duro tires? dunlop d607

[Norm Keller]

If someone doesn't supply a link, I may have one in my files. There is an online spoke length calculator available. HIH Norm [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[revmaaatin]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Jeff Saline wrote:

> > On Wed, 22 Aug 2007 20:48:59 -0000 "chris" writes: > > i just put on a kenda 270 rear and a tkc 80 front (about 700

miles

> > ago). the 270 bites well and the tkc hooks up well off road, and > > i'm > > learning to have some confidence on the pavement. here's the

deal

> > though. seems like the 270 is wearing kind of fast. (I run

about

> > 32psi on and 21 off) my question... has anyone worn out a MEFO

yet?

> > > > what kind of mileage? i would like to believe that i need a more > > offroad tire but reality is i commute more than i ride in the

woods.

> > > > any opinions? > <><><><><><> > <><><><><><> > > Chris, > > I'm running 32 front and 36 rear on pavement with K270s. I get over > 6,000 smiles from a rear and about 11,000 from a front. Off road

up here

> I may let pressures down to 22 front and 28 rear. > > Just did about 235 miles or so with RevMartin. Probably 40% of

that was

> off pavement. He's getting about the same wear out of his K270s. > > If you get a chance to ride the Piedmont fire trail (144) take it

toward

> Piedmont. It washed out last Friday in the storm and was kind of

like

> riding down a stair case for 2 1/2 -3 miles. I'm really glad we

weren't

> going up. : ) > > Best, > > Jeff Saline

Chris, (Jeff, that was only 2.5-3 miles?!?!?!?) Yikes, Back to Chris-- The K270 seems to have an alarming amount of wear in the first 1-2000 miles. shrug. Now you know! Jeff has a post in the archives that documents the tire wear on 5 bikes, 4 different types of tires over 3- 5000 miles. The difference in 'study-miles' is because three of the riders bailed out (back to work) at different times, to include one 'wreck' where Mike Fredrick was struck by a truck. Ouch. Ping Jeff privately and ask for his tire study. The K270 is not good for all, but all good for what/how we ride, which is where ever we want, whenever we want--tempered with an appropriate amount of caution. (I don't like difficult mud or cactus!) revmaaatin

[revmaaatin]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "Jud Jones" wrote:

> > --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "Mike Peplinski"

wrote:

> > > > Cheap tires will do that. I didn't get very good wear out of my

Kenda 270

> > either. It grips well enough, but has no "life". > > > > > > I have run three of them on my KLR, and averaged 9500 miles. For my

money, it's the

> longest-lasting offroad-capable tire you can buy. I have yet to try

the mefo. If I can ever find

> one for 35 bucks, I'll jump on it. If somebody gets 25000 miles out

of one, maybe I would

> pay full price to try one. >

Judd, HOw far down do you run your K270? I change my out at ~3/32 which leaves some tread--but so far--no flats. I follow Jeff Saline's mantra, "90% of the flats occur -- in the last 10% of the tread". YMMV, etc. revmaaatin.

[Jud Jones]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "revmaaatin" wrote:

> > Judd, > HOw far down do you run your K270? I change my out at > ~3/32 which leaves some tread--but so far--no flats. I follow Jeff > Saline's mantra, > > "90% of the flats occur -- in the last 10% of the tread". > > YMMV, etc. > > revmaaatin. >

I answer this question a lot. I used to qualify the hell out of it by saying a lot of guys would have tossed my tires at about 6000 or 7000 miles. Except for one of them, they have all had tread in the center when tossed, although there was one that went deep into December with ice screws in the edge knobs that had a concave profile when it came off the rim. I could almost see daylight and put my finger through the center, but no cord showing. That one went over 10k. If the riding season had ended at 7k, I might have tossed them too. But I am a shade tree mechanic, literally. I don't sit outside and change tires in late November, but I still ride. My only flat rear on a K270 was in June, on a pretty fresh tire. The other flats were all fronts, desert thorns in new tires in February. Jeff is probably right, but I have yet to have a flat in a tire that was so worn it wasn't worth putting back on. The other K270 story I like to relate is from my first trip to Copper Canyon 2 years ago. I Started the trip with 3500 miles on the K270 on the rear of my DR650. Marty Mataya opined that the tire wouldn't last the trip. Several guys started out with fresh tires: Karoo, TKC80, MT21. When we got back after 2000 miles of hell on tires, I still had a good quarter inch of tread. Those DOT knobs were all bald.

[Tumu Rock]

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, "Eric Rickel" wrote:

> > I've have run three Duro median rear tires but trashed the first two

(not the tires fault).

> > I ride 90% highway (at 70-75 MPH) and the rest on mostly dry gravel

roads and they work well for that.

> > I'm not sure which brand I'll use but I think there's a change

coming. Any suggestions?

>

They ain't cheap but I can attest to the performance and wear of the Dunlop D607s. I put on a front before my trip from VT to CA and back and it barely looks worn after 6000 miles. The rear wasn't put on until Las Vegas on the return leg. It has roughly 3000 miles and is starting to lose it's curvature a bit in the center. But my return trip was heavily loaded, sustained high speeds (80+mph for 6-10 hours a day), and mostly straight line ass hauling on the interstate. They handle extremely well on the pavement and were very predictable on the gravel/hard pack (especially considering I didn't air down at all). Mind you I was riding gingerly because of my dislocated toe and torn up ankle linkage, but they didn't scare me at all. I had a close call on old route 66 when a pickup truck turned right, across my lane, from the center lane of a 4 lane road. The tires held on way better than I thought and I was able to keep grabbing more and more brake until I finally stopped about an inch from his passenger side rear quarter panel. It wasn't until he was fully blocking any exit route I had that he decided to stop. If he hadn't slowed down at all I might have been able to swerve around him to the left. I recently had the opportunity to ride with the 607s on the hard pack snow and slush of a ski resort parking lot and they REALLY suck at that. But everyone there enjoyed me spinning my tire and paddling and swinging the bike from side to side trying to find some semblance of traction. da Vermonster