I've now changed my mind about the D606s in favor of the Kenda 270s. Many of my riding buds swear by them for their long life and off road traction.

 

Bottom line, anything must be better than the OEM tires. They are pretty good on the pavement and hard pack, but absolutely worthless in the mud. Overall a descent dual purpose tire. But this bike really fits the role better of a street legal dirt/trail bike rather than a true dual purpose machine... so the tires might as well match that purpose.

 

I was looking at the Kenda 270's also. Those look pretty good to me. But the only sizes I came accross were these, 275-21, 300-21 , etc... its not 3 numbers listed above. Exactly what do each of those 3 numbers refer too?? With these tires I only get 2 numbers, so which 2 should I go for. Also what are the tube sizes? Thanks.

 

Look on the side of your stock Dunlops. The front size is listed as 3.00 X 21. These are the "older" style measurements which refer to width and diameter in inches. The 90/90-21 designation for the front is a measure of nominal width in millimeters (90) along with the ratio of height to width (also 90) and then the rim size (21).

According to the specs in the owners manual, the actual tire sizes for our bikes are 3.00X21 front and 4.60X18 rear. Kenda 270s are a direct fit for the front and very close for the rear (4.50X18). However a wider rear may well fit. I was able to go up several sizes on my KLR650 in the rear without problem. You'll just have to measure to be sure if you want to fit a wider tire.

 

On the Kenda 270 issue:

One of the choices I'm looking at is the Kenda 270, front and rear. The front tire I am looking at going with is the 3.25 x 21. Most of my riding is in soft sand and my thougts are that might help keep the front end from burying itself.

Another combination would be the Cheng Shin 858 in front, Kenda 270 in back.

Any thoughts?

 

Hey Marty good to see you back

 

Hey Marty! Thought you fell off the face of the earth! Go with the Kenda's all around, you won't be sorry.

Now, since you've been away, how's about a little temptation:



See that 152 miles on the trip meter?...not on reserve yet thanks to this...

 

Something for you to ride in sand Marty

[IMG]local://upfiles/1192/FBCD911E2A834381B8BD6F951EEED280.jpg[/IMG]

 

About the tires,
Would it be wise to go ahead and change the front and back tires at the same time?? My front tire actually looks still factory brand new without the little rubber wires hanging all over the place. Its the rear tire that looks like crap. But its good habit to change both when one wears out right?

 

This is a subject of much debate. I tend to change both if I'm changing brands. On street bikes, I don't like to mix brands. On dual sports, it's not so much of a problem as you tend to spend very little time at the upper edge of the tires speed rating which is where mixing brands can sometimes cause problems with high speed wobbles or other handling bug-a-boos.

I'll likely put a front Kenda 270 on at the same time as I do the rear just for that reason. Once I'm on Kendas, I'll likely change 2-3 rear tires for each front.