Aggressive nobbies on the front tire: Do they matter? - Page 2

flopsweat · 05-27-2022, 08:38 AM

Ok so I'm hearing the Tusk DSport everyone talks about seems to be far more off road oriented. Where does the Kenda Trackmaster 2 fall on the scale from there? Better or worse for street? Basically I want to not be at full adrenaline if I'm caught in the rain, but I'd really like to be able to feel confident on gravel or dirt the few times I can get out there. I know, this is the dilemma of the dual sport rider.

Just for giggles, does anyone know of something leaning the opposite way, like a really good street tire that can still keep you alive on a gravel or dirt road? I don't have plans to go supermoto but just was wondering what the other side of the coin would look like. I really have zero clue about anything tire related, if that isn't apparent.

Thumper · 05-27-2022, 05:45 PM

Adrenaline is a direct consequence of how you drive. I reserve all of the wild stuff for OFF road. On the road, I ride within the safe traction limits of the tires.

I should note here, though, when I was learning how to ride, I deliberately learned when the rear wheel would break out in all conditions. 100% Deliberately. And I learned to ride nearly 100% off road. Part of it was fun, and part of it was a learning exercise. It also taught me how the front tire washes out, and how to avoid/deal with it. I did the same learning how to jump, and wheelie. Busted up a few bikes. Got scraped up too. But I have owned more than 50 motorcycles now, and most of them were road bikes. I am giving that up.

I still do the same when I drive a car on the road in snow and ice. I test brakes and steering limits frequently in bad driving conditions on the road. I need to know how quickly I can avoid a bad driver that doesn't know these limits.

On a motorcycle, I just drive well within the limits of traction on the ROAD. The risk of injury is just too high. OFF ROAD is where you have the opportunity to really learn these limits and how to handle them.

Boatguy · 05-27-2022, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thumper

Adrenaline is a direct consequence of how you drive. I reserve all of the wild stuff for OFF road. On the road, I ride within the safe traction limits of the tires.

I should note here, though, when I was learning how to ride, I deliberately learned when the rear wheel would break out in all conditions. 100% Deliberately. And I learned to ride nearly 100% off road. Part of it was fun, and part of it was a learning exercise. It also taught me how the front tire washes out, and how to avoid/deal with it. I did the same learning how to jump, and wheelie. Busted up a few bikes. Got scraped up too. But I have owned more than 50 motorcycles now, and most of them were road bikes. I am giving that up.

I still do the same when I drive a car on the road in snow and ice. I test brakes and steering limits frequently in bad driving conditions on the road. I need to know how quickly I can avoid a bad driver that doesn't know these limits.

On a motorcycle, I just drive well within the limits of traction on the ROAD. The risk of injury is just too high. OFF ROAD is where you have the opportunity to really learn these limits and how to handle them.

Interesting. I wish I had the time on 2 wheels on dirt to be able to react like that.

Cars? Spent my entire teen and 20’s driving sideways. Mustang as first car in snow. LOL.

Mostly ride 3 wheelers in the dirt doing the same.

Can you ride a motorcycle like that and stay balanced??

Is there a way to just kind of steer into the wash out and keep the bike upright? Is that the skill you have? How did you develop it? By dumping all the bikes? Just finding it by trial and error?

Thumper · 05-27-2022, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boatguy

Interesting. I wish I had the time on 2 wheels on dirt to be able to react like that.

Cars? Spent my entire teen and 20’s driving sideways. Mustang as first car in snow. LOL.

Mostly ride 3 wheelers in the dirt doing the same.

Can you ride a motorcycle like that and stay balanced??

Is there a way to just kind of steer into the wash out and keep the bike upright? Is that the skill you have? How did you develop it? By dumping all the bikes? Just finding it by trial and error?

It is mostly a matter of practice, and the willingness to take chances. So as you can imagine, this is best done in teenage years when you have time and not worried about a scrape here and there! No one taught me. The motorcycle(s) taught me. But I had more time for riding back then! I do think that off road is the place to learn. Our 150cc-250cc 4 strokes are perfect. They are light, and peppy enough to slide around on. A 125 2-stroke is ideal. Ultra light, and more powerful.

Captcj68chris@aol. · 05-29-2022, 11:09 AM

Hi all. I have a tbr7. I put knobby tires front and rear to help with sand. Back tire definitely
Has more bite, but the front is still squirrelly in the sand! I understand that these are 300+
Pounds with a full tank " probably a lil more". I'm going to move onto shiko, kenda, when these wear out, and these WILL wear fast on the street

olds_cool63 · 05-30-2022, 12:33 AM

Like was asked earlier, what's a good pure road tire for this bike?

I want the "look" of a DS, but it would be for onroad use 99.9% of the time.

Boatguy · 05-30-2022, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thumper

It is mostly a matter of practice, and the willingness to take chances. So as you can imagine, this is best done in teenage years when you have time and not worried about a scrape here and there! No one taught me. The motorcycle(s) taught me. But I had more time for riding back then! I do think that off road is the place to learn. Our 150cc-250cc 4 strokes are perfect. They are light, and peppy enough to slide around on. A 125 2-stroke is ideal. Ultra light, and more powerful.

I was watching some videos on this stuff. At least I want to try some of the brake turns in the dirt. From these brake turns, which requires counter steering and balancing, maybe I can roll on some throttle on the way out of them to do what you do.

I’m not sure it’s definitely necessary to fall. Especially if you are in some softer stuff. I guess we will see. Lol

About a week ago I was doing some sliding and counter steering making a turn into a grocery store parking lot. Lol seriously. The road surface was dry. It was some weird kind of concrete with lots of rocks in it. And the rocks were kind of shaved off to make a level surface. I was taking the corner on that stuff to turn into a parking lot. I was decelerating, using my typical front and rear brake and engine compression to slow down. The rear wheel broke free in the middle of the turn and started sliding out around toward the front of the bike. I had to counter steer and manage the slide. I was able to. But it was a little shady. I was not expecting that. I think with more practice doing it off-road it will be helpful for situations like that in the future. Although on the road, I guess that rear tire can grip again quickly and throw you for a high side.

Thumper · 05-30-2022, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boatguy

...
...
I was decelerating, using my typical front and rear brake and engine compression to slow down. The rear wheel broke free in the middle of the turn and started sliding out around toward the front of the bike. I had to counter steer and manage the slide. I was able to. But it was a little shady. I was not expecting that. I think with more practice doing it off-road it will be helpful for situations like that in the future. Although on the road, I guess that rear tire can grip again quickly and throw you for a high side.

Exactly that! Unexpected situations is when that off-road practice kicks in. But the fact that you instinctively counter steered and corrected reveals your innate abilities. I wish my younger son had that. And yes, even off road the rear tire can catch unexpectedly, and you either manage to stay balanced while you straighten out, or get tossed. I've had it go either way (off-road). Pavement is less forgiving!

Oh, and I remember when I first experienced fully controlled two-wheel drift on my Katana GSX1100F on a curving road with pristine smooth blacktop. I was awestruck

Mettzler OEM tires, with 16" rims front and rear, long wheelbase. That engine has Mikuni flatslide rack as original equipment, and I had a Vance and Hines 4into1. It just honked!

HERE it is before I replaced the belly pan, full cowling. You can see the V&H pipe bluing. You should have heard that thing howl (it had a removable baffle too)

CGcloner229 · 05-30-2022, 10:39 AM

Might be pretty vibration at first but that's if you can even tell with her non counterbalance engines anyways you'll be glad for the Nobbies they wear down pretty fast if you do a lot of Street riding then they turn into aggressive-looking street tires LOL. Trust me if you plan on riding street just give it some miles to break in brotha

05-29-2022, 11:09 AM	#20
Captcj68chris@aol. Join Date: Mar 2020 Location: Bowling greenK.Y. elev. <1000 ft Posts: 93	Knobbies Hi all. I have a tbr7. I put knobby tires front and rear to help with sand. Back tire definitely Has more bite, but the front is still squirrelly in the sand! I understand that these are 300+ Pounds with a full tank " probably a lil more". I'm going to move onto shiko, kenda, when these wear out, and these WILL wear fast on the street
	1

05-30-2022, 12:33 AM	#21
olds_cool63 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Maricopa, AZ Posts: 159	Like was asked earlier, what's a good pure road tire for this bike? I want the "look" of a DS, but it would be for onroad use 99.9% of the time. __________________ Nuff said. olds_cool63 ======= Johnny Pag Pagsta (replaced 50cc engine with 110cc, modded-out) 2007 Tank Vision Topline Khaos (cosmetic mods, cherry-bombs) 2005 Kymco Vitality 50 2T (70cc big bore kit, other race mods...tops out at 67mph) 2008 Hyosung GT250 (cosmetic mods) 2001 Suzuki Bandit GFS1200S (cosmetic and slight mods...150mph+)
	0

05-27-2022, 08:38 AM	#16
flopsweat Join Date: Oct 2021 Location: The burbs of Chicago Posts: 235	Ok so I'm hearing the Tusk DSport everyone talks about seems to be far more off road oriented. Where does the Kenda Trackmaster 2 fall on the scale from there? Better or worse for street? Basically I want to not be at full adrenaline if I'm caught in the rain, but I'd really like to be able to feel confident on gravel or dirt the few times I can get out there. I know, this is the dilemma of the dual sport rider. Just for giggles, does anyone know of something leaning the opposite way, like a really good street tire that can still keep you alive on a gravel or dirt road? I don't have plans to go supermoto but just was wondering what the other side of the coin would look like. I really have zero clue about anything tire related, if that isn't apparent.
	0

05-27-2022, 05:45 PM	#17
Thumper Join Date: Feb 2021 Location: Kansas City Posts: 2,345	Adrenaline is a direct consequence of how you drive. I reserve all of the wild stuff for OFF road. On the road, I ride within the safe traction limits of the tires. I should note here, though, when I was learning how to ride, I deliberately learned when the rear wheel would break out in all conditions. 100% Deliberately. And I learned to ride nearly 100% off road. Part of it was fun, and part of it was a learning exercise. It also taught me how the front tire washes out, and how to avoid/deal with it. I did the same learning how to jump, and wheelie. Busted up a few bikes. Got scraped up too. But I have owned more than 50 motorcycles now, and most of them were road bikes. I am giving that up. I still do the same when I drive a car on the road in snow and ice. I test brakes and steering limits frequently in bad driving conditions on the road. I need to know how quickly I can avoid a bad driver that doesn't know these limits. On a motorcycle, I just drive well within the limits of traction on the ROAD. The risk of injury is just too high. OFF ROAD is where you have the opportunity to really learn these limits and how to handle them.
	1

05-30-2022, 10:39 AM	#24
CGcloner229 Join Date: Mar 2022 Posts: 68	Might be pretty vibration at first but that's if you can even tell with her non counterbalance engines anyways you'll be glad for the Nobbies they wear down pretty fast if you do a lot of Street riding then they turn into aggressive-looking street tires LOL. Trust me if you plan on riding street just give it some miles to break in brotha
	0