shinko 244 tires.

New tires.. shinko 244 dual sport on the x

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I changed out my tires this week. i had pirelli mt21's on before, which were an aggressive knobby. These are more dual sport, but i think they will do fine for me in 95% of the riding i do.

They are similar in profile. The shinko's are a little smaller in width & diameter.. no more than about 1/2"

Here they are:

I went on a short ride last week.. nothing too technical, but i did get into some rocky, stepped climbs around camp verde. I rode some whoops, crossed some streams, & rode pavement, too. I can't say i noticed a lot of difference, except in some fast gravel roads.. the back was a bit more slippery. If i just touched the back brake, the rear started sliding. I mostly feathered the front going into gravel corners.

The verdict? So far so good. The more aggressive knobby might be a bit better in gravel, & perhaps mud. But for 95% of my riding, i think this tire will be fine.

I think it's easier to change the tires on the x. The bead takes some work to break, but the wider rims are easier to mount, imo. They slip on much easier than my old drz tires ever did. Another nice feature is they both used the same tube. I put a 4.60 on the front, & a 5.10 on the back. That is equivalent to the 120 & 130, i think.

These shinko's are listed as 'front/back'. The pirelli's were both rear tires.. that's how us sm'ers do dirt. We put rear knobbies on the wide front sm rim. I was amazed at how low & fast i could corner in the twisties on the pirelli's! *I* got scared before the tires did. It looks like the shinko's will perform even better. Does that mean i will get an axle slider? Will i go even faster in the twisties? ..don't think so.. The bike already outperforms me. I doubt if i ever discover it's limits.

The appeal of these tires are:
1. cheap
2. easy to get & install
3. long lasting
4. cheap
5. aggressive tread for off road
6. good road tire
7. did i mention they were cheap?

I've got several long rides planned this year, & wanted a good, cheap all around tires. I think this one will work. I can always go back to the mt21's. I know they work. I'm looking forward to testing them in more extreme conditions.. mud, steep loose rock, long high speed pavement.

These are very similar treadwise to the kenda 270's. They are korean made, & have pretty stiff sidewalls, so i will be able to run lower pressures in them. I had 15 in the front & 20 in the back.. they felt a little stiff off road, but were fine on pavement. I'll probably go to 12/14 for offroad, but i wanted to make sure they were going to hold me up.

Obviously, there is no perfect tire.. all are compromises for the various conditions we find ourselves in. But since this is the contact point of our bike with the earth, it is fairly important. Part of the fun is trying different tires & seeing how they perform for us.