I need a set of good tires for the front of my 89 Banshee. I ride mainly in hardpack, loose dirt, grass fields, trail riding, fire roads in mountains, slimy red clay mud, and soupy deeper mud. I live in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, so there's a lot of mountain land and such to ride in. I want good sidewall strength and steering precision. I was thinking of getting Bandits, but I hear they are pretty heavy and that I mine as well forget about wheelies with the added wait. I don't really know so I need some oppinions. Thanks for any help.

------------------

 

you say you've heard that the Bandit tire is preety heavy...heavy compared to what may I ask. I have no data on other tire weights but I can tell you the weight of the Bandit fronts. the 21/10/9 AT is 12 lbs. The weight of the Xc is 13 lbs. I am currently on my 2nd pair of xc rears & still on my 1st pair of fronts on my Warrior with a new pair of fronts sitting on my patio. I am completely sold on the strength of the xc's, as well as their ability to carve turns at speed with little or no roll-over, due to the rigid Kevlar sidewall. As a desert xx rider I've blown out two Douglas Red Label rims wearing BanditXC's. The rims were trashed but the tires are still going. You might get some data on any other tire weights as well as number of plies and their star rating. The four ply Titan/Pure sport Bandit has a three star rating, the highest obtainable in an off road tire.
If you do decide to try Bandits, by all means get the XC with the Kevlar liner, bead to bead. They're worth the extra $5 and 1 lb difference.
As for steering stability, any tire I've had that had any really agressive tread
pattern induced a certain amount of head shake at speed. You get rid of that with a steering dampener, not by sacrificing more important characteristics in tire design.

THE AZ HARD PACKER,
calmiller@kachina.net


------------------
save your riding area! join the Blue Ribbon Coalition online @www.sharetrails.org



[This message has been edited by hot_shoe_cv (edited 10-18-1999).]