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I run rear trial (D803, Michelin) tire for 3 years now and I never tried the Pirelli MT43.

Mt43 PRO and mt43 is the same tire?

Mt43 is an offroad tire (trail) or trial or Hybrid?

Do Knobbies tends to fly of after 1000 miles or they stay on the tire?

Dunno about Mt43 pro, will look that up. 2+ years and probably 2-3k miles on my Mt43 with no cracked or missing knobs. It is not a competition trials tire, it is a trials style trail tire.

A friend of mine has a MT43 and has been happy with it on his KTM300 but it does not seem to work as well as the Michelin that I have. We have both been riding and for some reason the Michelin seemed to accept varied terrain better then the MT43 did with out messing with it. But by all means, try it and see what you think. I think I will stick with the Michelin.

Went 3000 miles with an IRC on very technical terrian.

The MT43 is actually dot approved for highway use, its tread compound is not as sticky or flexible as the irc, but is way more durable. After tryinig IRC and Michelin, I went back to the MT43, wears like iron and is a lot cheaper.

The Pirelli MT43 has trials tire style compound and knobs, but is a bias ply tire. The Michelin in a radial construction tire, a true trails tire. Radial construction is what gives real trials tires their phenomenal grip. They lay down a very long and wide footprint. This means that the Michelin side walls are very thin and flexible, and the Pirelli is very stiff, by comparison. Shinko, which is the bought out Yokohama company, has a trials tire called the Trial Pro 255. It is a true radial design carcass, and is available in a 110/90-18 size, at pricing similar to that of the MT-43, but it is *not* getting rave reviews. True trial tires are pretty expensive (around $100, for a tube type, and around $150 for a tubeless).
The Shinko and the Pirelli are the only two that are DOT approved, I think, unless you start looking at the old "Trials-Universal" designs, which look very similar, but are of bias ply construction, and only available in narrow widths.
I have not tried one yet, and I am not sure that I want to.....Maybe...

Have you tried the MT43? It is, as you said, not a trials tire. However, due to the stiffer sidewall and harder compound it does a better job at high speeds, especially cornering, as well as on asphalt, and during braking. At low pressure, it still lays down a very wide footprint, and wraps around objects very similarly to a true trials tire. Just IMO, of course.

I agree with Julien, IMO A true trials tire is designed for a lighter bike and slower speeds. The IRC and Michelin felt flat in a corner when ran with 8 lbs. of pressure, MT43 definetly the best all around feel, traction and durability.

I can under stand the MT43 having better traction at speed but then you are out of the trials tire's area of specialty. The Michelin I have does suck in the corners at speed and my friend with the MT43 did have better cornering then I did, But when it came to pure traction then the Michelin won. So it would depend on what you are looking for out of a tire. And is a trials tire even the best choice for what you ride?

The MT43 handels better in the corners because it is a stiffer tire with less flex. Flex = traction. Finding the happy medium is the tricky part.

Rbates, if there was a like button here, I'd like that post. For me, between a knobby and a trials tire, the mt43 is the happy medium. Half knobby, half trials tire, all perfect.

Many thanks for the info. The tire seems to be used by some of kdxer and that's why I asked. Now I really understand what this tire is.For now,I will buy one for my GasGas.The michelin x11 installed on my KDX is wearproof.

A friend of mine tested the Mt43 at our yesterday's 4 hour endurance on his CRF302X and he was impressed. His bike was more stable even on the trailer

kkim wrote:http://www.rickramsey.net/Stuff.htm#trialstires

Nice, thank you for sharing that!

Good info.

This is what my Dunlop D803 do after many races and trail ride.(I use my bike twice a week) I installed it in the beginning of July. This is an amazing tire but knobby fly off instead of just worn out but traction is still there

Mt43 is on the way!

Dunlop