MT43 Trials Tire

[Crawdaddy 96]

Big Bear: White Mountains & Redonda Ridge.....the bike tracks, the tire grips, you make it to the top and a wave of relief rolls over your mind.....Overly Dramatic?? Not if you were there....

Another convert.....

[darylhunter 1]

One of these days I'll put a trials tire on the back of my Husky. Haven't yet mostly because I'd like to be able to run them at the low pressure needed to really make them work. But there is that inner pressurized bead locker thingy that one of the guys posed about a while back that looks interesting.

I run Michelin X-11 tires on my GasGas and usually run about 3.5 pounds in the rear and 5 to 6 in the front depending upon what I'm doing at the time. The front is tube type, the rear is tubless.

One thing about the trials tires is that they have no treads on the side - so the grip while leaned over is pretty much, well, zero. Makes sense, because the bikes are designed to be ridden pretty much upright.

There is some grip while leaned over, but that's mostly due to the tire itself deforming and keeping the blocks on the ground up to a point.

Trials riders learn to do some pretty extreme body english to transfer weight off to the side to keep the bike upright and square wit the ground for maximum traction over an obsticle.

One of the areas where the trials tire really seems to do well compared to a standard knobbie is riding on off camber ground like the side of a hill or ditch. I've followed guys who were using a trials tire on a dual sport while I'm using a knobbie on the Husky and they're able to ride along in a straight line on the side of the ditch whereas I'd keep sliding down towards the bottom with the knobbie.

Of course I get my revenge later by breaking out the trials bike and letting them follow me through some fun stuff.

Dual Sport bike with trails tires does not equal Trials bike with trials tires - giggle

[Kris 0]

I wonder if I would have had my little mishap on Fairchild Hill if I would have been running an MT43 and stock gearing. I have it geared on the tall side.

[hoss314 0]

Kelly....can u get these? Price?

400-18 MT43 $75 total otd. Retail is 98.95

do they make this in a 19"?

[Bagstr 288]

Tall gearing is a big disadvantage offroad. My moto came with 15/45. I am currently running 14/48 and about to change to 14/52 for the Mountain Season. Would you rather be fussing with the clutch to keep the motor in the torque band or just concentrating on steering?

Anything short of a street tire will get you up Fairchild. I my opinion, it is about momentum.

I wonder if I would have had my little mishap on Fairchild Hill if I would have been running an MT43 and stock gearing. I have it geared on the tall side.

[bikeslut 1]

Tall gearing is a big disadvantage offroad. My moto came with 15/45. I am currently running 14/48 and about to change to 14/52 for the Mountain Season. Would you rather be fussing with the clutch to keep the motor in the torque band or just concentrating on steering?

Anything short of a street tire will get you up Fairchild. I my opinion, it is about momentum.

I wonder if I would have had my little mishap on Fairchild Hill if I would have been running an MT43 and stock gearing. I have it geared on the tall side.

I totally agree with the gearing assessment... I'm running 15-52 on the DRZ, and don't use the clutch that much at all, even running some of the nasty stuff at Jacumba and Corral yesterday

bagster- the only real challenges (to me) on the MT43 is really loose climbs (loose ROCKS is fine, but silty stuff not so much) and mud... street, due to it's soft rubber, seemed to drift with me a bit. But it WAS smooth and predictable, so no pucker factor.

from now on, I am probably going to keep the MT43 SET on my DRZ, and run knobbies on the WR... they both will do anything, just slightly better depending on the type of ride

also, Chris... I am running 15-41 on my XRL... and I wouldn't take that ANYWHERE with a technical climb, or anywhere I have never ridden