I took my new Lifan X-pect on its first muddy off-road trip (pics)

[TominMO]

How hard would it be to order up a new pair of hubs and have better/wider rims installed? Is there anything about the spoke pattern that is specific to Chinese bikes? That way you have stock tires for road/light trail use and serious offroad tires as well, i.e. DOT-approved knobbies.

Or, plan B, when the stock tires need replacing, just ditch the stock rims and get wider high-quality 21" and 18" ones laced up.

[KSSK]

Originally Posted by duck9191

My tiger 900 rally came with battleax a41's, I would not recommend them. They are useless in any mud and hardly passable on gravel. They are an ok road tire, a bit noisy.

I already ordered the AX41 tires a couple days ago and they're on the way. I guess I'll find out.

[KSSK]

Originally Posted by Bruces

It shouldn’t be a surprise ,the much better looking members have been pointing out the tire size issues for years .Check out Boatguy’s own thread “Are China bikes for me “ where a pair of good looking members pointed it out in post 8 and the bottom of the first page very clearly .

I did a good amount of research before buying mine. I remember seeing some comments about the tire size, but no one I saw talked about the real problem being how skinny the wheels are.

If they had used 2.15" wide front and 2.5" rear rims, which are standard for the tire sizes it uses, then it would be very easy to find common tire sizes that are close to the original size and would work fine on the rim.

[duck9191]

Originally Posted by KSSK

I already ordered the AX41 tires a couple days ago and they're on the way. I guess I'll find out.

A41's or ax41's? The a41's are trash, the ax41 looks OK. The 41's were linked in a earlier post. The rear a41 does better than I anticipated, it spins a lot but still keeps moving, the front is worthless off road. If it's dry hard packed dirt /gravle it's usable, but if it's wet at all you are left to steer with the rear because it will just push or washout the front. Might be better on a lighter bike but I doubt by much.

[KSSK]

Originally Posted by duck9191

A41's or ax41's? The a41's are trash, the ax41 looks OK. The 41's were linked in a earlier post. The rear a41 does better than I anticipated, it spins a lot but still keeps moving, the front is worthless off road. If it's dry hard packed dirt /gravle it's usable, but if it's wet at all you are left to steer with the rear because it will just push or washout the front. Might be better on a lighter bike but I doubt by much.

You're right, I misread the post.

I ordered the AX41, not the A41. I chose the AX41 based on good reviews that say it works well on and off road but has short treadlife. I'm OK with short treadlife as I won't put that many miles on.

[grhanka]

I bought the brozz/recon knobby tires for my TBR7, and never regretted it. Road traction seems just as good, though I imagine the tread will only last half as long, and mud traction is way better.