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Bike Bandit currently has these Maxxis tires for a pretty good price...under $100 for a set.
http://www.bikebandit.com/product/3690?WT.mc_id=959451

I was wondering if anybody has some experience with these tires. They look to have a good aggressive tread pattern for off-road, although not as aggressive looking as the trusty Dunlop D606. I am looking for a cheaper alternative to the D606's. If nobody would recommend them for hard trail use, they might be a good fit for the V-strom650?

I'm pretty sure this is the tire Tracy and I put on our F650 Dakars before going to Moab back in 2003 or so. Worked well for that, but the F650s didn't get into that serious of off-road. I still have the used tires in storage, but haven't put them back on the Dakar since as it gets mostly road riding now. For that price you can't go wrong.

BTW, although not as knobby as the D606 or MT21, a lot of guys seem to swear by trials tires off-road. Although not a trials tire, this is certainly closer to that than a D606/MT21.

Well I'm considering these: http://www.motosportz.com/HVA-SS/Motoz_details.htm

They really were pushing the trials tires, but now have gone to the MotoZ tires. The main reason was the sidewall weakness which resulted in punctures.

Here is another review off of a Husqvarna forum and the price is $55-$60 for the front and $65-$80 for the rear plus shipping. I doubt if it is DOT legal

http://www.cafehusky.com/forums/showthr ... ight=motoz

David H. ran the Maxxis 6006 exclusively on the KLX400. My experience was it worked pretty well as a DS tire, a little more aggressive than your typical 50/50 tire. I have been thinking of getting another pair myself. I would maybe run the Maxxis on the rear and put something more aggressive on the front if mud was a possibility.

The Motoz tires looks pretty tempting for my KTM if the price is right. Not sure about the $15-20 shipping fee, makes them pretty expensive in a hurry.

KC...those are great DS tires on a 50/50 bike...but they are far from offroad tires. In wet conditions, you are going to find yourself picking up the bike countless times.

For bargain sets, check out a combo of Maxxiss IT rear and SI front...$100ish a set and GREAT tires. I also really like the Kenda Millevilles. Also about $110 and excellent longevity. This is what I have on my 450 now and I have a new set ready to mount ready to roll.

KC a good aggressive dot tire is the kenda trakmaster II. I hear the front is kind of squirrly so I've never ran it. It's $50 at rockymountain.
I'm thinking about replacing mine with a 606. I hear I would be gaining more life on the pavement but losing the grip on the trails...
Can't decide yet

Kyle, remember in AR, one of our first trips and you wiped out and cracked the case on your DRZ. A slick muddy corner down on a road off of 215. I would have swore you had these tires on your bike at the time. Matter of fact Im sure of it. The 6006s are ok but they ware fast and they are soft for good grip on dry stuff. Wet not so good. I have run a couple of sets of these and ended up switching to the IRC Trail winners GP110.

http://www.americanmototire.com/catalog ... 00_232_235


Great for touring and general dirt road stuff but mud and trail not so great. They have a rounded profile so nice on the road but off road on the edge of the tire.....a bit iffy. You may like them for the V 650 maybe. As for the 6006, Im not dogin it, it worked in moab for what we were doing. A a good price I would get them again for a 50/50 tire but not for AR riding.


T

Probably my favorite DOT knobby is the Pirelli MT21. Plenty aggressive knobs but behaves itself on pavement. This past summer I found a Pirelli XCMH that I really like. It's also DOT and just a little more aggressive than the MT21. I had trouble finding the XCMH (90 - medium hard terrain) think I ended up getting it from MC superstore. It was also $10 cheaper than a MT21 - about $65. I used it in AR and a couple times at Milford, also lots of gravel miles.

Tracy wrote:

Kyle, remember in AR, one of our first trips and you wiped out and cracked the case on your DRZ. A slick muddy corner down on a road off of 215.

Dude...that wasn't me, really I was running those Pirelli Scorpions that year so I don't blame the tires. Remember it was sprinkling that morning and it was really wet clay that I slid out on I just came into the corner too fast in 4th gear and tried to lean too far. I will never buy the Scorpions again, I hated them on hard packed surfaces + the knobbies were cracked and chunks were missing after a couple rides. Seems to me they were designed for off-road dirt/mud only, but they market them as DOT DS tires.

(back to the M6006s)
MoRidin wrote:

KC...those are great DS tires on a 50/50 bike...but they are far from offroad tires. In wet conditions, you are going to find yourself picking up the bike countless times

Sounds like 6006s are NOT the tire I want to run on the DRZ this year.

Thanks guys

Sean,

I picked up one of the Millvilles K771. Good lordy that thing has some lugs on it. $70 to my door. Was wondering how it spoons on. It feels soft so Im thinking it wont be much of a problem. This may be a campground spoon on as I still have some tread left on the 450.


T

safiri wrote:I'm pretty sure this is the tire Tracy and I put on our F650 Dakars before going to Moab back in 2003 or so. Worked well for that, but the F650s didn't get into that serious of off-road. I still have the used tires in storage, but haven't put them back on the Dakar since as it gets mostly road riding now. For that price you can't go wrong.

BTW, although not as knobby as the D606 or MT21, a lot of guys seem to swear by trials tires off-road. Although not a trials tire, this is certainly closer to that than a D606/MT21.

Although this tire isn't in the running ... To add to this as my personal memory device recovers long lost information ... I am pretty sure that at the time (2003), this was one of the few DS tires that came in a 17" rear. That also was a major part of the tire choice for the F650. Now, as a lot of DS bikes come with 17" rears, the tire choices are a lot greater.