tires for the tt250
 

what is everyone running for tires and what tire sizes fit the tt250/hawk? i do about 60%road and 40% offroad mostly sugar sand and rocky trails sorta mountain ish too.

Good question. I'm still running stock nobbies but I'm interested and seeing what others are running on front too for the soft sand. That's about the only issue I have.

Oddly enough, I'm really happy with the stock TT250 tires. No complaints. Much nicer than knobbies on pavement and more than acceptable for dirt roads and trails.

The most popular 50/50 tire on the Hawks tends to be the Shinko 244 or the Kenda K270 (basically the same tire). I went with the Shinko 700, which is a 60/40 and also gets great reviews by most dual sport owners that run them. In either case, the tires do well on the types of surfaces you described when aired down a little bit. About the only area they don't really do the best in is mud, but that is kind of true across the board with this style of tire.

I'm ordering the Shinko 804 or 805, or the Conti TKC80.

Jenny Morgan used the Conti's to complete the Rubicon on a Honda 500X and then Moab on a 310 BMW. She rode to and from the trails something like 2,000 miles paved each way each time.

I'm sold!

the best way to ride soft sand is ride faster than you want to...
stay on top... the second the front wheel starts plowering is
when the problums start.
i hate sand..never get a chance to ride it often...

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Just got some shinko 244's for the TT250. I've run them when I had a KLR650 and liked them. They wear well and are good on pavement and dirt, gravel, etc.

Those are on my shortlist Big Red, glad to hear you like them.

244 and 270...tryed the 244...
after i just about tossed the 660R away
twice it came off with 2mm of wear..
silly little blocks flex and put very little
rubber on the ground..

Shenko 700.. bigger blocks that don't flex "as much"
side blocks are bridged to help stop block flex when
leaned... and the same applys for gravel...no grip on the marbles "stones"
the grip is in the hard base under the gravel = rubber on the ground
as it is usaly far to hard for a nobbly to pentrate so you end up riding
on the top of the nobbs...



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I've got the Shinko 705's on the DR and really like them, but they're absolutely terrible in the sand. They do really well on the rocks, though. Most of my DR riding is on road, and much improved trails. I have the stock knobbies on the Hawk, and I'm going to replace both tires with 705's when the rear tire wears down. The front tire has very little wear, even an three-thousand-odd miles. I'll post it in the classifieds section when I get new rubber, if anyone is interested in a stock front tire.

since 90% of the time im on sand i was thinking id go with and icr tr8 battle rally in the front https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...XRRCX4P2&psc=1
and a kenda 760 track master 2 in the rear https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...2QX59NLJ&psc=1
tho i have really liked the stock rear tire i may just get another one of them since i got almost 3k miles on the first one but they are the same price as the track master pritty much and i think it would be better yet in the sand and mud. im not worried about loosing performance on the road since i dont ride that aggressive on the highway or around town and the bike doesnt have enough power id think to rip off the nobbies :lmao:

Rear tyres a good choice...
the front I never buy tyres with inline kob pattens..
they tend to slide easyer than tyre with staggered
side nobs..

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In the days of my youth, we switched out to a 4.00X19 front for events held on desert sand. These were heavier bikes then what are ridden now, though. Also, nowadays I would think that off road tires in that size would be hard to find...ARH

well it needs to be a rather agressive front tire i dont trust shinkos to be better than stock in sand so what would you recommend pete ?

I've also been pleasantly surprised by how well the stock Chinese rubber has performed on and off road for the TT250. I need to replace the rear on mine and have wondered if I'd stick with the stock or look at something else. I love the Shinko 705 on my CB500X on gravel but I think it's probably too tame for trail riding on the TT250. Seem to be a lot of options. I don't want to give up the street performance which I love on the stock TT250 rubber but a little more trail performance would be nice. We have a fair bit of sand around here too but few rocks and no mountains.

I nearly bit the bullet today. Rolling at 15 mph on a basic wet dirt road. Front washed out so quick on me I had no time to react. Only my knee jerk reaction of the foot getting to the ground with the bikes weight pounding behind it kept me from dropping it. It was like hitting black ice on the highway. Reaffirms my thoughts that these type of 80/20 tires are just exactly that. 60/40 rating is the way to go. As soon as you throw any wetness or gravel at these tires they stop doing their job. I pulled over right after and the pattern on both were completely caked over. In actual mud.. it’s lights out.

To bad! I just wasted a half hour looking up front tires for you only to find out you don't like Shinko tires. I was going to recommend that you go to a 3.00X21 to get more flotation, and I'd be tempted to try a Shinko SR 241. It has three lugs across blocked by a half lug on either shoulder. Two other Shinko's worth looking at are the Shinko 700 and their 216 Series. These three tires attack this problem from three different angles. I think these will work in dry sugar sand. For damp sand under 1 or 2 inches of dry sand, you need lugs spaced farther apart and taller...ARH:)

Goldetyre / Gibson ...GT 216 full knobbly..
go for 90/100/21 or 100/100/21....big and fat..

These ====> http://goldentyre.co.nz/

You will need to find a US surplyer and order online
these tyres arn't normaly sold in shops..

Another point most don't know...The FIM rated tyres have very small nobs
only 13mm tall...


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i guess im not fully against shinko tires just comeing from a single track enduro raceing back ground i look for the most aggressive style tires i can find for off road since im basically useing this bike to trail ride around the upper peninsula of Michigan while being legal to ride the road when need be. sometimes its a 1 hr ride on road to get to the trail heads i want to hit that weekend so i cant fully sacrifice all the road capabilities .... :crazy: such is dual sport rideing always trying to find that perfect in between :hmm:

pete what do you think of this front tire? https://www.amazon.com/MOTOZ-Tractio...ds=21+tire+dot

Since you come from a "racing enduro background" one of these could work for you. A Pirelli MT 43 front is what I'd choose, especially if I had to ride on pavement very far to get to the trail I wanted to ride. And I don't ride as fast as you do...ARH :p

I believe the mixed set he talks about at the end is probably one of our best options. The 805’s or TKC80’s are what I’m liking but definitely considering the Pirelli offerings.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N_2y9LSxbvQ

i find that interesting... i have had almost no issues with that with my shinko onroad scooter tires (ninja 250 rim supermoto conversion) whilst dual sporting... i have run creekbeds, mud pits, wet grass, muddy washes uphill, etc with these and had minimal issues...

https://cdn.wpsstatic.com/images/100...5d35352e9b.jpg

so many tires sooo hard to choose :cry: well im down to 3 choices thanks to all of you 1 the most likely ill choose is a kenda track master in the rear https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...2QX59NLJ&psc=1
and a motoz tractionator in the front https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...CWI1WBOD&psc=1

second choice that also i like alot is the pirelli mt21 thanks to chiptoothy for both front and rear. tho they are slightly more expensive

and my last choice that i think are slightly better for the longer road rides is a irc tr8 battle rally in the front and a motoz mountain hybrid in the rear https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...XRRCX4P2&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...CWI1WBOD&psc=1


thanks for all the help guys ill let you know in the spring what i choose and how well they perform !

I have never used MotoZ tyres..
But people who have seem to rate them..

Kenda make there version of the mountain hybred..

The tyres I use are..

dirt..
Golden tyre 333 or 216 front & 230 rear..
Michelin AC10 rear..

ADV
Shinko 700 front & rear..

trials
Dunlop 803 front & rear..



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going with kenda k760 track master 2's front and rear got an awsome price at my local shop 38$ for the front and 51$ for the rear tire cant wait to try them out this spring

I have heard good things about the K760. Honestly, that is probably the closest thing on the market to a stock Hawk tire there is.

im not sure if the hawk has different tires from the tt250 but as far as the front tire goes its far more aggressive looking with its staggered side tread rather than the inline v formation the stock front has the rear is similair but same thing staggered side tread and not a v formation for the price i couldnt argue and im hopeing they will perform better in the sand for me

The current TT250 from the factory gets something more akin to a 50/50 or 80/40 tire while the Hawk gets a 90/10 similar to the K760.

let us know what you end up getting and how well you like them. My TT250 is going to be run probably 95% dirt/gravel/cinder roads, wet and dry. Sounds like I will be at least wanting to change out the front tire if you are experiencing washouts easily.

if you are washing out easly.. get your b _ _ _ s on the tank.. keep your weight above the bikes centre line.. weight the out side peg.. and push it down...it will go where you want..


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The seller of them there tyres is from "The Hood/Bronx" lol

What the hell are you on about....... the US seller/importer ?
Golden tyres are made in Italy..


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It took me awhile to settle on tires for my Victory(I don't ride it like most people ride touring bikes .. ;) ) I use Avon Cobras.
Now I'm entering a whole new world of dual-sport tires...I hate to say it but I think finding the right tires is going to be a huge pain in the ass...
The Pitster is sporting a pair of non-DOT Kendas form the factory. I don't suppose they are going to last long and since I'll be doing some commuting\riding to the trails and I'll need DOT tires to pass CT inspection...I've been looking into "what tires?" since before I had the bike...I still don't have an answer. I'll leaning toward a Kenda K760 rear and the IRC TC8 up front...

NZ importer or website said Ngariwaia near Huntley
That’s the hood/Bronx

They were....
Now Paul here in Christchurch is the golden tyre importer

https://www.motomox.co.nz/


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for price point id go kenda k760 but ive also seen that the Michelin ac10 series are very good too just quite a bit more expensive .... im going to try the kenda's out first and if i have any more problems with washing out in sand ill spend the extra money on ac10's since they have a better rateing on sand after more reading on thumper talk the tr8 battle rally's have a bad problem with front tire wandering and washing out due to the in line tire tread . trust me i want to like them too but i gave up on them after talking to the klr riders on thumper talk

AC10 rear are great...
AC10 front is rubbish...


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good to know but y are they rubbish ?

The front is a very narrow tyre..
they don't seem to track straight on slippery ground
makes it quit hard to ride the mounds between wheel ruts..
I know most tyre have there issues on slippery ground but
the AC10 seems to have more than others..
on firm / hard dry they are ok... they just don't like wet slippery stuff..


The AC10 rear is a combination of Michelins 3 best tyres.. if you look at tread
you will see 3 different tread patterns / block patterns... 3 sections of each around the tyre..


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