Less than 10 % of my riding is on dirt. The rest is on paved nasty back roads with some crazy old ex road an dirt racers. These guys are way too quick. Anybody " In Love" with their 21 in. front tire on pavement? What pressure? Thanks.

 

Shinko 705 is awesome at back road twisties. Long wearing and you can run them right to the edge of the tread. Also not bad in the dirt(if you have to) as long as you don't try something muddy.

 

Thanks. Maximus. Your use of the word awesome is encouraging. What pressure do you run and what do you weigh?

 

I bought mine for a road trip to S. Carolina. Came back and put knobbies on. But every spring, after stud season and before I can get in the woods, I throw the 705s back on. I have a commute that takes me on a 40mph river road through a National Forest, it's mostly unpatrolled, so I can enjoy the curves at 60. They make the S as close to an SF as you can get, w/o all the hassle of actually switching over hardware.
I think on the road the front was at 22psi, whatever the manual says to run for psi. Off-road, the one time I really went off-road with them, I dropped the psi to around 15. I rode some gnarly crap with them. It was fine as long as I remembered momentum is your friend, and kept the speed up. If I had to go through a mud hole, I just aimed for the lowest spot, because I would've ended up there anyway, and again kept the speed up.
I weigh 140ish and climbing, now that I have a desk job...

 

I really like my tires (see signature). I do mainly street riding but wanted something with a little bite for off-road. I don't think it has ever slipped on the street. Can get a little squirrelly on dirt but its manageable. Where it does fall short is in the mud. You might as well be running slicks then.

 

I also ride mainly road and occasionally dirt roads. MY KLX only got 2000 Km on the ODO and the Dunlops still look like new. These Shinkos like like a good alternative for the Dunlops if they are available where I live, Indonesia.
Are the Shinkos better for road use than the Dunlops??

 

Shinko 705's are pretty amazing for road, and surprisingly decent off-road. But yes, never mud, you'll never get out. They are much smoother than the 700's for twistys, which is somewhat unexpected.

Though I wonder how the Michelin Anakee 3's would be.... I would try them, but they are ridiculously expensive, especially compared to Shinkos.

 

If you want to stick with a dual sport tire I have a lot of miles of experience riding pavement, dirt/gravel and some tougher single track over 30,000 miles and 14 years now. I have ridden with some sport bike and SM riding friends, one a really good racer on an Aprilia 550. He still can't figure how I go so fast on my KLX650 running the 21/17 wheels. I took a chance with back in 2001 when laid off and needing new tires to ride the bike to save gas money. I ran the first set and haven't bothered with any others.

The tires are Duro Median HF903/904s. I was impressed with the tread design as well as those on the IRC GP110s, but they were too coarse, where the Duros weren't quite as radical for the road. The Duros have stuck like glue on the road (running 32 psi), allowing enough lean to scrape my toes in some tight turns. I have no problems running with the sport bike and SM guys in the corners.



They have also performed well enough off road (around 20 psi) in any Ohio mud or clay I encountered on the 650, that I got rid of the virtually new Kenda 671s that were on my KLX250 when I bought it, to replace them with the Duros. I can afford whatever tire I want, but I stay with what has proven to work.

Depending on the size you use (I did a 4.00-18 and 90/90-21 on the 250, the 650 runs a 130/80-17 on the back) they will run from around $100 to $130 a set. I get 4000 miles before I take them off with about 1/4" or so of tread on the rear. The traction in gravel is gone and the center of the rear tire is pretty flat making cornering a bit wonky at that point. I do both because the front is fairly well cupped and not worth trying to stretch over the life of another rear tire.

A more road oriented tire that has done well for my SM friends are the Avon Distanzia. If your off pavement riding is only occasional on very good gravel/dirt roads you could even run a regular road tire. If it is long tread life and smoothest ridee you want, with all the customs running 21 fronts, good road going 21s are no problem

 

Thanks KLX 678. You said 32psi. Rear tire? What does Kawasaki recommend for stock rear pressure? What front tire pressure do you like on the Duro ? How much do you weigh?
Sounds like the folks you ride with are like the ones I'm chasing.

Thank you all for your knowledge. The time and money the people of this forum have saved me is amazing.

 

Per experience same front and back - 32 psi. Off road it's a general guess, since I usually am doing the pressure drop "in the field". Feels squishy when I get back on the road, until I can air up again.

If you don't do any more than dirt/gravel roads - aka no off roading - you could do better possibly with the Avon Distanzias (kind of adventure bike) or even full on road tires that would give adequate grip beyond most riders' capabilities. Obviously the closer to road tread the longer the wear.

No matter what you run it will take you time and miles to gain both knowledge and confidence in the tires. I am all in with the Duros on the KLX650, having no hesitation to lean in further, but not so yet with the 250. I need more road time.