All 2st Trials tires on a 2T

[WoodsChick]

I tried 2 trials tires. Never again. No traction on downhills or going into corners. Basically no braking traction. The tire just floats on top of the dirt instead of digging in. You can't beat one for rooty / rocky uphills but the negatives in my case outweigh any advantages. I had them on a 530EXC KTM and they were chunking knobs in 65 miles on both tires.

It has been noted by those of us that have been riding trials tires for quite some time that they do not do well on the heavier bikes.
We've run them on my 450 and Eric's 426 and didn't like them at all. Totally different experience on a lightweight 2-stroke.

 

[lankydoug]

It has been noted by those of us that have been riding trials tires for quite some time that they do not do well on the heavier bikes.
We've run them on my 450 and Eric's 426 and didn't like them at all. Totally different experience on a lightweight 2-stroke.

I've never owned a big 4t but I can say that on my WR250 my trials tire set up seems ideal, even in the slick mud and deep sand it's not bad and I'm not convinced that a knobby would be much better.

 

[WoodsChick]

I'm kinda shocked by this. I just did a race with an elevator drop downhill to a right hand sweeper at the bottom. I thought the trials tire might give me an issue at that spot on the course (I had visionas of the rear of the bike beating the front end to the bottom, like in the cartoons...), but despite the loose soil and some small rocks on the long drop, it handled it really well. I think compound is a factor in this aspect of the tire. I'm sure it's heavily soil-type dependent.

What were you riding?

 

[Vinduro]

I'm kinda shocked by this. I just did a race with an elevator drop downhill to a right hand sweeper at the bottom. I thought the trials tire might give me an issue at that spot on the course (I had visionas of the rear of the bike beating the front end to the bottom, like in the cartoons...), but despite the loose soil and some small rocks on the long drop, it handled it really well. I think compound is a factor in this aspect of the tire. I'm sure it's heavily soil-type dependent.

I hear the same thing from other A riders. If you are a play rider it will work fine. Like I said, you can't beat one for a rooty / rocky uphill. It gets good traction (more than expected) driving off corners, even sand. But it is down right scary going into a fast corner.

 

[lankydoug]

I hear the same thing from other A riders. If you are a play rider it will work fine. Like I said, you can't beat one for a rooty / rocky uphill. It gets good traction (more than expected) driving off corners, even sand. But it is down right scary going into a fast corner.

That must be the reason because if it worked better in all situations all the pros would be using them. They do work great for me but nobody ever accused me of being fast.

 

[jmetteer]

I hear the same thing from other A riders. If you are a play rider it will work fine. Like I said, you can't beat one for a rooty / rocky uphill. It gets good traction (more than expected) driving off corners, even sand. But it is down right scary going into a fast corner.

For sure if you use the rear to setup for corners the trials tire is not an ideal situation. My friend Larry is a former top 10 national flat tracker, he could pretty much ride with no front wheel. we have discussed at length how they probably won't work for his riding style. But after he has struggled on some climbs that montgob1 and I have walked right up he is talking about getting a 18" rear wheel and trying one. He showed up last ride with a bunch of 1-1/2 screws screwed from the inside out on his yz250f.

For hare scrambles I use a knobby, for most enduros I prefer a trials tire, trail riding I use a trials tire 90% of the time. Snow usually is a show stopper for a trials tire...

Yesterday showed me that dry snow is doable with a trials tire, I wasn't really expecting snow and left the trials tire on.

Here is a video of me chasing Kelly...


The snow got pretty deep...

Later,

 

[Motosportz]

Later,

Who rides around with an American flag on their tank, what a dork. A foot of snow on greased glass was interesting for sure. Had a good time anyway My half warn out Dez HT mounted backwards was the hot ticket Thanks for being the only one of my friends dumb enough to go Jake.

 

[R_Little]

I run a trials with a tubliss system(8psi) on my wr125 and it hooks up great.No problems on the downhills.Deep mud may be a problem but where I live its all rocks,roots and stream crossings

deep mud is a bit of a problem, but they are at their wost on wet grass tracks.

rocks and roots they a awsome!

 

[Motosportz]

deep mud is a bit of a problem, but they are at their wost on wet grass tracks.

rocks and roots they a awsome!

like everything in motorcycling it is a trade off.

 

[montgob1]

I think they get a bad rap on the downhill braking thing, i was gunshy at first since i am new at this, and didnt want to slide off cliffs and whatnot any more than i already do, and was VERY surprised at how well the trials tire did in most downhill braking/sliding situations. It actually makes you a better rider in that respect since you cant just jam on the rear brakes and make up the rest with the front. If you keep the rear tire turning, ever so slowly on the steep/loose/sketchy downhill, you would never know you had a different tire on the back. But lock it up and it does tend to slide more/faster/slipperyer than a knobby.

Woodschick, here is the 19" i was talking about. Although i would rather have a spare wheel than mount this on my 19, even if i just had another 19 wheel since changing trials can kinda suck. And i imagine a 19" trials is way suckier than a 18" for changing out. http://vanceearlracing.com/wordpress/?p=298

 

[WoodsChick]

Woodschick, here is the 19" i was talking about. Although i would rather have a spare wheel than mount this on my 19, even if i just had another 19 wheel since changing trials can kinda suck. And i imagine a 19" trials is way suckier than a 18" for changing out. http://vanceearlracing.com/wordpress/?p=298

Yep, that's the one I mentioned in Post #4. I've yet to hear of anyone actually purchasing one and riding with it...have you?

 

[montgob1]

some guys on thumpertalk said they where buying them, never saw a followup post though. I wonder if the 19 would handle the 5-6psi action like the 18?? That extra sidewall might cut down on the smashed wheel surprise. I have been running an old junky wheel with a big crack in it all summer though with my trials. Crack hasnt gotten any bigger??

 

[Torrmentor]

I think they get a bad rap on the downhill braking thing, i was gunshy at first since i am new at this, and didnt want to slide off cliffs and whatnot any more than i already do, and was VERY surprised at how well the trials tire did in most downhill braking/sliding situations. "

Agreed. Tire can be ridden HARD, even @ A pace w/ highly varried terrain.

 

[Picklito]

I finally bit the bullet a year or two ago and put a Pirelli MT43 on my KTM200. The difference (improvement) was undeniable and I'll never go back to a knobby on that bike. Then I realized that they're DOT, so I put one on my TE450. Best dual sport street tire I've used (quieter/smoother/safer feeling than a knobby on street, better grip than a DS tire in the dirt). For now, I can't see myself buying another knobby for any of the riding I do.

 

[Motosportz]

I finally bit the bullet a year or two ago and put a Pirelli MT43 on my KTM200. The difference (improvement) was undeniable and I'll never go back to a knobby on that bike. Then I realized that they're DOT, so I put one on my TE450. Best dual sport street tire I've used (quieter/smoother/safer feeling than a knobby on street, better grip than a DS tire in the dirt). For now, I can't see myself buying another knobby for any of the riding I do.

If you like the MT43 off road you will crap yourself when you try a Dunlop 803, it is that much better but does not hold up to street use.

 

[Dirtdame]

If you like the MT43 off road you will crap yourself when you try a Dunlop 803, it is that much better but does not hold up to street use.

I like all the "real" trials tires, Dunlop, Michelin and even the IRC....but they aren't DOT, and in California they had better be if you are running them on a plated bike that will see pavement or even dirt that is for street licensed vehicles only (like Anza Borrego Desert State park) to save yourself a lot of grief.... and possibly a ticket as well.

 

[lankydoug]

If you like the MT43 off road you will crap yourself when you try a Dunlop 803, it is that much better but does not hold up to street use.

I could care less about the DOT but I figured the stiffer sidewall of the DOT MT43 was what made it stable at high speed. How is the 803 at high speed? If it's good it may be my next tire in about 1,000 miles when my MT43 finally wears out.

 

[jmetteer]

I could care less about the DOT but I figured the stiffer sidewall of the DOT MT43 was what made it stable at high speed. How is the 803 at high speed? If it's good it may be my next tire in about 1,000 miles when my MT43 finally wears out.

It sucks at high speed, and will shed knobs in about 50 miles.

Later,

 

[Picklito]

If you like the MT43 off road you will crap yourself when you try a Dunlop 803, it is that much better but does not hold up to street use.

True. I knew going in that the Pirelli was stiffer, but what a nice choice to have for the DOT label! A good friend just put a Michelin on his gasser and he's pretty impressed. Of course, that's a dirt-only ride so why not?

 

[Vinduro]

Has anyone tried a Kenda K270 ? I used to use them in the ISDE Qualifiers back in 1988 & 89. I put a 5.10 on the back of my Modified XR250 and it didn't work too bad. It did stop better and corner better than the Dunlop D803. For sure lasted a lot longer. I don't remember having issues with traction but wondered if it worked even close to as well as a MT43 on rock / rooty climbs. I think I used 12psi back then. I think today I would go for 8psi. If Kenda would use their "sticky" compound, I know it would be a hit.