A forum for owners of Yamaha TTR250 trail and enduro bikes!

ttboof · Super Guru

whos taking advantage of the australia day weekend ( and a bit of tire talk )

peteBLUEttr · Super Guru

RE: whos taking advantage of the australia day weekend

ttboof · Super Guru

Just a quick four hour lap round the forest .didn't see another sole out there .but really good conditions for riding a bit of rain latley and a cool day & the roos stayed out of my way most of the time .

Back home ready for a wash parked with the spa and bbq

The wife's out buying food and a bit of my home brew in the fridge . Wrap that up with a four day weekend ive got to say I'm spoilt .

-- Edited by ttboof on Monday 25th of January 2016 01:02:15 AM

leigh · Senior Member

sounds good. What rear tyre have you got on that now? Not the AC10 I notice.

ttboof · Super Guru

Changed to a Pirelli MT21

A lot cheaper and it's a little more road biased than the AC10 so lasts a lot longer but still works well in the dirt

Still running an AC10 on the front

leigh · Senior Member

I've heard they're a good tyre. What size rear did you go with?

I've just changed my front to a Pirelli XC mid hard (from the AC10)- interested to see the difference. The AC10 is a very skinny front.

Wondering what DOT rear to use when my AC10 is worn out again. Not a lot of 100/100 options out there. May go back to a 110/100 or something else to compare. I did feel the 100/100 was better than the 110/100 on it.

But the Michelin sizing is very small compared to others as far as I know. There 110/100 is probably closer to a 100/100 in other brands.

peteBLUEttr · Super Guru

Have you thought about a 120 or 130? It will stick more contact patch to the ground and won't spin up quite as easily.

leigh · Senior Member

yes thinking about it at the moment. I started with a 110/100 but the 100/100 handled a lot better I felt. Turned in easier and didn't push the front end into the corners so much. But now with a few more years riding experience I'm interested in experimenting a bit.

The 100/100 Ac10 is also a very small tyre. spins up very easily. I've got my half worn 110 at home thinking about putting it on to see the difference. Its a couple of years old though so it may have hardened up a bit.

Reason I'm thinking of experimenting is I have gone tubliss, and I don't have a lot of experience with other tyres. But I have discovered the AC 10 is one of the most hated front tyres around. It is very small, and since changing have noticed how much bigger other 80/100 tyres are, and with the new XCMH, my rear tyre is looking very puny.

Wondering what difference "bigger" tyres will make now I have a bigger front on. With a bigger rear tyre it may be more balanced now with a decent size front on.

One of the reasons for going tubliss is running low pressure and better traction, a wider tyre and a bigger diameter tyre has to have even more traction as well, hence my thoughts.

Plus running the low pressures, I've lost more ground clearance and am bottoming out more on the skid plate - have a lowering link installed. Wouldn't mind getting more height back from a now bigger front and probably a bigger rear.

110/100 AC10
110/100 XCMH
100/100 Kenda Trakmastrer 2 k760
120/90 MT21 are a few contenders I'm thinking about.

peteBLUEttr · Super Guru

Maybe you're cornering speed will be improved by having more traction though that is what you have to consider.

Alot of people are running a Goldentyre 'fatty' 90/100-21 on the front now for real good stability.

leigh · Senior Member

It maybe. I'm interested to experiment and find out.

ttboof · Super Guru

RE: whos taking advantage of the australia day weekend ( and a bit of tire talk )

peteBLUEttr · Super Guru

Some people say a narrower tyre is better in mud cos it will sink and get through to more fresh ground! But I personally think nothing is going to sink that well unless it is as narrow as a mountain bike tyre!

Ruts are annoying to ride in/on whatever tyre you are using.

leigh · Senior Member

Its a funny subject tyres, so subjective and so many different opinions out there. Very interested to see the difference with a few tyres and compare to the AC10 as I've done a lot of klms on them.

petenz · Super Guru

AC10 rears are great tyres.... AC10 fronts are.... umm well ... not so great...

I use these now....... 216 front / 230 rear
goldentyre.co.nz/

ttboof · Super Guru

Some good discussion does highlight the differnce in riding styles and terain we all enjoy around the planet on ttrs that makes tire choice so varied

leigh · Senior Member

Sorry for hijacking the thread. (not really!)

Tried out the Pirelli XCMH on the front on the weekend. For me personally it felt a lot better than the AC10. Felt more stable and planted, the front end felt less twitchy. Pushed it a bit and it broke traction a little but it wasn't nerve racking like the AC10 when it let go it tended to really go. For me , definitely a better tyre. Ran it at 6psi. Could even tell on the road it was better.

Now to change the rear back to my 110/100 AC10 then I'll put the XCMH 110/100 on. The XCMH is a 6ply tyre and the AC10 a 3 ply as far as I know. Interested to see how they compare at low pressures. The AC10 100/100 is a bit squirmy at 4psi ish. 6si its not. After noticing how much better the front was gripping I did notice how easily the back end will break traction with a 100/100 (small Michelin) , fun riding like that but interested to compare back to the bigger tyres. I do like flicking the back end around, interested to see if I like it if I can't as easily or how the "feel" changes.

Fun Fun.

Leigh.

leigh · Senior Member

so I've done a few klms now offroad on the XCMH and love them. The front is so much better offroad than the AC10 its ridiculous (IMO). I actually swapped bikes on the weekend with a mate on a DRZ with an AC10 on the front - it was terrible (letting go all the time and deflecting off everything) - reminded me exactly what my bike was like with it on. I can't believe it. The XCMH front just goes over everything. I keep hitting rocks, ledges, ruts etc and anticipating the deflection etc but it almost never does - compared to what I am used to anyway.

Going back to the 110/100 on the rear has also been a good move. I can still get it to break traction and rear steer when I want (not as easily as the 100/100) but it has noticeably more traction in a straight line. Braking and accelerating. Again I was surprised it was so noticeable.

They are 6ply tyres run at 5psi with tubeliss. I have also stopped bottoming out the bike so much with the extra height from both the tyres (I have a lowering link fitted).

Happy chappy.