Jump to content
IGNORED

Dual Sport Tire Wear


Bill_Walker

Recommended Posts

Apologies in advance, because this has nothing to do with a GS. But that's true of many threads in this subforum, so I figured it would be OK, and this would be where the dual-sport gurus would hang out.

 

I have very little dual-sport experience. I've got a 2012 Kawasaki KLX250S dual sport that I bought used with 3719 miles on it. I bought it mainly for the commute to my volunteer gig, which is 38 miles of pavement, much of it on fun, twisty roads, followed by 1.2 miles of washboard dirt road, one way. It came with a set of Dunlop D605 bias-ply tires on it. They looked pretty new. I'm not sure if the dealer installed new ones, or if they were the originals, or if the PO took them off right away and re-installed them before trading the bike in. At any rate, I put 3653 miles on them, and they wore pretty evenly.

 

When it came time to replace them, I'd been pretty happy with them (I was frankly surprised at how well they stuck on pavement), so I wanted the same thing. Either the D605 is no longer available, or it's OEM-only, and Dunlop recommends the radial D606 for the bike. So I go with those. Now, 2314 miles later, I've got some weird wear that I didn't see with the 605s.

 

My front tire, after 2314 miles, looks like this (front is to the right):

24716256298_b978202f87_z.jpg

 

Meanwhile, the rear, after the same mileage, looks like this (also front to the right):

24716256748_67a90f1f37_z.jpg

 

The vibration from this front tire is getting really bad. This is the first time I've ever worn out a front tire before a rear on any bike. But then, this is the first bike I've had with only 20 horsepower. There are definitely some heavy braking zones on my usual ride, which I suspect is what accounts for the sloped wear of the knobs on the front tire. But I was riding the same on the 605s. Have you seen wear like this? Do you think the difference is down to the difference between bias-ply and radial, or is it just a different compound between the OEM and aftermarket tires?

 

Any tire recommendations for Southwestern terrain use? By rights, for the use I've given it so far, I know I ought to be riding it on ADV-style 90/10 tires. But I have hopes of finding someone in San Diego to do some light dual-sport riding with, and frankly, I want all the traction I can get on the dirt section of my commute (I'm a little leery about it after breaking my collarbone in 2009). So I plan to stick with DOT knobbies. Tire sizes are 90/90R-21 front, 120/90R-18 rear (or 3.00-21/4.60-18 for bias).

 

Link to comment

 

The vibration from this front tire is getting really bad. This is the first time I've ever worn out a front tire before a rear on any bike. But then, this is the first bike I've had with only 20 horsepower. There are definitely some heavy braking zones on my usual ride, which I suspect is what accounts for the sloped wear of the knobs on the front tire. But I was riding the same on the 605s. Have you seen wear like this? Do you think the difference is down to the difference between bias-ply and radial, or is it just a different compound between the OEM and aftermarket tires?

Any tire recommendations for Southwestern terrain use? By rights, for the use I've given it so far, I know I ought to be riding it on ADV-style 90/10 tires. But I have hopes of finding someone in San Diego to do some light dual-sport riding with, and frankly, I want all the traction I can get on the dirt section of my commute (I'm a little leery about it after breaking my collarbone in 2009). So I plan to stick with DOT knobbies. Tire sizes are 90/90R-21 front, 120/90R-18 rear (or 3.00-21/4.60-18 for bias).

 

Evening Bill

 

I get the same front tire wear on all my knobbies that I ride hard on pavement (even to some extent on hardpackd gravel roads).

 

That wear is mostly from braking as that causes the knobs to distort & squish then wear angular.

 

If I feel energetic I will swap front tire rotation direction at about 1/2 wear & that usually evens the wear back out.

 

For my riding style (or lack there of) that is usually fast off-road & somewhat fast on-road I get the best wear from the TKC80 & they work fairly decent on gravel & hard dirt (not the best in deep sugar sand or real deep loose gravel though, but then again, no tire really is).

 

For me personally the TKC80 are a good compromise of off-road traction, decent on-road wear, wet braking, & on-road handling (downside is the TKC80 are more expensive). Even so I usually have to reverse the tire rotational direction at about 1/2 wear. The TKC80 seem to work very good on worn gravel roads (not a lot of loose gravel) & also work good on hard packed dirt or clay. They will pack up on wet sticky clay but most DOT legal tires do that.

 

I keep trying different knobbies, some cheap, some expensive, & some new knob/profile designs but somehow keep coming back to my tried & true TKC80.

 

For deep/deep sugar sand off-road (single track) or deep sticky mud I will sometimes swap on a true wide spaced non DOT knobby to keep up with the faster riders in the off-road sections but those don't stay on when I return to normal on-road & hard pack off-road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by dirtrider
Link to comment

Bill, I can't comment on the wear pattern, but I can give a +1 to the TKC80. That's what I used on my F650 for the last 2/3 of the Alaska trip. I was completely satisfied with them on medium/hard dirt and was pleasantly surprised at the excellent pavement performance . They also seemed to wear nicely.

Link to comment
OK, so how about mixing brands? Can I run a TKC80 on the front while running a D605 on the rear?

 

Morning Bill

 

Shouldn't be a problem-- I haven't ever run a D 605/ TKC80 combination but have definitely used a D 606 ® / TKC80 (f) combination a number of times.

 

As far as I can tell from many years mixing & matching the Continental TKC80 front tire is that it will pretty well get along with most any rear tire. At maximum lean at high speed the TKC 80 will probably take a slightly different slip path than the rear spaced knobby but it should be easy to control (looking at your tire pictures above it doesn't look like maximum lean should be an issue).

 

I have seen some nice on-line sales on the 90/90-21 Continental TKC80 lately so might be a good time to try one.

 

Most 21" motorcycle rims are not tubeless-tire rims so have shallow non-retaining rim lips therefore making at-home (or on-the-road) bead breaking & tire mounting pretty darn easy.

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment

Another TKC80 fan, again not cheap but I think are still the best compromise out there, and really you're asking it to do opposite tasks. Because on big and powerful bikes the rear wears roughly twice as fast as fronts I usually run a Tourance on back which is in the ballpark for front wear. Obviously not as much traction as a TKC but mud is about the only place you really 'need' it.

 

On the klx though you may get decent mileage out of one because heat, speed, and power is what kills the rear. If you do go with mixed front and rear take a little time to notice how each end of the bike works on pavement, it may be slightly different though nothing you can't deal with.

 

I'm not a big fan of 606's, they're fine in dirt but are really loud on pavement, at least in a straight line.

Edited by roadscholar
Link to comment

MT21's. Have been using them for years as well as most of my friends on dual sport trips. Roll nice on pavement and handle pretty well on the street due to the larger blocks.

Link to comment
I'm not a big fan of 606's, they're fine in dirt but are really loud on pavement, at least in a straight line.

 

Yeah, that was the first thing I noticed when I put them on. Way louder than the visually similar 605s, for some reason.

 

Link to comment
I'm not a big fan of 606's, they're fine in dirt but are really loud on pavement, at least in a straight line.

 

Yeah, that was the first thing I noticed when I put them on. Way louder than the visually similar 605s, for some reason.

 

And oddly just going straight, as soon as they're slightly off center the howl goes away.

 

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

I installed a TKC80 today and took about a 19-mile test ride. First impressions: smooth and quiet! I didn't get a chance to push it hard enough to judge cornering grip, nor did I get off pavement.

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...