I don't want to ruffle any feathers here, this is just my impression of the tire. I bought the 270s (front and back) instead of the trackmaster II based on what I've read here and on other sites (ADVRider). I expected a tire that would really last on the road and offer equal or better traction than the dunlop 603s off road. I run my tires at or around 10 lbs (with rim locks) off road for increased traction. I've become very comfortable on this motorcycle with the stock tires and generally ride hard because I know I can depend on hooking up when needed. After getting and mounting the 270s two days ago, I went for a 53 mile ride in the mountains. There were varying conditions that I'll attempt to show below. I found the tire to be seriously lacking in traction for most of the conditions I rode. In some places it was so bad that it felt like I was trying to ride an ice cube! Instead of enjoying my ride like I have been on the 603s, I spent the ride focused on keeping the bike under me. I now have a set of tires that do not fit my needs and I will now have to order some trackmaster IIs like I should have in the beginning. I post this for people like me who ride technical, demanding conditions and want good performance traction and might be misled like I was: the 270 is a decent 50/50 tire and nothing more. I would have known this if I'd done my own homework on the tire - my fault.


This is one of the good roads. The tires were acceptable here at slower speeds.


We were high in the mountains, so runoff was on many of the trails. (My brother and his '95 KLX 250)


Not great on gravel or slick hard pack.


Ok in the rocks with good throttle control going up and low speeds coming down.


Terrain like this represented much of the ride. Steep, slick, and rocky. The 603s performed reasonably well in these conditions while I felt the 270s were dangerous.


For those of you familiar with SW Idaho, this is the general area I was in.

 

That's too bad, I have the same tires waiting to be put on, but remember there is no perfect tire unless you plan on doing only dirt or only road riding. I bet the Dunlop 606 is going to be a lot better in the dirt than the Kenda, but it will slip and wear more on the blacktop, while the Kenda will grip the pavement and wear better on the blacktop and not be as good on the dirt and mud. It just depends on what you want to do. The reason I went with the kenda tires after I go through a Dunlop 606 is that if I loose traction and have to put the bike down I would rather have that happen going 10 miles an hour on some trail than 40 on the blacktop with cars all around.

 

Navyman,

Keep those tires, especially since you will be moving over here. The dirt is different and we get alot more rain here. So they just may work.

 

Sorry if you feel you were mislead. I've been very happy with mine and have found it to have good traction off-road - far better than the stock 603's. I'm actually more impressed with its off-road capabilities than its on-road. Before where I would lean the bike to the side, lay on the throttle and spin a donut the stock 603s would slide around with ease. I now find that it is quite a bit harder to break traction with the 270s.

I like the 270 on-road too because it is smoother running than the stock 603's. However, it is a harder compound than the stock 603's so stopping distance will not be as good so that is something to keep in mind especially for wet roads. But the flip-side of that is that it will be longer wearing (you can't have both, no matter what tire you get). I have about 1000 miles on my Kenda 270's and can barely tell they are worn. By this time with the stock 603's I was looking for a new tire due to the large amount of wear.

Off road, while I've found the Kenda 270s really dig-in and have a good bite, I will definitely agree with you that they will not have as good as traction as the TrackMaster II's which are about as close to an MX tire as you can get and still be DOT approved. I did not get those because like it or not, most of my riding is on the road and road comfort is a consideration for me. I've got a good 20 minute ride on the road to get to any trails here and my commute to work is also around 20 to 25 minutes and I use my KLX for that. So the TrackMaster II was not quite what I wanted.

I'm not sure what the difference is for us. I run my tires at about 22psi since I don't have rim locks installed. Otherwise, I ride wooded trails (soft loamy soil) as well as hard Carolina hard-pack clay when its dry and slick goo when it's wet.

I do like to experiment with various components so I will probably try a Dunlop 606 the next time around. However, I have no reservation in putting on another Kenda 270 when this one wears out.

 

Here is a picture of the new front tire I put on. It works great in the dirt but not so good on the street.There is more road noise. I hope it breaks in a little.

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The front stock tire sucked in the sand, but when I let tire pressure down to 10 psi it worked great. I didn't have rim locks and I ripped the valve out of the tube. OH WELL! so I decieded to buy a new front tire.

 

Once again, I'd like to say that I'm not taking shots at anyone. It was my fault for buying the tire without checking it out better. I am sure that there are styles of riding and types of terrain that this tire is good for. I have decided that I'll keep this set for when I am doing more road riding and buy a complete set of rims/locks/tires for when I'll be doing more off-road.

With both tires at 10 lbs, I found the kenda breaking traction where the 603 would not. However, different soil/conditions require different types of tread.

I would be happy with traction that is equal to or better than the stock 603s. For the conditions I ride, it isn't to be found with the 270s.

I wonder if the 606 would be comparable to the 603... I don't mind replacing them more often and I am not an extreme road rider. I prefer off road.

 

After reading all these tyre posts I can only come to one conclusion ...... I NEED A SPARE REAR RIM !!!!!!!!!!!

 

That is absolutely the way to go IMO. Nobrakes posted picks of his kenda270s on the ADVRider site after 1000 miles... they still look new. Great tires for commuting to work and jumping off for a little dirt fix now and then. In the future I'll be trying both the Trackmaster and the Dunlop, just to see which I like better - I hope its the Kenda for less $$.

 

I have the 606's and find that they work very good, well truth being told I have a 606 on the rear and the stock 603 on the front. I like to ride more off road then the streets though. This bike is fun on the streets and all, but its true home is in the dirt, not sitting 4 feet deep in mud. After the ride I had the other day I forgot how much fun this bike was. I got that VTX and was going on really long road trips. I just hopped back onto the KLX after about a month, and man, that thing was fun, lacking power, but fun.