Help Me Pick Adventure Tires
Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2015 1:47 pm
I've purchased a second wheelset for PBT and will be fitting it with tires that are more dirt oriented. Adventure Tires I'll call them. But I need some second opinions when choosing.
The stock tire sizes are 110/80R17 front and 130/70R18 rear. Both wheels are designed for tubeless tires.
Most off-road oriented tires come in sizes other than these two. The biggest hindrance is finding a tire to fit the 17" front wheel. One exception is Continental Twinduro tires (TKC 80's). They are available in near the right size for XJ wheels and are tubeless if you run a FZR600 rear wheel (which I have in the basement). The sizes I would choose are: 120/70R17 front and 150/70R18 rear. This would make for a very tall rear, though. Twinduros are expensive, running near $300 for the pair AND the rear is on backorder. Drapheus (who has somewhat disappeared recently) did post a picture of his XJ with Twinduros on Facebook a few weeks back:
The second option for consideration is to move to imperial tire sizes: I would likely choose a 4.6x17 front and a 5.1x18 rear. In these tire sizes, my best options might be the Shinko 244, Kenda K270 or IRC GP110. With the exception of the IRC, these tires are cheap. All three brands would require tubes front and rear, however.
The IRC tires are the closest together in-terms of OD: A 4.6x17 IRC tire has an overall diameter of 24.9 inches which is about an inch taller than the stock 110/80 front tire. A 5.1x18 IRC tire has an overall diameter of 26.5 inches which is about an inch taller than the stock 130/70 rear tire. The extra inch would increase PBT's already significant ground clearance, which could be a good thing for off-road performance.
The Kenda K270 are a bit further spread in terms of OD with a front at 24.8" and a rear at 27" inches. If I were to run a 4.6x17 front and a 4.6x18 rear in the K270's, I'd be at 24.8" front and 25.7" rear but a 4.6" tire might be a bit narrow for the stock 130 rear wheel.
What are your thoughts?
The stock tire sizes are 110/80R17 front and 130/70R18 rear. Both wheels are designed for tubeless tires.
Most off-road oriented tires come in sizes other than these two. The biggest hindrance is finding a tire to fit the 17" front wheel. One exception is Continental Twinduro tires (TKC 80's). They are available in near the right size for XJ wheels and are tubeless if you run a FZR600 rear wheel (which I have in the basement). The sizes I would choose are: 120/70R17 front and 150/70R18 rear. This would make for a very tall rear, though. Twinduros are expensive, running near $300 for the pair AND the rear is on backorder. Drapheus (who has somewhat disappeared recently) did post a picture of his XJ with Twinduros on Facebook a few weeks back:
The second option for consideration is to move to imperial tire sizes: I would likely choose a 4.6x17 front and a 5.1x18 rear. In these tire sizes, my best options might be the Shinko 244, Kenda K270 or IRC GP110. With the exception of the IRC, these tires are cheap. All three brands would require tubes front and rear, however.
The IRC tires are the closest together in-terms of OD: A 4.6x17 IRC tire has an overall diameter of 24.9 inches which is about an inch taller than the stock 110/80 front tire. A 5.1x18 IRC tire has an overall diameter of 26.5 inches which is about an inch taller than the stock 130/70 rear tire. The extra inch would increase PBT's already significant ground clearance, which could be a good thing for off-road performance.
The Kenda K270 are a bit further spread in terms of OD with a front at 24.8" and a rear at 27" inches. If I were to run a 4.6x17 front and a 4.6x18 rear in the K270's, I'd be at 24.8" front and 25.7" rear but a 4.6" tire might be a bit narrow for the stock 130 rear wheel.
What are your thoughts?