I am going to be doing a lot of riding out west this year and I am looking for a tire recomendation. I will also be attending the ATV Jamboree. Right now I have ITP 589's and the stock tires that the machine came with. I am concerned that the stock tires will not hold up to a lot of rock riding. They are great in the Midwest but I would think they would be less than desirable in the mountains. The 589's are also good in the Midwest for mud and riding back in the woods but I would think there would be a better tire for the mountain trails.

Please give me your recomendations.

Thanks.

 

i have gators on my 500i and i think thay are a sweet tire in all terrane.
snow mud sand even on the hard pack fire roads thay ride great.
i keep 3 to 4 psi in the tires and thats what gives it the nice ride.
my second choice would be mud lites.
but thay are a soft compond tire and whare down fast.
i talked to a guy the other day who has a 1000 klms on his 650 prerie and his tires have more whare on his tires then i have on my gators, and i have 2000 miles on my gators.
also i have 2 buddys with 600 grizzlys and thay both just put mud lites on there quads.
and thay seem to work as good or better then my gators.
but i dont think thay will last as long.
ps. i know my gators rule off road.
and i will see soon enuff how the mud lites compare.
mud lite tires have deeper lugs then my gators.
and the gators are mesured from outside lug to lug.
where as the mud lites are mesured from the smooth edge to smooth edge and thay still have that inch and a 1/4 of lug wider on each side making them look wider.

 

The Maxxis Bighorns look like they would be a good trail tire especially on those rocky trails in Utah and those Ouachita moutnains in Arkansas.

 

thanks for your reply. Who makes the Gator's?

 

CR724,

Do you know what ply the Maxxis Bighorns are? I know they make a Radial Bighorn. Would a Radial hold up in rocks. I have heard that Radials have soft sidewalls. Is that true?

 

They make the Bighorn in 6 ply radial AND bias tires. I have read other threads in this forum about the diffs between the two types of tire and the sidewall softness. Seemed like someone asked about the soft sidewall. You run a search to find out more.

 

AC650;
I run the Paiute Trail almost every year. So far the Titan 489 tire is the only tire I've used but my friends use everything from stock to Bear Claws with success. Good luck on your ride, it's probably the neatest trail system in the U.S. The people are really nice also. Try www. marysvale.org it has lots of info. and pics of the Paiute Trail [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I saw the jamboree on ATV TV the other day. The trail rides sounded like they would be a lot of fun.I would love to go this year but Utah is a long way from here. That would be a tough trip. Drive three days to get there, ride atv's all week long, and then exhausted drive home for another three days. Have fun.

 

AC650:
You are correct on your Stock Cat GY Radials, don't take them out West.
I have ridden the Paiute Trail last Summer on a Prairie 650 with 27" Goodyear Mudrunners, I was thankful to have them. There are some good steep mountain climbs on the Paiute Trails & the Mudrunners performed excellent. The other P650 had the ITP Radial Holeshots, he too had excellent traction.
The GY Radial that comes on our Cats have too soft of a sidewall for the hardpack & rocky trails. Where I ride here in NM, the trails are the same type as the Paiute trails & I can tell you for a fact that the GY Radials DO NOT like hard-pack dirt roads or very rocky terrian. NO flats with them but way too much roll-up of the sidewall onto the rim.

 

AC650, My plans are to also attend the Rocky Mt. ATV Jamboree in Sept., as well as Moab
in April. I will not be taking my stock Goodyear MTR's to either place, although i do like them for the sandy trails of Appalchia Bay here in Ok. as well as other trails i ride. But for the hard rocky trails out west i'll be going with full 6-ply tires. My choice at this time is the Dirt Devil XT's in a 27" tire, as i hear they run a little short on ht. I will also be taking a set of Badland XTR's i have mounted on stock AC wheels. The Bighorns would also be a good choice, but only come in a 25"
tire at this time. Rumors are they will be coming out with a 26" & 27" some time soon. Another choice might be the Titan 489 XT's, at least for me it would be. Lots of good choices out there,
guess it boils down to personal preferance. Hope to meet up with you in Utah in Sept. I'll have the ATV Connection stickers stuck on my ride. Regards, Jerico1