Dual sporter or Krabill

[Amber Lamps]

Originally Posted by Tsunami

I'm offended! Gasp!

as far as the street, yeah i don't need the greatest of tires, i mean the bike tops out at like 65-70 so other than a few tight spots here and there, there are just wide sweepers out here on apshalt so traction really isn't an issue.

i'm just plan on going out offroading a bit more before i sell the bike and thats where i see how crappy my tires are. Not plan on doing anything crazy but if its a difference of like $40-$50 between crap tires and better ones, then whatever

And if for any reason i will end up keeping the bike, even after i get another streetbike, then i don't want to have to spend more money on getting better tires so its a preemptive strike

Hmmm well it sounds as if you are approaching this purchase with logic and intelligence. BTW any of these tires are rated to about 100 mph, so you're good there. I've never used Kenda, I've used Continental (in Europe), Pirelli, Dunlop, and Bridgestone. If you can get a super good deal on the Kendas then I would go for it. The other thing is, if you do get a street bike, you may want to spoon strictly dirt tires on your DR in the future.

[askmrjesus]

The 606's are a good all around choice, as are the Pirelli MT 21's. I get about 3-4k out of either, but I ride pretty hard on and off road, so YMMV.

For desert conditions, the Michelin T63's are supposed to be quite good. They just became available in the States recently,and they're fairly cheap ($105.00 at your door). I'm putting a set on SWMBO's bike on Saturday.

Kendas and IRCs are both crap.

JC

[Krabill]

Originally Posted by TIGGER

Hmmm... that's a good assessment I'd say. I would like to add that the Pirellis come in soft-hard compounds. Also if you're only doing very light trail riding, I'd still look at the Pirelli Scorpion or the Dunlop D607 tires both are designed for primarily street riding with occasional trail riding. As far as Kenda goes, they have a K761 that looks pretty good for the type of riding that you are describing. They go for about $100 a set from Motorcycle Superstore. Okay here's where you'll get offended but since you are riding a DR200, I don't think that your tire choice is really that critical. I personally would go for whatever tire I could get the cheapest. Hell, the Cheng Shin tires are about $60 a set! As far as the Dunlops go, they look to set you back about $150-200.... Use you best discretion.

The problem with going to something like the Scorpions or the 607's is that if even the little bit of dirt riding you do consists of soft sand and rough terrain, the tires are going to suck . . . and you still aren't going to get much more than 4.5k-5k miles out of them. Might as well get something more substantial like the 606's and be done with it. They make more noise, but they'll rail on the pavement and you don't have to worry about traction in the soft stuff.

As far as the Pirellis go, I haven't met very many people who can get more than 2.5k out of a set of MT21's. Especially if you do much pavement - which it sounds like you will. I've been getting about 2k more miles than that out of my 606's on a regular basis and my bike commutes down the highway 5 days a week.

[askmrjesus]

Originally Posted by Krabill

As far as the Pirellis go, I haven't met very many people who can get more than 2.5k out of a set of MT21's. Especially if you do much pavement - which it sounds like you will. I've been getting about 2k more miles than that out of my 606's on a regular basis and my bike commutes down the highway 5 days a week.

Curious, are you commuting on the WR?

I can get 3k from a rear MT21, and 4k from a front, but then the KTM only weighs 300lbs.

JC

[Amber Lamps]

Originally Posted by Krabill

The problem with going to something like the Scorpions or the 607's is that if even the little bit of dirt riding you do consists of soft sand and rough terrain, the tires are going to suck . . . and you still aren't going to get much more than 4.5k-5k miles out of them. Might as well get something more substantial like the 606's and be done with it. They make more noise, but they'll rail on the pavement and you don't have to worry about traction in the soft stuff.

As far as the Pirellis go, I haven't met very many people who can get more than 2.5k out of a set of MT21's. Especially if you do much pavement - which it sounds like you will. I've been getting about 2k more miles than that out of my 606's on a regular basis and my bike commutes down the highway 5 days a week.

You're probably right, I keep reading "light trail duty" and "broke" in her post so...

FTR these are the Kendas I was thinking...



These Michelins look good for < $50 for a rear! If you want to get a bit more "aggressive"...



And the Dunlop 606s for if you really want to tear shit up on that DR200!!!

[Krabill]

Originally Posted by askmrjesus

Curious, are you commuting on the WR?

I can get 3k from a rear MT21, and 4k from a front, but then the KTM only weighs 300lbs.

JC

Yup. The WR is still pretty new, though, so I haven't worn a set out on it yet. The stock rear was completely toast at 2,500 miles, so I swapped both stockers out for 606's and am sitting at about 3,500 miles right now.

I used the 606's for 35k miles on my KLR. Commuted on it every day, too. Easy 4,500 for every rear. 5k if I didn't have a dirt ride scheduled and was only using it on the pavement. The WR is quite a bit lighter than the KLR, so we'll see how this set goes. I do just a little over 1k miles a month, so I'll let you know how they stand up on the WR.

The fronts are usually fine when the rear is toast, but I've always swapped both out at the same time . . . just because.

[Rsv1000R]

You might want to check the terrain type the tread's designed for, for instance Dunlop makes a number of off-road tires, some for hard packed dirt, others for slippery muddy slop (752's which were replaced with something else), hard pack tires clog with mud and are useless. While mud tires probably aren't as good on hard pack.

We don't have much sand here, so YMMV...

[Krabill]

Originally Posted by Rsv1000R

You might want to check the terrain type the tread's designed for, for instance Dunlop makes a number of off-road tires, some for hard packed dirt, others for slippery muddy slop (752's which were replaced with something else), hard pack tires clog with mud and are useless. While mud tires probably aren't as good on hard pack.

We don't have much sand here, so YMMV...

Yeah, but they only make a couple that are DOT legal . . . and only one of those has "proper" knobbies on it . . . the 606.

[Tsunami]

Originally Posted by TIGGER

The other thing is, if you do get a street bike, you may want to spoon strictly dirt tires on your DR in the future.

See the plan was for me to get a bigger streetbike, sell the DR and then get a little mx bike and an extra set of 17in wheels.

Since i don't know when i am actually going to get my streetbike (long story since its hinging on a couple of factors ), i don't want to be bikeless or not be able to ride the street so i am holding on to the DR.