New formula Kenda Big Block

[Topgear]

ETA Since I settled on the Big Blocks, I changed the thread title.

Sorry to do this, but I'm on the fence. I currently have K60's on the bike, and they've been good to me so far. I've got about 9,000 miles on them, and have 4-5mm left at the center tread. I also have an upcoming trip at about 3,500 miles, so tires are on my mind. I'll be riding the slab out to CO from IL, riding around the Rockies, with a portion of the COBDR, then slab back. I obviously don't want to worry about changing a tire on the trip. Options as I seem them:

1) Burn through what's left of the K60 rear and hope it lasts and serves me well enough
2) Kenda Big Block - Front and Rear
3) TKC 80 - Front and Rear
4) Full Bore M40
5) Pay through the nose for another rear K60 (since they are all out of stock at normal retailers)
6) Others???

 

[Topgear]

Re: Tire Advice Please

Never mind, I'm going to give the Kenda Big Blocks a try. Should last the trip and I'm only out $200.

 

[Don in Lodi]

Re: Tire Advice Please

Ah, somebody to run the Big Block hard on pavement finally. S'posed to be a new formulation. Let us know how they do.
The ultimate would be to run the K60 out there and swap them out there. Ship 'em ahead of you.
Have a blast.

 

[Topgear]

Re: Tire Advice Please

I suppose that would be the ultimate. Not sure how much I'd want to screw around with trying to spoon off the old K60s in a parking lot though. I've heard that sidewall is a PITA.

 

[Don in Lodi]

Re: Tire Advice Please

Me neither, I'd hire it done. I used a powered machine to do mine.

 

[Topgear]

Re: Tire Advice Please

Well, swapped out the K60s for the Big Blocks this weekend. I ended up getting right at 10,000 miles on the rear K60 with 4-5mm of tread left. It would probably make my upcoming CO trip, but I just didn't want to chance it. I put these on at 18,400 miles. I sure hope to get at least 4,000 miles out of them. 5,000 would be excellent! I'll follow up after the trip with a wear report.

 

[klunsford]

Re: Tire Advice Please

I have been running the Shinko 705's since I bought the bike. Good inexpensive tire, getting great wear from them and decent off road qualities. Now... are they a K60? no, but them do very well in wet and on the highway. When I want to go off road, I have had no issues in sand, dirt, mud and anything...

 

[PDX A]

Re: Tire Advice Please

Just used Mitas E09 a very aggressive tire on the AZBDR and was very impressed. It has a thicker sidewall if you get the Dakar model . There about gone with 4000 miles but otherwise I'm happy. The front burned up quick so maybe go for an E07 if you can.

 

[Topgear]

Re: Tire Advice Please

A little follow-up after my CO trip. I now have 3,200 miles on the Big Blocks and they are wearing very well. I don't have a depth gauge, but you can see the shallow wear bars in the center lugs are still present. I'm a big boy at 6'4" 290lbs, and the bike had probably 100lbs of gear on it as well. Off road use was limited to about 100 miles. The remainder was interstate, highways, and scenic roads throughout Colorado. 2,000 miles of that was burning out on I-80 and I-76 at speeds of up to 80mph. 1000 was a straight shot home on an unverified Iron Butt. I also road approximately 120 miles in moderate to heavy rain. In all conditions I feel they handle better than the K60s. My only complaint would be that they do howl quite a bit. It's not an oscillating howl, it's consistent. I would say it's no worse than I would have expected.

Here is the front:

 

[low drag]

Re: Tire Advice Please

If you're passing through Denver have a look at these guys:
http://performancecycle.com/ The have a huge selection and can install the tire for you. I bet if you call ahead they'll hold whatever you buy and want them to install.

I just got back from a day trip west and south of Boulder, CO. We rode the Switzerland trail, up Rolling Pass (til we got turned back by snow). Then Mammoth Gulch and up to Apex Mtn. Lots of hard packed dirt with marble to golf ball and larger rocks. Some places you just had to go through apple sized rocks and avoid the bigger stuff. The last couple of switch backs on the way up Apex had some pretty steep grades!

I am running K60s and did OK today, it's my first time on a trail with the S10. One of the guys with me has that stock Battle Wings, he did just fine but he has tons more experience than me. Check out the regional forum, I'm sure one of us will have some pics up this evening.

 

[Don in Lodi]

Re: Tire Advice Please

Looks like the rumored reformulation for the Big Blocks came through. The old models would be pretty well shot with that much hard pavement abuse.

 

[Topgear]

Re: Tire Advice Please

Looks like the rumored reformulation for the Big Blocks came through. The old models would be pretty well shot with that much hard pavement abuse.

That's what I figured too. I was a bit nervous heading out, not knowing exactly how long they would last. At this rate, I think 5,000 will be in range.

 

[johnpitts01]

Re: Tire Advice Please

Great to hear for the Big Blocks!

I loved the performance of the first set I had but could not live with 2200 mile tire life.

Going through a set of TKC 80's now. Will try the Big Blocks again for the next next set.

Next set will be something not quite so aggressive for a California tour in September / October. Not sure yet what I'm going to fit for the Cali trip.

John

 

[Topgear]

Re: Tire Advice Please

Well, I'm at 4,400 miles now, and the front is severely cupping. The rear is in good shape, but the front is starting to make me nervous. It seems like the blocky tires tend to cup heavily on big bikes. Another trip coming up, so I'm pulling these off and giving the Full Bore M40s a shot. If I regularly rode gnarlier stuff, I'd probably run them again. I'll save the gnarly stuff for the Husqvarna. ::024::

 

[Topgear]

A final tally of 4,800 miles, and the Big Bores are off of the bike. They always felt good in basically any conditions. Having knobs in some of the rougher terrain was nice, but just not worth the longevity to me. I'm trying a set of Full Bore M40's this time around. Hope it's the right amount of compromise for the roads I ride.

 

[trikepilot]

Either I got an old formula BigBlock or I am alot harder on my tires than you cuz I toasted my BigBlocks by 2500 miles and only stretched them to 3000 cause I was mainly commuting on pavement to school and work. Those last 500 miles were essentially like riding on a street tire and any offroad I did was a struggle. I liked the Big Blocks and will definitely give them another try, but for now I am sampling the Mitas e09.

 

[Topgear]

Could be that you had the old formula. My rear had way more tread left than the one in your pic. Probably good enough for another 2000 miles, but the front was so badly copied I didn't trust it any longer. I've heard good things about the Mitas as well.

 

[~TABASCO~]

I've been on a set of BB's for the last 1000 miles.... probably 85/15... The front still has the molding bumps hanging off and the rear basically looks new except the center leading edge... At this rate I 'should' be able to run these about 5K or so..

Maybe with these tires I should take off the training wheels.. ::26::

 

[Topgear]

Keep us posted on the long term wear. I'm curious to see how other's look after the first 3,000 miles or so. I wish the front would wear like the rear did.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

I know that this is an old thread, but I am wondering if anyone else has been running a K784 Big Block Rear Tire? The price seems right compared to other tires with a similar configuration.

My bike had well worn in Mitas E-07 Dakar's on it when I bought it. Nice tire, but pricy. I replaced them with Shinko 705s on front and rear. The rear Shinko is about shot after 4K miles. I have a one day off road class coming up, so I am looking at a more off road oriented tire this time around. The K784 looks like it does well on and off road at a fair price.