Yep, K270's are popular in the desert riders...except the carcass is pretty soft, so, if you get a flat, it's hard to continue without changing the tube. They are known to be a bit slippery on road until they get scrubbed in. Cheap, too.

 

That's good to hear. As far as mud is concerned, I suck in it anyways, lol.

 

Thanks for the info. I usually get the bridgestone Ultra HD tube anyways for piece of mind.

I think I'm going to go with the K270s. I'm not too thrilled with the fact that they are a Chinese company(with a name that is cleverly and premeditated to sound Japanese and not at all Chinese to try to fool the public) but the price iz rite and it seems to be getting very good reviews from everyone.

EDIT: Actually they are a Taiwanese company. Taiwan is technically part of China but since they have a different gov't and they really want to be no part of China, I'm confident that their quality control has to be much better than mainland China.

 

I ran the K270s on my KLR for 2 seasons. They're a great value. I don't know how they'll work on the little bike. Some tires like the little bikes and some like the big bikes. I had to stop using the K270s because of all the road noise. I had a hearing test at work and it was scary how much hearing I've lost. So on the KLR I ran Shinko 700s this year. They were great on the pavement but aweful off road on anything loose or muddy. On a hard packed trail they were fine.

 

Look at the Shinko 244. It's identical to the K270 but it's 4 ply instead of 2 ply.

http://www.shinkotireusa.com/product/product.php?id=24

 

Tires look pretty decent and the price sure is right. Anybody here have any experience with Shinko?

Sure tempted to give them a try but remain leery of Chinese quality control. Dunlops and Michilins will cost double (or more) but I'd have the peace of mind not worrying about whether my tires were going to crap out in the middle of a turn.....

 

I've seen/heard quite a few folks over on ADV using Shinko's with good service and results for the most part. Don't see much hardcore dirt use on dual sports with them but lots of KLRs, DRs, Stroms, and similar applications.

 

My Shinko 705's are made in Korea.

Ron

 

Yeah Shinko sounds Korean not Chinese. Although you never know with Chinese product as they will manipulate and make up names to try to sound Japanese or American. They also stamp Made in China in tiny letters on parts where you can't see. Also they stamp Made in PRC to further try to fool people.

Anyways...

South Korean quality control > Chinese quality control
by a huge margin

So to give you guys a followup, I went to rockymountainatv to order the K270s and it said they were sold out until late November. So I ended up going with the Bridgestone D03 which I know people had good experiences with. It was twice the price of the K270s but I get it right away. And I also feel much better having a Japanese front tire instead of a Chinese one.

 

The Shinko 700s I had on the KLR were stiff. Last May my rear tire went flat on the interstate in a 40 degree rain storm. Perfect timing. I rode it home on the shoulder for 15 miles, chugging along in 3rd gear. A little freaky but the tire held together. Then I put another tube in it and went another 1500 miles on it.

The bead was a little undersize. I needed to put like 80psi in it to get it to bead. Getting it to come off the bead made me angry enough to kill. We finally used the kickstand on another bike to break the bead and then it took 4 tries to do. It was a good tire other than the bead issue. The 21" front was fine. Maybe it's just the 17" tires they screw up.