire thread?????

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Look at original date, someone brought this back from 2013.