New Shoes - Dual Sport

[CMPNW]

Looking at putting some dual sport shoes on my 79 xs11 Standard. The 17" rear wheel is a pain as far as selections go and I don't really want to have to track down a 16" wheel off a Special.

What are you guys running?

[LAB3]

For what it's worth the Shinko 705 gave me about 9k miles on the rear of my '82 Suzuki 450t, that was a 120/90-17. The front was a 100/90-19 and the only choice there was a Kenda, forget the model number. Did have matching Kenda's on both and they are horrible in the wet! Did come across some Continental Trail II's that fit and although the date codes where a bit "old" they absolute rocked on wet roads but really didn't do much better than the Shinko 777's off road. Some will tell you it's not a good idea to run a front tire on the rear BUT if you turn them around to run in the opposite direction you're OK. It's a matter of the direction of the torque that's applied to the tire, fronts are being pushed back while rears are being pushed forward.

[jetmechmarty]

Some will tell you it's not a good idea to run a front tire on the rear BUT if you turn them around to run in the opposite direction you're OK. It's a matter of the direction of the torque that's applied to the tire, fronts are being pushed back while rears are being pushed forward.

Front tires are generally not rated for as much weight. The XS11 is a fairly heavy bike.

[LAB3]

Front tires are generally not rated for as much weight. The XS11 is a fairly heavy bike.

Agreed! That's something a buyer would need to pay attention to.

[cajun31]

Looking at putting some dual sport shoes on my 79 xs11 Standard. The 17" rear wheel is a pain as far as selections go and I don't really want to have to track down a 16" wheel off a Special.

What are you guys running?

go to Chapparal Motorsports and search for Bridgestone Battlax BT46 tires. They have both the rear and front tires in stock for your bike. As close a tire to what came on them that you can buy. Bias ply tire and H rated.

[Radioguylogs]

I am happy with the Battlax BT46, but they are not suitable for motocross.

[LAB3]

Just covered about 2k miles in three days and the 16 yr old Dunlop 404's that came on the bike when I bought it are about to hit the wear bars, not a bad thing! Looked over what's available and for the type of riding I'd prefer to be doing I'm pretty sure this is what I'm gonna go with, 80% on road 20% off road tread. Pretty sure these are radials and not bias ply tires, someone might want to chime in on that. My impression is that it's OK to run radials as long as you have one on each axle.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/334459413204

[LAB3]

Here's the Kenda's I mentioned earlier, the price looks good but they wear quick and are pretty useless in the wet, both on and off road.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/374142821500

[DiverRay]

The Conti should fit. You will need to install the front tire with almost no air in it, but you have the clearance for it. I run a 100 on the front of my special. The radial design may have you looking at the suspension on down the road. Shock/forks are different now than back then. Look at some of the "mods" in the other threads to get some ideas, as you feel you need them.

[LAB3]

The Conti should fit. You will need to install the front tire with almost no air in it, but you have the clearance for it. I run a 100 on the front of my special. The radial design may have you looking at the suspension on down the road. Shock/forks are different now than back then. Look at some of the "mods" in the other threads to get some ideas, as you feel you need them.

Turns out you get radial or bias depending on size, so both front and rear are good to go. Right now it has a D404 100/90-19 with plenty of room under the fender and legs so in thinking it shouldn't be an issue.

[DiverRay]

Yeah, plenty of room ONCE ON. getting them past the brake calipers may require letting the air out.

[LAB3]

I've always had trouble getting them past the fender mount tabs on the legs, calipers are easy enough to remove and put back into place.

[LAB3]

After researching the living h3ll out of the subject here's what I've found. There's plenty of choices out there for rear tires especially if you "cheat" a little and go with a 130/80-17. I've already mentioned a couple, there's also the Shinko 705, Mitas E-07 and IRC GS-210 all within a reasonable price range. Personally I wouldn't sweat the fact they're rated at 64 for load capacity except for the fact that my bike has the "Venturer" tour pack, I pull a trailer and do some two up riding from time to time. Considering this I'm sticking with the 130/90-17 since the load rating tends to 68 on that size

Fronts are another matter! There's very little in the way of 100/90-19 out there and having some experience with them in the past the Continental TKC70 makes the most sense up front. It seems that manufactures like to have large flat spots with deep grooves separating them these days which tends to make the tire skate across gravel and never get a good bite, the TKC70 has plenty of spots to get a grip.

For the past week I've been running plenty of gravel roads and to tell you the truth the Dunlop d404's have done a pretty good job, as good as any dual sport tire I've run in the past. It's that lack of large flat spot issue that makes the difference in my opinion. I'm going to stick with the 404's, got a new set on the way to a buddy of mines house. For the expected wear and grip I'd get out of a more expensive dual sport tire available in that size and weight rating range they seem to be as good as anything else out there.

The TKC70's are going to be almost double the price with a similar life expectancy and if I can get back to where I want to be on the 404's then that's good enough for me!

[cajun31]

I am happy with the Battlax BT46, but they are not suitable for motocross.

I can't imagine driving these bikes on anything but pavement. Maybe it's just me.

[CMPNW]

After researching the living h3ll out of the subject here's what I've found. There's plenty of choices out there for rear tires especially if you "cheat" a little and go with a 130/80-17. I've already mentioned a couple, there's also the Shinko 705, Mitas E-07 and IRC GS-210 all within a reasonable price range. Personally I wouldn't sweat the fact they're rated at 64 for load capacity except for the fact that my bike has the "Venturer" tour pack, I pull a trailer and do some two up riding from time to time. Considering this I'm sticking with the 130/90-17 since the load rating tends to 68 on that size

Fronts are another matter! There's very little in the way of 100/90-19 out there and having some experience with them in the past the Continental TKC70 makes the most sense up front. It seems that manufactures like to have large flat spots with deep grooves separating them these days which tends to make the tire skate across gravel and never get a good bite, the TKC70 has plenty of spots to get a grip.

For the past week I've been running plenty of gravel roads and to tell you the truth the Dunlop d404's have done a pretty good job, as good as any dual sport tire I've run in the past. It's that lack of large flat spot issue that makes the difference in my opinion. I'm going to stick with the 404's, got a new set on the way to a buddy of mines house. For the expected wear and grip I'd get out of a more expensive dual sport tire available in that size and weight rating range they seem to be as good as anything else out there.

The TKC70's are going to be almost double the price with a similar life expectancy and if I can get back to where I want to be on the 404's then that's good enough for me!

Thanks for all your research. I've been doing the same the last few weeks and I'm really leaning towards the Skino 705's. I figure I will have to cheat it a bit but it really shouldnt make to big of a difference. I'm really looking to take my bike out on a bunch of fire roads for some camping trips this summer. I'd like a bit more aggressive tread incase I run into road surfaces that I was'nt expecting and still get through fine. Also, I have to say I like to agressive look on the bike.