[acecycleins]

Short take: Most of you know I aquired a KLR off my bro-in-law. Never owned a big trailie before so it's been an interesting last two months. Today I ditched the OEM ds rubber for the Shinkos. I did a moderate scrub in for about 50 miles (playing on the Loop and Blood Mtn). They had immediate dry road grip. Nothing squirely or unexpected- even on the tar snakes that line Hwy 60. It feels like I cut the vibes by half with these tires vs the OEMs. That pleases me a lot since I'm using the KLR to cummute to college, as well.
I decided for the 1st time ever to run it down the Chestatee WMA to see if the 75/25 tires would suck on semi-groomed forest roads. Impression: Outstanding. Honestly, 27 yrs of street riding and about 5 days of dirt in my whole riding life. I was able to take the KLR down roads at 20mph and it not leave the intended track once. I even went through a 25ft wide, 18in deep water crossing and the bike never even slipped on the flat rocks.
All those guys on the GS and DL forums are right about these things. Cheap money, great feedback and if the boards are correct I should get many miles out of them.
That's it, back to your regularly scheduled MO.

 

[acecycleins]

Did two hundred more miles on the Shinkos. I ran out of ground clearance b4 I ran out of traction. I need to grind the feelers down half way to keep up with the grip. The transitions are slow flicking the bike, but my biggest issue now are the brakes. Guess I need to upgrade them. This KLR thing is pretty cool.

 

[cloud9]

A moto magazine did a major comparison of practically all the latest performance street tires not too long ago (maybe a year or 2 ago) and the shinko performed commendably considering their price point.

 

[2doorcinema]

What year is your KLR? Do you now prefer off-road riding? Have you ever tried Avon Gripster tires? I like using them, they are good on and off road, I've had a couple sets of them, but if I might do some research on the Shinko's you mention, just trying to figure out if they are good for both terrains.