650L rear tire choice

[Red4x4neck]

Hello all

Recently I replaced a severely worn IRC baja rear tire with a Chin Shein Street legal nobby. "The guy down at the shop" told me that it was a decent compromise, for the money, between the streetability of the IRC and the dirtability of say a Dunlop 606. But I am not so impressed with his assesment.

I have had the chin shein on just under 1k miles of about 80/20 street/dirt and it is already starting show its age. I am impressed with its cornering ability considering how physically narrow the nobies look but it seems that they might be to small and widely spaced or the compound to soft.

That is my question what aspect of tire nomenclature describes harder versus softer compound and or where can I find a good unbiased reference on street legal enduro tires?

Thanks

Rob

[roadcam]

sorry to say, ya get what ya pay for with most bike tires ... hard to beat Dunlop 606 tires, but I hear a lot of favorable comments on the much cheaper Kenda Trackmaster II tires ... I may try them next

[goblin127]

I love my new metzler sahara. Its not a knob but its good on the street and ok in the dirt. Mud is probably going to be not great. Just put the front match on and am very happy with that also.

[XR650L_Dave]

Here and 4strokes are the places for tire talk.

Yahoo XRLUG group is very good as well.

The big ? is, how aggressive a tire do you want?

Do you want the tire to be the best in the dirt (and still be street legal) or do you need a more normal-terrain-won't-see-much-sand-or-mud tire?

I haven't seen any compund info, you need to talk to those that have used the tires.

I like the pirelli MT21s and for all-out traction in the sand and the gooze the teraflex is the reigning champ.

The MT21s are good for 1000-2000 miles of decent dirt traction.

D

[wr450fyamaha]

i dont even know what kinda tire i got ?

[Red4x4neck]

sorry to say, ya get what ya pay for with most bike tires ... hard to beat Dunlop 606 tires, but I hear a lot of favorable comments on the much cheaper Kenda Trackmaster II tires ... I may try them next

That was what I was afraid of.....

My dilema is this, I commute with the BRP and also play in al sorts of conditions.

I really want something that will grab both in a straight line and laterally in the dirt. Hence the nobbie which has made a world of difference in the rough but is wearing out pretty fast (compared to what I expected). The difference is palpable considering I still have the IRC baja front tire on (darn thing just wont wear out ) and it is dramatically less laterally stable then the rear in the dirt. So maybe Ill have to try out the D606

Thanks

[Red4x4neck]

Here and 4strokes are the places for tire talk.

Yahoo XRLUG group is very good as well.

The big ? is, how aggressive a tire do you want?

Do you want the tire to be the best in the dirt (and still be street legal) or do you need a more normal-terrain-won't-see-much-sand-or-mud tire?

I haven't seen any compund info, you need to talk to those that have used the tires.

I like the pirelli MT21s and for all-out traction in the sand and the gooze the teraflex is the reigning champ.

The MT21s are good for 1000-2000 miles of decent dirt traction.

D

Well to summ I want a good performer in the dirt with the ability to last a little longer on the road wear-wise. I am not terribly concerned with road manners as long as they aren't atrocious.

Thanks for the reply

[LotsOfBikes]

I run an IRC VE-33 on the rear of all of my dual sports for about 3000 miles.. Not only are they not street legal, they are leftovers from being used on my CR500 for a race or two, with a few hundred miles of practice.

I havent bought a new rear tire for my 650L since some time in 1999.

Cheap, long lasting, reusable..

I've worn out Pirelli MT21's in one tank of gas!!