First off I gotta say this forum is amazing and has lot's of great info on the 250s! I bought a 2009 250s last spring for commuting back and forth to work, riding on the Blue Ridge and trips to the dragon. I don't do much trail riding aside from packed gravel roads so I'm looking for a 90 street 10 dirt tire. I wanna feel really confident on the twisty western North Carolina roads. Anyone have any experience with this? Thx in advance -Matt

 

IF all you are going to do off-road is packed gravel roads, get a 100% road tire. Air down and go slowly on the occasion you go on a packed gravel road. You'll be safer on the road, and you'll do just fine on the packed gravel. Seriously....get a road tire.

There was a guy on a SuperMoto that just did the LA-Barstow-Vegas two-day desert ride. He had 100% road tires on his bike, and made it through the entire ride on those tires...even deep sand. He's one of the best riders I've ever seen. The point is: if you aren't going through deep sand, mud, stream crossings, etc., road tires will serve you best....especially if you are on twisty roads.

 

Thanks BlackHeart!

I found these..... Avon AM26

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com...=45&zmap=12107

 

Good, very reasonably priced tires.


http://www.kendausa.com/en/home/moto...ual-sport.aspx

 

Those Kenda's have great reviews, very affordable.

 

If they are good enough for ZW, I'd run them!

Actually, I'm thinking of "semi-retiring" my KLR650 to mostly road, since my KLX does so well off-road. I have Kenda 270's on the KLR now, and like them for what they are (a dual-sport, relatively soft sidewall tire), but, these other Kendas would be better on-road. The 270's are a bit too squirrelly on-road in fast turns, so, I wouldn't recommend 270's for twisty Western NC roads.

Hard to beat the value for the money when buying Kendas.

 

I'm going with the Kendas as of right now. Just wondering if maybe I should replace the front wheel with a 17 inch for better handling. The Blue 351 kit is going on it in a couple months. Really don't wanna spend $500 on a front wheel if it doesn't make much difference.

 

The Kenda K270 is actually listed as a 50/50 tire I think, and I ended up with 5000 miles on the one I had. It was decent on the gravel and trails, but took forever to wear. That would be my choice if my riding area choices ever changed to more blacktop.

 

I didn't realize you found a tire in that other post, wow those look like not a good choice if there is even a slight once in a while for an off road excursion. Look at the Kenda K270...trust me its awesome!