I have noticed that the 250 and 300ex sport quads use 22' tires all around. 400s, Honda and Suzuki, use 20' on the rear and 22' in the front. Can someone explain why and if I should change my son's 300 to be like the 400s? I believe it is to put more weight in the rear plus it helps handling on faster quads.

TIA

 

20 on the rear seems to be the all around "sport" size. It lowers your gear ratio for one. It is not as "balloon" like as some bigger tires are. The flip side is that you get about an inch less clearance. It all really depends on what kind of riding is done though.

 

Suspension performance and travel on smaller atvs like the 200's,. 250's and 300's is usually not on par with that of their bigger bore 400cc and up cousins. "Balloon tires" serve a couple purposes like making it harder to wheelie the quad, better floatation to keep from sinking in loose conditions, and other benefits for less experienced riders. But getting back to my point, they are also used as supplementary cushion for the suspension, more sidewall means the suspension will be softer.

 

That all makes sense and I agree 100%. However, since I moved to 20" Razrs, it rides a little too hard. I did just do the raptor rear shock upgrade and that really helped. Now the front needs help, it is just too stiff on jump landings. Do you think I should move to 22s on the front, keeping the 20s on the rear or keep it the way it is?

 

I would go up in the front as it will give you more clearance and help a small amount. It will raise the COG though.

That bike was not intended to be landing any major jumps so watch out with that. If it is getting to be that much of an issue I would look into steping up to a more sport oriented model soon.