[johjon]

I am new to this forum and also new to trail riding in general. I just bought a 2013 TW last November and would like to pose a question to this panel of TW aficionados. I have been enjoying reading all the different postings on this site and have learned a lot from all the on-going dialogs for many topics, including what I would like to hear a little more about…….. “Front Tire” choices. I now have 280 miles on my new TW (still breaking in the engine) mostly paved back-roads miles. Yesterday I went riding with some friends and finally put the TW on its first real trail ride. It was a 20 mile trek through DNR land which covered lots of different terrain; some single track trails, un-maintained rut filled gravel roads with 1 inch gravel up to fist size and bigger rocks, mud, wet grass, wet leaves, and then snow (3-4 inches). I have stock tires; riding, the rear tire seemed fairly solid and predictable in all those environments but, and by reading your comments it was no big surprise that the front tire did not do so well particularly the mud and snow was a bit exciting to say the least. The front tire might as well have not had any tread on it at all. It felt very precarious it was all over the place, I felt my first crash & burn was imminent most of the time, I did manage not to crash.



So, again, after reading some of your comments regarding front tire choices it looked like one of the top contenders was the Shinko SR244, in particular the 5.10-18. So, here are my questions to you, now that some of you have used that tire for a while, I would love to hear your feedback on how you like that tire for the terrain that I just described. I of course also drive the TW on the pavement but I am most concerned about good control on the trails. Any of you that have used the Shinko sr244 for a while now, are you happy with the tire? Does the tire feel predicable in the slippery stuff? Do you like the 5.10 size? I would appreciate your feedback on your experience with this tire. Thank you, JJ. And, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Long live the TW

 

[rm_hm]

The front tire MEGA thread



http://tw200forum.co...t-tire-choices/



I still love my Kenda K270



Best things you can do is get rid of that stock "Deathwing" tire and throw a quality chain on



DNR land huh, where do you keep your discover pass?

 

[small's]

The shinko and kenda will feel totally different at first and i hated the shinko thr first day i had it on my bike. I almost took it off, but i said i should wait until i get used to it and then decide. Well im glad i didnt take it off. The bad is the front is heavier and its harder to get the front wheel up if needed but hey its a tw. I have the 5.10 shinko and have put it on both bikes ive had. As far as traction off road goes there is no comparison. When going down hill offroad you dont get that washout when you touch the front brakes like you do with the stock tire. On gavel it feels a little different. It will float around a little bit at higher speeds but ive never had it was out. It felt really odd on pavement at first. When leaning into a corner it felt like it would be ok then kind of roll over quick likes it falling into the corner. Back in October a friEnd and i rode from Indianapolis to west virginia, virginia, NC, Tennessee, kentucky and back home. 1567 miles. We road from knoxville TN to Indianapolis IN on interstate 75 at 60-65mph and it did fine. It will stick to the pavement in a corner way farther over than most people will ever take it. You can easily scrape your boots. We hit the dragons tail on our trip and made some guys on real road bikes feel bad. We were tooling along highway 28 heading to the dragons tail and i seen a hi-viz helmet coming up and passed my buddy so i waved him to pass me. When he went around us it was a guy on a 250 aprilia scooter and i thought oh heck this could be fun. So we all passed a car and took off like bandits. Its was the most fun ive had on the road ever including sport bikes. We were so close on power to weight that we couldnt gain/pull each other and we road the piss out of these little slow bikes. He was less than 1/2" from scraping his side cases in the corners and i was scraping my boots. We passed at least 10 bike in 15 miles of nothing but corner after corner of pavement: when we hit the store at the dragon a few guys came over and were impressed with how well we were going through the corners. Theses two tires really do everything very well and will last a long time.

 

[RockyTFS]

So, again, after reading some of your comments regarding front tire choices it looked like one of the top contenders was the Shinko SR244, in particular the 5.10-18. So, here are my questions to you, now that some of you have used that tire for a while, I would love to hear your feedback on how you like that tire for the terrain that I just described.

See this thread, post #3, on why I chose the Kenda 270 in a narrower width:

http://tw200forum.com/index.php?/to...p__48196__hl__rocky__fromsearch__1#entry48196



I was quite concerned about the weight, and so far my choice has turned out to be the right compromise, a huge improvement over stock. It was a close decision and I'm sure the Shinko would also work very well for you.

 

[admiral]

Truthfully, it sounds like either Kenda 270 or Shinko SR 244 in whatever width will work for you just fine in the elements and road conditions you've described. Both are so much better than the stock. I use the 5.10 Shinko and tend to like lower tire pressure in any off-pavement condition, but you'll have your own opinion on that when the time comes I'm betting.



For me snow is a whole different animal. Shinko is better than the stock tire, but still not that great.

 

[johjon]

The front tire MEGA thread



http://tw200forum.co...t-tire-choices/



I still love my Kenda K270



Best things you can do is get rid of that stock "Deathwing" tire and throw a quality chain on



DNR land huh, where do you keep your discover pass?

Ha Ha, well the trick is to just keep moving.

Yes, I have seen this thread. Looking at the pic’s anyway, the Kenda k270 looks like a more aggressive tread than the Shinko 244. I am hoping for a tire that will hang on in the loose stuff and not feel like I’m riding on banana peels which is what the stock tire felt like to me. I hope I can find a local dealer that I can see these tires in person.



Thanks, JJ

 

[johjon]

Truthfully, it sounds like either Kenda 270 or Shinko SR 244 in whatever width will work for you just fine in the elements and road conditions you've described. Both are so much better than the stock. I use the 5.10 Shinko and tend to like lower tire pressure in any off-pavement condition, but you'll have your own opinion on that when the time comes I'm betting.



For me snow is a whole different animal. Shinko is better than the stock tire, but still not that great.

I don't plan on going in the snow much (on purpose anyway), it wasn't my idea that day, my friends were on quad bikes. I guess they thought it would be fun to see how the "newbie" would handle trying to follow them in the snow.

 

[johjon]

The shinko and kenda will feel totally different at first and i hated the shinko thr first day i had it on my bike. I almost took it off, but i said i should wait until i get used to it and then decide. Well im glad i didnt take it off. The bad is the front is heavier and its harder to get the front wheel up if needed but hey its a tw. I have the 5.10 shinko and have put it on both bikes ive had. As far as traction off road goes there is no comparison. When going down hill offroad you dont get that washout when you touch the front brakes like you do with the stock tire. On gavel it feels a little different. It will float around a little bit at higher speeds but ive never had it was out. It felt really odd on pavement at first. When leaning into a corner it felt like it would be ok then kind of roll over quick likes it falling into the corner. Back in October a friEnd and i rode from Indianapolis to west virginia, virginia, NC, Tennessee, kentucky and back home. 1567 miles. We road from knoxville TN to Indianapolis IN on interstate 75 at 60-65mph and it did fine. It will stick to the pavement in a corner way farther over than most people will ever take it. You can easily scrape your boots. We hit the dragons tail on our trip and made some guys on real road bikes feel bad. We were tooling along highway 28 heading to the dragons tail and i seen a hi-viz helmet coming up and passed my buddy so i waved him to pass me. When he went around us it was a guy on a 250 aprilia scooter and i thought oh heck this could be fun. So we all passed a car and took off like bandits. Its was the most fun ive had on the road ever including sport bikes. We were so close on power to weight that we couldnt gain/pull each other and we road the piss out of these little slow bikes. He was less than 1/2" from scraping his side cases in the corners and i was scraping my boots. We passed at least 10 bike in 15 miles of nothing but corner after corner of pavement: when we hit the store at the dragon a few guys came over and were impressed with how well we were going through the corners. Theses two tires really do everything very well and will last a long time.

Sounds like it was an epic adventure!

So, the 5.10, is that supposed to be equivalent to our stock size 130/80? Also, did you stay with the stock rear tire in combination with the Shinko 5.10?

_JJ

 

[old mad max]

The shinko and kenda will feel totally different at first and i hated the shinko thr first day i had it on my bike. I almost took it off, but i said i should wait until i get used to it and then decide. Well im glad i didnt take it off. The bad is the front is heavier and its harder to get the front wheel up if needed but hey its a tw. I have the 5.10 shinko and have put it on both bikes ive had. As far as traction off road goes there is no comparison. When going down hill offroad you dont get that washout when you touch the front brakes like you do with the stock tire. On gavel it feels a little different. It will float around a little bit at higher speeds but ive never had it was out. It felt really odd on pavement at first. When leaning into a corner it felt like it would be ok then kind of roll over quick likes it falling into the corner. Back in October a friEnd and i rode from Indianapolis to west virginia, virginia, NC, Tennessee, kentucky and back home. 1567 miles. We road from knoxville TN to Indianapolis IN on interstate 75 at 60-65mph and it did fine. It will stick to the pavement in a corner way farther over than most people will ever take it. You can easily scrape your boots. We hit the dragons tail on our trip and made some guys on real road bikes feel bad. We were tooling along highway 28 heading to the dragons tail and i seen a hi-viz helmet coming up and passed my buddy so i waved him to pass me. When he went around us it was a guy on a 250 aprilia scooter and i thought oh heck this could be fun. So we all passed a car and took off like bandits. Its was the most fun ive had on the road ever including sport bikes. We were so close on power to weight that we couldnt gain/pull each other and we road the piss out of these little slow bikes. He was less than 1/2" from scraping his side cases in the corners and i was scraping my boots. We passed at least 10 bike in 15 miles of nothing but corner after corner of pavement: when we hit the store at the dragon a few guys came over and were impressed with how well we were going through the corners. Theses two tires really do everything very well and will last a long time.

My wife and I went on the tail & 28 this summer with our dubs................. "WHAT A BLAST". We had "0" problems keeping up with the legal speed limit. We did not push over it very far. I've heard of those back woods smokies and how they treat us blue coats. (o;

OMM.

 

[small's]

The 5.10 is bigger in width and about 3/4"+ taller. It will put your speedo almost dead on. I would like to try out a few tire sizes "4.60/4.50" but overall im happy with it. I am running the stock rear tire with the 5.10 shinko. For what i do its about the best setup. For others it could be a bighorn and a k760. It would be nice to have a few tw's all setup different.

 

[johjon]

The 5.10 is bigger in width and about 3/4"+ taller. It will put your speedo almost dead on. I would like to try out a few tire sizes "4.60/4.50" but overall im happy with it. I am running the stock rear tire with the 5.10 shinko. For what i do its about the best setup. For others it could be a bighorn and a k760. It would be nice to have a few tw's all setup different.

Hmmmmmm, so the next size down listed for the Shinko's is a 4.60, does that make it the same then as the stock 130/80 or does that put it the other way, smaller?

 

[RockyTFS]

Hmmmmmm, so the next size down listed for the Shinko's is a 4.60, does that make it the same then as the stock 130/80 or does that put it the other way, smaller?

Try going to the Kenda site, they have a great page with all the 270 sizes, weights, circumference, and one that few put down, Tread Depth! Here you can really see the differences between sizes. Note that some 270's are 6 ply, some 4.



http://www.kendatire.com/en/home/motorcycle/dual-sport/k270-dual-sport.aspx



This was where I basically made up my mind to go with the 120/80-18......the 5.10-18 is almost 5 lbs heavier, and I felt the TW front end was heavy enough.



Unfortunately, Shinko does not provide as much information:



http://www.shinkotireusa.com/product/product.php?id=24





They are all good, but your intended riding may be more aggressive than mine and the 5.10 from either manufacturer might be the ticket for your style....I'm kind of a slow old fart and I don't do mud or sand if I can help it, so the narrower lighter tire was perfect for me. It still seemed VERY close to the stock width when compared side by side.

 

[johjon]

Try going to the Kenda site, they have a great page with all the 270 sizes, weights, circumference, and one that few put down, Tread Depth! Here you can really see the differences between sizes. Note that some 270's are 6 ply, some 4.



http://www.kendatire...dual-sport.aspx



This was where I basically made up my mind to go with the 120/80-18......the 5.10-18 is almost 5 lbs heavier, and I felt the TW front end was heavy enough.



Unfortunately, Shinko does not provide as much information:



http://www.shinkotir...oduct.php?id=24





They are all good, but your intended riding may be more aggressive than mine and the 5.10 from either manufacturer might be the ticket for your style....I'm kind of a slow old fart and I don't do mud or sand if I can help it, so the narrower lighter tire was perfect for me. It still seemed VERY close to the stock width when compared side by side.

I would say my style of riding at this point is survival morethan aggressive, I’m still very new to trail riding and just want to be able totackle what is put in front of me even if it is at a slow pace. I’m not into the speed of it all that is whyI too have the TW! Thank you for allyour help, at this time I am leaning toward the 5.10 size, but maybe if I get achance to see them side by side before I buy one that would help. The consensus from this group here is justabout anything will be better than the stock front tire.

 

[small's]

If your just tooling around and running over stuff i would go with the 5.10. More tire on the ground

 

[Phantom99]

The 5.10 is the closest to stock size. Less than 1 mm difference. It is heavier than the stocker, though. For me the Shinko 244 is just right, although I have not tried snow.

 

[johjon]

The 5.10 is the closest to stock size. Less than 1 mm difference. It is heavier than the stocker, though. For me the Shinko 244 is just right, although I have not tried snow.

Great, I want to keep close to the same size tire I just want more traction, and besides I love the way those big tires look on the TW.

 

[dganey]

My review of the IRC GP1. 1500 plus miles and very little wear.



http://tw200forum.com/index.php?/to...page__view__findpost__p__56597__fromsearch__1

 

[johjon]

Thank you for that extra IRC link that was helpful. I only have about 400 miles now on the new TW & tires but looks like at my 600 miles check-up I'll be adding the Shinko 244. I don't see any point waiting for the stock front tire to wear out first and risk the wash-out face-plant everytime something soft or gravelly comes along.

_JJ

 

[RockyTFS]

I don't see any point waiting for the stock front tire to wear out first and risk the wash-out face-plant everytime something soft or gravelly comes along.

_JJ

Damn right! I sure wish I hadn't waited until 4,000 miles to do mine! They don't call 'em "Death Wings" for nothing.

 

[Matty Moo]

I ordered a Shinko sr244 last night for mine. I haven't ridden my TW much since I bought it, but really wasn't a fan of how the front tire acted on the road at speed. I got used to it after a minute wouldn't want to deal with it daily once it gets warm.



We have the heaviest weight limits for trucks in the nation, so of course the road is going to have ruts in it. I don't mind being in the rut but don't like having the front end dance around while in it. It's like having a crackhead walk a straight line.