new tires!

Tread Doctor fun

I swapped the Millville II to ST direction and sharpened and siped the knobs, it actually worked pretty well today. I think it's better like this than new, in the IT direction. Overall, not impressed and won't be buying another. It will do for another ride or 2 though. Running @ 10psi with a standard Bridgestone tube. Actually have worn out 2 tires with the same tube good stuff.
Planning on carving my half-worn VE33 next and maybe run it backwards. Then I'm mounting new skins with a tubliss on the rear.

Quick update on the MotoZ. It's currently on a KTM200 with about 20 hours of ride time on it. It looks like new mostly because its a hard tire with a very stiff sidewall. The MotoZ preforms best at about 4-5 psi. It's a good tire on fast fire roads, dry single track and does well on off camber roots and rocks. It doesn't work worth a darn in wet conditions or any kind of mud. In fact, my WR250 with Pirelli MT43 Trials tire ran circles around the MotoZ in wet single track. The MotoZ is probably best suited for a Duel Sport bike.

What rear tire do you guys suggest for a te610 with a dunlop d606 front? I'm running a dunlop d908RR in the rear now, but it's close to being worn down and I dont want to spend 220$ for the tire again (great tire though)... I Live in SoCal and have to ride at least 100 miles on freeways to hit any trails... but would still rather have a better offroad tire than on road as i dont ride fast on road.

Sorry, I don't do pavement. I would think you need a good DS or ADV tire, can't suggest a decent knobby that will be worth a damn after 100 miles of pavement.

Heidenau and Full Bore tires are really good dual sport. With the nod going to Heidenau if you have the money for one. But as Steve says, knobby is not the right choice given that much pavement on that sized bike. I can tell you, however, that an MT43 rear lasted a surprisingly long time on my TE511 for dual sport with mostly pavement. At $75 and 2K - 4K miles tread life (maybe less on a 610) you can buy a lot of them vs. one d908RR. And the new MotoZ Mountain Hybrid is supposedly getting a following for dual sport.

I carved the VE33 and ran it backwards, but braking traction is really poor. Otherwise it works well again, even in the deep woods.
Next I'm going Tubliss on the rear and trying a Shinko 520A.

Today I mounted a new front. My worn out Maxxis EN was not working in the slippery, snotty stuff at all.
I have a new EN, but decided to try a Metzeler MC5 80/100 instead. This is my fav front on the XR and after 1 ride it looks like it's going to do very well on the WR300 too.

That's the mounted Metz on the right, old EN and new EN on the left. The EN is directional, but the MC5 isn't.
I like the idea of a bigger footprint with the 90/90 EN, but didn't notice any difference today with the 80/100 MC5.

I hated the Millville..... Washogal was better

The Metz front really passed the test today. It's been raining for over a week here and the woods trails are very wet and slippery. The fireroads were dried already except for low turns which all have big, silty mud holes. The MC5 handled it all very well. I had to deliberately push it in the mud to get it to break loose. It even carved through wet, flat and off camber turns in the woods.
Really surprised it's even better on the 300 than on my xr250

I love new tires
My 150 (now 165) came with a extra set of almost new tires, the sorely missed by some Dunlop D756. They had a couple rides on them, just scrubbed in good and weren't dried out. Also, this bike came from PO with 1.85-19 wheel. Can't judge them too much, because suspension isn't right yet, but they worked pretty well. They were soft terrain tires, so it didn't last long in the mixed terrain around here. With about 60-70% tread left I noticed the center knobs were tearing.

Some of the shoulder knobs too. So mounted up a Metz MC4 100/90-19

This is also my current fav on the XR250, so thought I'd try it on the 165. Tough ST to IT tire with strong, reinforced sidewalls. Put a new Bridgestone standard tube with corn starch in the Dunlop, after @ 10 of abuse no sign of wear so reused it in the Metz
D756 front is a good tire and still working well. It's wearing a little fast too, but hasn't lost it's bite yet.

More when I get a couple of rides in

I loved them old 756 knobbies!!

Have you tried the M59?
I started cross training on the 165. So far all I have is a short loop in the pines full of small logs and roots and about a mile of drainage ditch full of everything. D756 front handles it really well. Running @ 10 psi with an IRC HD tube, lots of rock too including shale and slate, great traction and no issues.

Just found Maxxis on sale at Chaparral, EN and IT fronts for @ $65! I've got a couple spare fronts already so not buying, but tempted.

LAST DUNLOP I BOUGHT WAS A K139 REMEMBER THOSE ALWAYS PAIRED IT UP WITH A K190 WAY BACK IN THE DAY

Hey.Ajax, what terrain are you running with the 523. I'm assuming mostly desert by your pic. I just ran a race up here in Washington, and flatted out with an AT81. I was camped next to Megan Griffiths, a fast girl from Canada. She recommended the GT216. We got mixed terrain here, woods and desert, so I was thinking the 216 May be the better pick. Whatever the choice, I will be putting a mousse in. NO MORE FLATS!! By the way, a little off topic, if you guys are looking for a great race in central Washington, the Desert 100 is a blast in the beginning of April every year.

Yeah N.C. Steve. I really like that tire. Running one now. Used to run 756 rr. That was good good.

M59 is my go to tire for rocks and roots. I have a Vee Rubber GNCC 140 on right now with no plans to change the front.

I've yet to find a replacement for the old 756....

Metz MC4 rear is very similar, great traction everywhere, but wears fast on hardpack and rocky. Having run them back to back I like the Metz rear better. I've got a front to mount too, but the 756 front is still working well though it's looking pretty worn. I'ts really wet here now, so we'll see how it does this afternoon.

Can't believe the 756F has done so well, 40 hours on it now and it's started to break loose a little in turns, especially in anything loose or wet. No chunks or tears or any other BS. I'd get another in a heartbeat if I could. Thinking to mount Maxxis EN front next since it's so dry and hot here.