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Knobbies

6K views 25 replies 12 participants last post by  CrazyNinja650R 
#1 ·
Question......What are the pros and cons of riding with Knobbies on the street. I have a pair of knobbies that I've never used. I have a dual sport. It's time for new tires and my mechanic stated that he has customers who rides with Knobbies. He stated that I should be aware that I'm riding with knobbies when turning. I've never ridden with them so is there a diffrent feel?
 
#2 ·
Depends on how aggressive the nobbies are. Make sure they are DOT approved. If they're mild 80 street / 20 off road, it's not so intrussive. The cons for use on pavement are longer stopping distance, feels less planted in turns, less traction on hard acceleration, more road noise, potentially faster wear (depends on the compound).

The pros are always ready to go off road and using what you have instead of spending more $$.
 
#7 ·
I think when describing how they feel, with street tires I felt comfortable on street and uncomfortable on dirt. With knobbies it's just the opposite. I felt uncomfortable on street and a lot more comfortable on dirt. Same DRZ400. And that was with just 80/20's. Full knobs would have surely been even greater difference and not for the better on street.
 
#11 ·
If they are true old style knobbies used for moto cross and off road racing. They will work on the street. they will not lean as well and your first cornering attempts will show this.
If your off road bike is registered, and you do more off road than street riding, knobbies can work.
But also consider what we used to call trails universal tyres. What you would find on a old trials bike. They have excellent traction for off road, and are better on the street than knobbies.
Knobbies can be better in mud, really loose soil, and deep pine needles on a very steep hill. But the trials universals have better traction than most folks think. I would generally prefer T U s over knobbies, for all but serious off road use, like cross country races in a mountainous area, or moto cross races.
I have not riden with any of the more modern dual purpose tyres. But there are several styles for most any type of riding. I will put a set on my XS400, which is all street use, possible slush and gravel road.

Unkle Crusty*
 
#13 ·
I owned a Honda 500 XL way back......
All i ran was the most aggressive full knobbies i could find on the streets.
Of course they worked great on the dirt roads, and where i lived at that time there was plenty of those.
On the asphalt they worked fine, but was a bit more a rougher ride then a trail tire.
They felt very weird on tite corners at higher speeds.
Kinda like they crept......they probly did.....
But they never failed me.....
Wear wasn't as bad as i thought they'd be.
Hell they had about 1.75 inches of tread.....LOL
If i could find a set to fit my Ninja 650, i'd probly run them on that.....
But down here where i live now not much as in dirt roads, so....
Don't need them.
Just yesterday i was on dirt roads to visit a friend.....
I found myself driving 55-60 MPH on the dirt roads.....LOL
I'm running pilot road 3's now.....
 
#14 ·
I installed dual sport tires on our little Honda Twinstars when we used to ride the gravel forestry roads in upper Michigan. I always thought the knobbies were better on pavement then the street tires were in the dirt and gravel. (If that makes sense?) But, my wife really, really hated the knobbies on the pavement. Aparently, she couldn't scrape the pegs while riding on pavement with the dual sport tires. :biggrin:
That's my girl. Did I mention she's a keeper? :71baldboy:
 
#16 ·
Even the approved adventure bike/ dualsport bike tires vibrate, are noisy and it gets worse as they wear.

Unless the street pressure is dropped down drastically once off the road and into the dirt, they are basically useless.

I agree with Crust's comments about "universal trials" tires. Pirelli was the standard at one time and they actually worked very well on the street and in the dirt.

On wet pavement and slick railroad crossings, tar snakes and painted white road surfaces, even approved "Knobbies" are a fall waiting to happen: Look at the actual surface area that touches the ground in a corner; it is a lot less than a "normal" street tire. This is supposedly why so many people would never use a car tire on a bike because the actual amount of tire that touches the ground is less than on a rounded tire.

I have a car tire on my new 2012 Burgman 650 Executive and love it! My bad.

Sam:coffeescreen:
 
#20 ·
On my XT350 dual sport, I am running Kenda Trakmaster II tires, front and rear. They are one of the most aggressive DOT rated tires you can buy. They are intended for 80% dirt, 20% street. They wear fast, but street manners are surprisingly decent. They are certainly not as nice as my other bikes with street tires. But they are not scary or anything like that. You treat them as the tire they are. You don't try to carve canyons on them, just as you wouldn't try to run through the dessert on sport bike tires. I ride off road a lot, in both snow and dirt. I would not want anything less aggressive. I'll replace these tires with the same, when it is time.
 
#21 ·
Beautiful area but the last couple of pictures says it all for me:

Two bears running to meet a bike rider with a flat.

One Bear sitting on top of a hill watching bikers, hoping for a flat.

All of them just waiting for a nice meal.

How do you get through Canada with a sufficiently large carry weapon to be able to talk some sense into bears?

Sam:biggrin:
 
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