ATV tires

[Tikkamike]

I bought a Honda Foreman recently and it needs a new set of meats. Just wondering what you guys use and what terrain you ride on. Mine will be mostly hard and soft dirt, maybe a little shale and rock etc Of course I live in wyoming so a little mud and a lot of snow are inevitable.... pretty diverse. I will probably ride it in town a little too. I am looking at the Maxxis Bighorn radials. Any opinions or suggestions?

 

[kcebcj]

Hey Mike...I run the Bighorn Maxxis on a Polaris 26-12-R12 rear and 26-9-R12 front. Very good all around tire wear well and pull good in the snow. Now if you run chains in the winter they are pretty wide and may present a clearance problem but spacers are available.

I run them at 8 lbs and the radials in this rocky country here give a excellent ride.

 

[cowboy]

Those tires will more than do what you are asking. Only thing I would suggest would be to have some "good quality" slime put in them when getting them mounted up. If your part of Wy. only has half as many cactus as we've got the slime will more than pay for itself.

Oh yea - if you've never had that stuff in a tire before make sure you do not let it set after installing.

 

[specweldtom]

I run a '96 Foreman 400 mostly on rocks, sticky mud, and some blacktop, no snow. I don't know anything about the Maxxis tires, or their cost, but I have run factory tires, Strykers, ITP Blackwaters, Mudlites, and am presently trying some Dirt Devils. The ITP tires seemed to wear out fast. Don't know about the Dirt Devils yet. I run 26 x 12 x 10's in front and 26 x 12 x 12's in back. The Mudlites and Dirt Devils have very aggresive staggered chevron cleats. Very good off the road, but not so good on blacktop. I run 4 lbs in them.

So far, I've been able to negotiate with Discount Tire for two sets of 4, mounted, for $300. Don't know how long that'll last though.

We have a lot of prickly pear, sharp rocks, and cedar stumps. The factory tires can't take it. I've sliced and diced a couple of them. The ITP's and Dirt Devils have much thicker, stiffer bodies, but still need at least a pint of monkey snot in them. I put a quart in each tire. I also carry lots of tubeless plugs, and an inflation kit my brother made up with a large CO2 cartridge that fits the paintball guns. It works like a champ unless you cut a long slice in a tire.

The toughest tires I've ever had were the 4 ply Carlisle Strykers on a 300 CC fourtrax, but they are not aggressive enough, and are not available bigger than 25".

I always warn the guys changing the tires not to run their hands inside the old tires. Besides the monkey snot, there will be a lot of the big prickly pear thorns sticking inside them.

I'm curious about the Maxxis tires and will look them up. Always looking for something better.

Tom

 

[Outlaw6.0]

The BigHorn radials are very good tires, A little expensive but very nice. I run 27" Swamp Fox on mine, which are a little more like mud tires (large lugs) but they do noticeably better in the snow than the Bighorns on my fathers machine. I've got in the 1500 mile range on mine now on terrain varying from highway to gravel (lots of that) to nearly submerged in the creek on our ranch to the snow pictures I posted in your other thread.

There are some downsides to the Swamp Fox too, they feel like a tractor when going slow on pavement but still handle well. They throw rocks like no tomorrow, which isn't really a problem to you but the guys following you will give you a rash of crap I don't think you would be able to chain them up as the chains would fall between the lugs and be pretty much worthless.

Keep in mind, I had to put on a lift kit on mine to fit the 27's, but 26's should fit just fine.

 

[J E Custom]

I have tried quite a few ATV tires and am currently using the Dirt Devils.

They seem to have the best all round features and wear very slow. The tread is very aggressive
in mud and snow and the tread overlaps so the ride is not to harsh.

I have had them in the mountains,marshes,rice fields and on paved roads and found nothing
I did not like about them.

They have plenty of sidewall strength and can be inflated to 2 or 3 pounds for the best ride and
cut protection from sharp rocks.

These are the tires that the rail road uses on the track crews ATVs and they run all over the tracks
and cross-ties and hold very well.

They are just a good all round tire and at a reasonable price.

J E CUSTOM