carguy 1 Posted September 3, 2007 It is already approaching 100 degrees at 10am. Just mounted the Dunlop D908 Rally Raid and had to give it a spin. As many of you know I swear by the D606. For me and my style of riding it has been the best overall tire. Dunlop came out with this new tire and I had to give it a try. It is a 140/80-18, just a bit wider than the 120 I took off. So the first thing to go was the chain guard. Kinda hard to spoon on too. Starded out with a little flat track to get gas. A lot quiter than the 606. Being new and wider I was mostly cautious in the turns. Gas and straight for the Dirt. 16psi and the tire does not hook up like the 606. Seems to spin more. Graded Dirt - Seems to spin way to easy. Loose Hills - Does not seem to grip on the sides as much, and spins easier. Sand - Being a 140 tire it gets up on the sand much better. Hardly any effort in the sand, still doesn't hook as good, but is much easier to ride. To top it all off the tire cost more. $140 without my discount. That is almost the price of 2 606's. For those who like a 50/50 tire, this could work. Maybe 70/30 or so. Unlike the 606 @ 90/10. It may work better on the Adventure Bikes. Not sure if I will run it for a while or not. The whole purpose was for extended wear, not sure if I like the sacrifice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GB007 0 Posted September 3, 2007 Thanks for the report. I'm also thinking about which tire to use for the G650X and the D980RR's are a consideration. I'm also considering the Michellin Baja's or Desert. Decisions, decisions... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 561 Posted September 3, 2007 I just put new tires on my TE. I put a Rally Raid 908 on the front(68 bucks) and a 120/90 606 on the back(70 bucks). I picked the Rally Raid front because it has a pattern very close to a Dunlop 739, which I like alot in the dirt. I picked the 606 for the rear because it looked better than the 908 rear and also I wanted a smaller rear tire than the stock 140 Michelin. I have not had a chance to ride on them yet. It's too hot :heat: Maybe I'll take a late afternoon ride soon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GB007 0 Posted September 3, 2007 Hey Dirt Dame, I got the Dunlops 120/90 desert on the back of the TE450, but I think it kind of make's it taller. Is not the ration 120/90 make it taller? Just a consideration. The desert ones D739 are not DOT and work great on the sand and all (I'm mostly using it in BAJA because they are not DOT). Yeah, it's way too hot today to ride... :heat: I think I'm skiping the ride from El Rosario to San Carlos, to Gonzaga (cross baja from Pacific Coast to Sea of Cortes) this Friday. Just too HOT!!! :heat: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 561 Posted September 3, 2007 Hey Dirt Dame, I got the Dunlops 120/90 desert on the back of the TE450, but I think it kind of make's it taller. Is not the ration 120/90 make it taller? Just a consideration. The desert ones D739 are not DOT and work great on the sand and all (I'm mostly using it in BAJA because they are not DOT). Yeah, it's way too hot today to ride... :heat: I think I'm skiping the ride from El Rosario to San Carlos, to Gonzaga (cross baja from Pacific Coast to Sea of Cortes) this Friday. Just too HOT!!! :heat: Yeah, I was disappointed when I saw how tall the rear tire was. Overall height isn't more, but it isn't less either. I was hoping it would be shorter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin 0 Posted September 3, 2007 Metzeler has a new tire out that is the OEM tire for the 950 KTM and the BMW HP2. It is modeled after the TKC 80. Not sure if it will fit your bikes, but it is a knobby tire that works great in the dirt, handles on the street, and wears well. This tire is the Metzeler Karoo (T) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GB007 0 Posted September 4, 2007 Metzeler has a new tire out that is the OEM tire for the 950 KTM and the BMW HP2. It is modeled after the TKC 80. Not sure if it will fit your bikes, but it is a knobby tire that works great in the dirt, handles on the street, and wears well. This tire is the Metzeler Karoo (T) Kevin, thanks for the info. I do think the Karoo (T) it's a little more road oriented. The regular Karoo is another consideration, as well as the TK80 (for my G650X). But I was trying to get the most off-road tire as possible since I really planning to do more off-road than road. Kendal also has some options. Amazingly the Sahara 3's 50/50 did great on my Baja explorations (reducing pressure to about 20 lb). The worst part was silt and deep sand, that's the part I wished I had a more off-road oriented tire. I am learning more how to control a bigger and heavier bike on the sand and lose stuff (kind of different than the husky). The D908R from reading carguy's report, seeem to be more road oriented than the D606's. This is all very useful information and it is appreciated. :heat: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bikeslut 1 Posted September 4, 2007 Hey Dirt Dame, I got the Dunlops 120/90 desert on the back of the TE450, but I think it kind of make's it taller. Is not the ration 120/90 make it taller? Just a consideration. The desert ones D739 are not DOT and work great on the sand and all (I'm mostly using it in BAJA because they are not DOT). Yeah, it's way too hot today to ride... :heat: I think I'm skiping the ride from El Rosario to San Carlos, to Gonzaga (cross baja from Pacific Coast to Sea of Cortes) this Friday. Just too HOT!!! :heat: I'm running 739's... very good dirt tire, but WOULD wear very quickly on the freeway if you were to try a non-DOT tire on the freeway... but they would grip pretty well on most twisty roads... again IF you were to try them on a twisty road... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 561 Posted September 4, 2007 Hey Dirt Dame, I got the Dunlops 120/90 desert on the back of the TE450, but I think it kind of make's it taller. Is not the ration 120/90 make it taller? Just a consideration. The desert ones D739 are not DOT and work great on the sand and all (I'm mostly using it in BAJA because they are not DOT). Yeah, it's way too hot today to ride... :heat: I think I'm skiping the ride from El Rosario to San Carlos, to Gonzaga (cross baja from Pacific Coast to Sea of Cortes) this Friday. Just too HOT!!! :heat: I'm running 739's... very good dirt tire, but WOULD wear very quickly on the freeway if you were to try a non-DOT tire on the freeway... but they would grip pretty well on most twisty roads... again IF you were to try them on a twisty road... I ran 739 front and 756 rear on my KLX before I made the street coversion. The set was pretty new when I made the bike street legal, so I decided to keep running them till they wore out. The front 739 fared worse than the rear 756 and wore kinda flat in the center. They were just okay in the twisties. I ran a matched set of Bridgestone ED03 front and ED04 rear DOT knobbies. That is what is on there now. Predictably, they really crank on the pavement and are just a cut above so-so in the dirt. I decided to try the Dunlop combo on the TE for that reason Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
