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So the trails where I spend the bulk of my time are hard, dry, almost sandy. In some places the dry fine rubble is basically sand. Yet other areas within the same tenth of a mile may be the fine powdered dirt.

I rode today and the back end gets super squirrely and sometimes is even hard to get it to hook up at all.

It's got that brand new Maxxis knobby, but that tire is for soft terrain. Its not really fun on this super hard, dry stuff.

What do you all run for a rear tire in these conditions?

I'm not sure if switching to a trials tire is appropriate or not. never ridden with one.



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Honestly in curious about the whole trials tire thing myself. Is it a real sticky tire, or is there some other magic to it? They don't seem to have much in the way of knobs, so why are they the hot ticket for trail bikes? I ordered a kenda trackmaster2 rear tire myself to match the new tm2 front tire the previous owner had installed right before I bought my Kdx. It's a dot-legal hard terrain knobby, but the front seems a lot more dirt ready than road ready. I used to use Chang shin tires back in the. 80's, but I've read that they are death traps lol.

AH HA! Cheng Shin is a lot harder to pronounce than...Maxxis.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheng_Shin_Rubber

A trials tire has super sticky knobs.

A soft terrain tire will have hard rubber. A hard terrain tire will be soft, usually. Each works well in its specific area.

Maxxis! Wow! I had no idea they were the same. Hey, my maxxis atv tires on the rancher are great tires. I've put 1700 miles on the rancher since I bought it new last year-highway miles mind you- and the tires have held up incredibly well. Great on any terrain besides asphalt as well. I wonder why Cheng shin has a bad rep on some sites? As to the trials tire, I wish I'd given it a try, but I was gun shy about trying something foreign to the way I'm used to. Ah well, I might give it a go next time.

the more you know


I have a trakmaster on one of my KDXs and I love it
I picked it up for free as the original owner replaced it and tossed it out with still plenty of life left in it

even when not completely new it holds up very well and does good in the loose sand a lot of the Michigan trails consist off

I ride in a lot of rocky hard terrain, and sandy in other places and the metzler MC6 seems to work great for me.
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/ ... =SLIsearch

I doubted the trials tire thing but figured I would give it a try. The first ride was on a muddy spring day. I went back to the truck and put the knobby back on. A month or so latter I gave it another try after the frost came out of the ground and the mud dried up some. Now I could see what everyone was talking about. They grab onto things that you would otherwise try to avoid. Those big damp smooth rocks on the steep hill climbs will soon become your best friend. Over all I think the trials tire works much better for where I ride. Other then the spring thaw.

Ok. I'm ok with buying a trials tire for the rear. It wasn't horrible with the tire on it now, but I know there's a lot of room to improve. May have to hold of until winter or a good sale though.

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I was also turned off by the trials tire idea but if you run them at the right pressure there is no where that tire wont take you. Now that I have gone to the trials tire I dont have to buy as many tires and can always count on the traction when needed.

I have found that the trackmasters work just as well or better than anything else I've used in the dry stuff. Especially the front. I've tried a lot of tires. Never a trials tire though.

Supermess,

Could you tell us what pressures you use in your trials tires for the various conditions you encounter?

It will be my third season with a rear Dunlop D803 trial tire, I now have a second rear wheel so I'm also testing a Motoz Tractionnator,
The only negatives points to the trial tire, for me, was no traction when there's lot of mud and it "melt" to fast at high speed, otherwise best rear tire ever!

Just be careful going to a trials tire after you first put one on. From what I understand they turn quite different and can put your ass on the ground real fast as the side traction is no where near that of a knobby. I'm too poor to get something and it doesn't work out so, I did the next best thing, a knobby with the Tubliss system. I run the Maxxis IT in the rear with 5psi and it will take me anywhere I have wanted and I can still lay the bike over hard in berms and sand.

As for the OP's question, the Maxxis IT seems to work great for me out here in the dez. Rocks, seasonal mud, sand, silt, hardpack, etc. Plus, I can get a solid year out of one before I feel it needs to be changed out.

High speed cornering is a bit of an issue with a trials tire if you have low tire pressure. But if you don't run low pressure then don't bother with a trials tire.

I have a Michelin trials tire and at about 7 or 8 Psi it seems to bite great, haven't bent a rim, and haven't had a flat. I would say that if anyone tries a trials tire to start out a little higher then what you think you need and let out a pound at a time until it feels right. The tire you get, the conditions you ride, the way you ride, and how much you weigh will all have an effect on what pressure you need.

SS109, keep an eye out for a used one on craigslist. One of the guys I ride with found one like new for $25.

pumpguy wrote:Supermess,

Could you tell us what pressures you use in your trials tires for the various conditions you encounter?

I typically run 7-10 psi (with HD tube) depending on the conditions and how spirited I plan on being that day. But just like others have said it is a little different at first but once you get used to it you wont regret it. They are not a mx tire so dont waste your money if you are trying to ride your woods bike like a mx bike. You can still ride it at a great pace though and make some tough situations look really easy. Also if you ride in a managed area these tire dont leave big giant ruts either.

SS109 wrote:As for the OP's question, the Maxxis IT seems to work great for me out here in the dez. Rocks, seasonal mud, sand, silt, hardpack, etc. Plus, I can get a solid year out of one before I feel it needs to be changed out.

Thanks for the info. The rear on mine is a Maxxcross SI. It's going to have to suffice for the remainder of this season. Hopefully some sales this winter on Trials tires.

Thedude1973 wrote:Thanks for the info. The rear on mine is a Maxxcross SI. It's going to have to suffice for the remainder of this season. Hopefully some sales this winter on Trials tires.

Just to add, I love the Maxxis SI for the front and run it year round.