Hi Guys

I have a 2000 DS650 and I don't like my stock tires at all. I do a lot of sand trail riding with some occasional mudding. What kind of all round tire would you recomend?

 

I tried 20" razrs and don't feel they were much better than the stock tires. Maybe the new 22" version is better, I'm not sure. Some tires that caught my eye were the new 22x12.5x9 ITP Spider Tracs http://209.152.124.240/tires.htm#SPIDER TRAC, 22x12x9 Pure Sports Realtors, 22x11x9 Maxxis All Traks, 21x12x9 GBC Mud Shark. I think a taller tire will help. I ordered the mud sharks, but not for mud! I will be trying them out this week. This is just food for thought though. I am not a tire expert by any means. I discovered today that if you increase the rear shock pre-load so that the shock is extended nearly all the way when no-one is on it, and loosen the compression damping, there may be a little bit more clearance between the rear tires and the black fenders. I might trim the black fenders where they angle back towards the rear tire and can get eaten up by the tire after a large jump.

 

In the past we ran Spider tracks on our Warrior and we felt they were a great all round tire, excellent in mud, excellent on soft dirt, good on hard packed dirt, fair in sand. Also ran Realitors on my 250 quadracer with about the same results, althougt if you turn them around backwards they were better in sand. Either of these two tires would be a good choice for a all round tire, althougt no tire is perfect for all conditions. At this time we run 22x12x10 Kenda Bearclaws on back, 22x8x10 Bearclaws on front of my wifes Warrior, they are excellent in mud, good in sand, good on dirt for the way she rides. She rides fairly hard with alot of atv experience. I'm waiting for my 20x11x10 Sand Sharks for my DS, will let you know about their performance. Tire decisions are always one of the toughest ones to make. Enjoy.


'00 DS650
'97 Warrior
'87 YMF80

 

Hey thanks for the info. I think I'm going to go with Maxxis All Traks. The stock tires are 20X11X9 do you think 22X11X9 will fit without having to make any mods?

 

Hey thanks for the info. I think I'm going to go with Maxxis All Traks. The stock tires are 20X11X9 do you think 22X11X9 will fit without having to make any mods?

 

HighTorque,

I've been runnung ITP Holeshot
XCT 22x11x9s on the rear of my
DS with excellent results. No modifications for clearance were required.
Roger

 

Did you use reinforcing rings on youre rims or have you not had a problem bending them. I just bought new rims from OMF and they have the rings on them and they look sharp. I also went with the holeshot xct.
Bearman

 

With my 21x12x9 mud sharks, I have around 1.5 to 2" of clearance between the rear tire and the outside edge of the black foot protector. If I measure at the outside metal support bar it is around 3". I would guess that 22" tires would be cutting it a little close, depending on the actual height of the tire and how much air presssure you run. Worst case though, you could simply bend the foot protectors up/forward slightly so that they give you another 1/2" of clearance. I am considering trimming off the small rectangular piece of the black foot protector that sticks out and angles back toward the rear tire. What ever tire you get, if you are having major wheel spin problems on almost all surfaces and are experiencing rapid tire wear, I would recommend that you go with a tire that has a taller tread than the dominators and razrs. Something around 3/4" deep and not too soft for longer life, but be careful not to buy a super heavy tire. My razrs are down to around 6mm of tread depth and the tires at this tread depth are useless. My new mud sharks tread is bewteen 3/4 and 1" deep. They are a bit heavier than the stock tires. The DS looks mean and more intiminating with bigger tires. A gearing change is something else to consider to reduce rapid tire wear.

 

Thanks Scooby for the info.Does youre new mud sharks hook up better than the stockers?You have said in the past that you have changed youre stock jetting, what are youre new jet sizes and did it help.I have had a problem with the motor back firing and blowing the carburator out of the rubber connector .I am hoping richer jetting will help cure the problem.
Bearman

 

I'm still evaluating the mud sharks. They are more like 20.5" tall and 10.5" wide. They are a soft tire, softer than the realtor. They still can spin more than I would like them to.

Backfiring in the carb is a lean condition. I can't imagine how the carb would come out of the boot unless the clamp was loose? You need to be sure everything is tight and that there are no air leaks. Have you changed the jetting or did you have this lean condition when you bought the DS? When does the popping occur - just off idle? Are you running the stock air filter with airbox cover on? Have you tried adjusting the pilot air screw when the DS is up to operating temperature? Popping in the carb is not necessarily a problem if it only occurs while the engine is cold. However, it sounds like the pilot jet might be a little too small. My carb has a #40 pilot and I feel that it is too big - no peak in RPM when I adjust the pilot air screw. By the way I have an early production model so yours could be setup slightly different than mine.