I was thinking of a Shinko 700 series 4.6 front and 5.1 rear. Has anyone tries this? What problems or advantages?

 

I tried that combo, but did not like the heavy feel to the steering.

 

Where did you end up? 3.0 and 4.6?

 

I think the best setup for an SF in metric is 110 front and a 140 or 150 rear.
I run a 120 front and 150 rear. Use all the rear tire but have some pretty big chicken strips up front.

All I can see for the 700 is the 4.6 - 5.1 combo in 17" and that front is only rated to 94mph
Probably better off with a 705

 

Remember those speed ratings are for continuous speed, not maximum. I doubt any KLX250 rider, even on a modified SF will be running around mile after mile at over 94 mph. So the speed rating is really not a player there.

 

My thought's on that are that a lower rated tire typically builds heat quicker so you would have to run a higher tire pressure up front which means less contact patch.
All depends how one rides a supermoto I guess, probably not an issue if you only commute.

 

Yes, the 3.0/4.6 kept the good street handling. Then when I wore out the 4.6, I had the 5.1 sitting around, so I put it on and that works good too.

 

Or vice versa if the rider is not a hard rider, they will not get remotely close to excess or even upper range tire tread temperature. The ratings are pretty much for peak speed to run the tire for a fair amount of time. Load may also play a part, but few riders will carry near the maximum load rating when riding really hard and fast.. But realistically according to Woody Rogers of Tire Rack, just because a tire has a higher speed rating does not mean it will handle better it is not a qualifier for performance.

Of course looking at those tires instead of street tires clearly the rider is looking for dual sporting tires, many of which will have lower ratings due to tread depth, the 700 would be a better tread for single track than the 705, probably for gravel surfaces too. The more open tread will work down into the loose material better than a big block tire. So if they plan to play flat tracker on sweeping gravel or hit serious single track I'd definitely say do the more open tread. It will clean out better on the trail and if you saw a flat track tire you would see they don't use big block patterns.

Plus I will venture to say, again, few KLX250 riders will ever run consistently within 20 mph of the R rating of 106 mph that the Shinko 700 has been rated. Besides the OEM tires are only rated as S which is 112 mph. The 6 mph difference in the ratings is minimal at best on a KLX250SF. Having thrashed around hard with supermoto buddies riding my 375lb KLX650 with S rated Duro HF903/904 dual sport tires and staying with them in the corners, sometimes to their amazement, I will say few riders putting dual sport tires on their 250s will ride as consistently hard as we did and load the tires as hard a the 650 did. I really doubt they are risking disaster by going to an R rated dual sport tire. Heck half will drop to a 13T sprocket slowing them even more.

Big block 705 pattern is more for adventure bikes that spend a lot of time on the road and would be a far better commuter tire than the coarser 700 tire. Pretty much what is said in comparisons on ADVrider, Thumpertalk, and KLR.net.

 

Thank you all for your comments!