Shinko 244 question
 

Looking at replacing the tires on my bike and wanted to know how much of an improvement the shinko 244's are over the the stock? Basically should I wait tell my stock tires are worn out or go ahead and replace them now?

Nick, I still have the stock knobbies on my Hawk. The rear is down to about half tread, and the front is barely showing any signs of wear at all. I have a touch over 2,000 miles on my Hawk. I can tell you that the Shinko's will be a big improvement as far as life goes, but I can't speak to the handling characteristics for the 244's on the Hawk at all. I have a set of 705's on my DR-650, and I really like them. They're tons more manageable on the highway, and still scrappy enough to get me off the beaten path at least a little bit. If you're in a "money's no object" situation, I would say two things: 1st, Congratulations, it must be nice. 2nd, go ahead and replace them. I personally am wearing out my stock tires before I go through the hassle of mounting up a new set of tires. Since I primarily use my Hawk on the street for around town errands, the knobbies aren't going to last very long at all. Hope this helps.

im about where you are and this is what mine will look like when i replace them!

Tim - I feel you on that one! I try to squeeze every mile I can safely get out of motorcycle tires. I don't really know why I run them down that low, it's not like they're super expensive. Hell, I can order a complete set of front and rear tires for the Hawk and still not hit the 'Free Shipping on Orders Over $99' threshold. :ohno: I'm going to have to buy a new rear tire for the DR, as well as a new rear tire for the Ural pretty soon, so I'll probably just get everything all at once.

If you do any sort of road riding,then I say replace them if it wont hurt your budget at all. I, like Emerikol, mainly use my Hawk on the road, but I also like to have a little fun on a dirt path here and there, so I went with a set of 705's. Best move I ever made. There is nothing wrong with the stock tires, but they also arent ideal for road use either. The 244s or even the Shinko 700 are great 50/50 and 60/40 tires. They will be smoother and a bit more sure footed on the road and still do a good job off road.

I wouldn't put a 244 on a wheelborrow...
244 has to smaller nobbs/blocks they flex to much on the road
while cornering..
get something like a 700 that has bigger more stable blocks
and the side blocks are bridged to stop flex while lent over..


..

I've run 244s on my TT250 for a while. They're okay; plenty of grip, but they wear fast on asphalt.

I think I'll stick some 705s on there next, as the bike is now mostly on the roads.

I've found the 244 to be a little squirrelly when new but it gets better after a few hundred miles. The 705 is a much better street tire but it's harder to fix a flat because its much stiffer.

I ran through a set of 244's on my TT and got about 6K miles out of the rear riding mostly on the road. I never had any issues with the handling of them on the pavement except if you pushed hard in the wet they would slide a bit but other than that they were great. The times that I took them off road I was riding mostly on sandy roads and they handled it fine even though the rear was close to the end of it's life. Now I don't know how well they would handle mud but for what I used them for they were great.

I have over 3k miles on my 2015 Hawk and I have a set of 244s sitting in a box waiting to be put on. I think I have a couple of hundred miles left in the stock knobbys and I'll run them completely down before I put the new set on. The stock tires were squirrely for the first couple of hundred miles, but settled down with a little wear and some experience with their handling. I've done a majority of my time on the road, and I think they've done just fine. That said, I don't ride in the rain or push the handling.

Even though I'm probably 75-80% road use, I went with the 244s to be a little more aggressive when I do leave the pavement. I can live with the shorter life and reduced handling tradeoff to have a little better off-road tread when I need it.

There seems to be a lot of good, affordable choices with different road/off-road percentages to fit any usage case, but I myself wouldn't be in a rush to lose the stock knobbys unless you really feel they're a complete mismatch for where you're going to ride.

but im just crazy too. i went on a 3 month 18,330 mile trip with one of the front tires on my truck showing metal and the other front ready to show any time. made it 9000 miles before it started bouncing. about mid canada. pulled in canadian tire and was on the road within two hours. the other front made it till i got 900 from home pulled into a walmart and spent the night in kentucky and next morning was going again! nuts i say so pay no attention to me!!!!:crazy:

Your not nuts, you just like living on the edge. lol

The funny thing is, the percentages don't always tell the true story of the tire.

The 705 is an 80/20 tire, yet does pretty well in everything but mud or wet sand. In dry sand, gravel, and loose dirt they perform much better than you would expect. Obviously not perfectly, but you have a lot more traction than you would think. They have performed far better than I expected them to for sure.

As far as the 700 vs. 244. I think either tire would be a great choice. The 700 is a heavier carcass, just like the 705. The 244 will have a little bit more tread squirm due to it's knob design.

Either tire will be a better on-road tire than the stock knobby tires.

Thanks everyone for all the information. Im going to order the 700's, sounds like they will be nore street friendly but handle almost everything ill throw at them off road.

Had the Shinko 244's on my KLR and really like the tire for both wear and performance even on pavement. Decent off-road, not so good in sand and tended to pack up in the mud. Have the Kenda 270's (practically the same tread pattern) on the RX3 and get a little squirrely from time to time. Will be looking shortly for the tt250. My commute soon will be a mix of hard packed dirt, some looser gravel and pavement. Was thinking of going with the 705's but might need a little more aggressive tread if the dirt get's a little sloppy or snowy. Will more likely go with the 244's or 700's

Rojo