Page 1 of 3
kenda k270 tires
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2002 4:11 pm
by Dennis R. Eastman
I am currently running my stock (worn) front tire and and an Avon Gripster
AM24 rear. I am looking to make my bike a little more dirt worthy. I would
like opinions on the Kenda K270 tires. It says they are a 50/50 tire. I have
never ridden with that kind of a tire so I really need to know what kind of
performance/ noise / vibrations could I expect on the road. I ride more on
road than I do off but I hate that feeling just before the front end comes
out from under me in the loose stuff. Are there other tires out there that
would be better for my application.
Thanks for your input.
~Dennis~ A15
Concord, NC
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
kenda k270 tires
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2002 4:15 pm
by Dennis R. Eastman
Actually, I kinda hate the feeling afterward too...
~Dennis~
kenda k270 tires
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2002 4:16 pm
by dale_johnson13
--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "Dennis R. Eastman" wrote:
--Snip
> like opinions on the Kenda K270 tires. It says they are a 50/50
> Concord, NC
--Snip
They are so cheap you can use them as a street tire. They will even
let you drag your peg. I use them and I commute 150 miles a day.
Dale
KLR A14 W/ 40k+
Jeep YJ with 7 inch lift
http://www.off-road.com/products/reviews/skyjacker/monoleaf/
kenda k270 tires
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2002 4:24 pm
by Jim Franklin
On Wed, Jan 23, 2002 at 05:14:00PM -0500, Dennis R. Eastman wrote:
>
>
>Actually, I kinda hate the feeling afterward too...
I lost the front on a pedestrian stripe (the plaster, not the tire mark!),
instictively put my foot down and promptly ran it over with the rear tire.
That was my first clue the tires were getting old.
jim
kenda k270 tires
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2002 4:50 pm
by Devon Jarvis
I have ridden KLRs with three different tires so far- stock, IRC GP110,
and Kenda 270. The stock K750 tires are great for the road, OK on hard
offroad, but don't last. They are not good in sand and mud- basically
anything loose.
The IRC GP110 don't really give up anything on the street to the K750s,
but they are much better in soft terrain. The front is OK in sand, the
rear is pretty good. Unfortunately the front still wanders and swaps
ruts in sand. GP110s don't self-clean well, they are not good for muddy
conditions or wet dirt. The treads fill and then they spin.
The Kenda 270 are excellent in sand, soft dirt, hard dirt, and they do
better in mud than the IRC. The knobs are pretty tall, so they squirm a
little on the street. They do stick pretty well on pavement. They seem
to be an outright ripoff of the IRC GP-1. I am running a 270 front and
an IRC GP110 rear. I will replace the rear IRC with a Kenda when it
wears down.
Devon
A15
"Dennis R. Eastman" wrote:
kenda k270 tires
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2002 5:07 pm
by Lujo Bauer
I just replaced a worn pair of stock tires with K270s and am very happy
with how they handle on the street. I've only put a few dozen miles on
them so I haven't tried to push them hard, but so far I'm pleasantly
surprised -- i.e., I haven't noticed any major increase or noise or
vibration, and I certainly don't feel less confident with them. Then
again, the tires I took off were in pretty bad shape, so I'm probably
unfairly biased towards the K270s.
-Lujo
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dennis R. Eastman [mailto:deastman@...]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 5:10 PM
> To: KLR650 List
> Subject: [DSN_klr650] Kenda K270 Tires
>
>
> I am currently running my stock (worn) front tire and and an Avon
Gripster
> AM24 rear. I am looking to make my bike a little more dirt worthy. I
would
> like opinions on the Kenda K270 tires. It says they are a 50/50
> tire. I have
> never ridden with that kind of a tire so I really need to know
> what kind of
> performance/ noise / vibrations could I expect on the road. I ride more
on
> road than I do off but I hate that feeling just before the front end
comes
> out from under me in the loose stuff. Are there other tires out there
that
> would be better for my application.
> Thanks for your input.
> ~Dennis~ A15
> Concord, NC
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
kenda k270 tires
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2002 5:21 pm
by kawboy15
Incredible coincidence, I was just going to install my new K270 yesterday and upon comparing overall height I found my old Kings Tire (460-17) was a full 1 1/4 inch taller than the (460-17) kenda, the Kings tire is a tad over 25" tall which is about what the K-750 that comes stock on the bike is, the Kenda is only 24" tall. It has a very narrow sidewall,The dealer I ordered them from was also surprised at the amount of difference, He said it could slightly change the rake of the bike and maybe even the gearing, Trying to keep with the dimensions of the stock tire I opted to exchange it for a pair of Dunlop D604s, I know these are a little spendy but they along with the Michelin T-66 are Identacle in all dimensions to the stock K-750s, I don't think I'd buy another inch sized tire sight unseen unless I could lay a tape on it to measure dimensions as they seem to vary somewhat from one brand to another. Dan
kenda k270 tires
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2002 5:39 pm
by Tengai650
At 5:10 PM -0500 1/23/02, Dennis R. Eastman wrote:
>I am currently running my stock (worn) front tire and and an Avon Gripster
>AM24 rear. I am looking to make my bike a little more dirt worthy. I would
>like opinions on the Kenda K270 tires. It says they are a 50/50 tire. I have
>never ridden with that kind of a tire so I really need to know what kind of
>performance/ noise / vibrations could I expect on the road. I ride more on
>road than I do off but I hate that feeling just before the front end comes
>out from under me in the loose stuff. Are there other tires out there that
>would be better for my application.
>Thanks for your input.
>~Dennis~ A15
>Concord, NC
Although I've tried and liked some other tires, the K270 is still my
preferred tire and the best value. Vibration is minimal; they get a
little noisy about 3/4 of the way through their life. However, I only
noticed the noise once someone on the list with a low threshold for
noise (and probably wind & sunlight for that matter) commented that
they're noisy. I mean like ya sure you can *hear* them, but I
certainly wouldn't call them noisy.
Mark
B2
A2
A3
kenda k270 tires
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2002 6:04 pm
by RM
On Wed, 23 Jan 2002, kawboy15 wrote:
>Incredible coincidence, I was just going to install my new K270
>yesterday and upon comparing overall height I found my old Kings Tire
>(460-17) was a full 1 1/4 inch taller than the (460-17) kenda, the Kings
>tire is a tad over 25" tall which is about what the K-750 that comes
>stock on the bike is, the Kenda is only 24" tall. It has a very narrow
>sidewall,
The proper size for the rear Kenda is 5.10x17, and I still think it's a
little too small. Kendas seem to run a little short. Their K257 non-DOT
knobby is kinda smallish, too. The 5.30x17 Cheng Shin C755 is a monster
by comparison.
RM
kenda k270 tires
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2002 6:18 pm
by s2mumford
Best KLR tire for the buck, no contest.
$22.99 gets you a new front tire from Chaparral. I have about 14,000
miles on Kenda 270s, am on my 4th (or 5th, I forget) rear and 3rd (or
4th) front.
They are a great 50/50 tire. I put 550 miles on mine this weekend,
about 350 paved and 200 dirt. I run 21/28 psi front/rear on road and
15/15 off road.
I like them a lot.
CA Stu