I'm getting new tires soon, and I can't decide between 489's or Bandits all the way around! Please help. I'll be putting them on a 300 Lakota, with a K&N filter, jet kit, and DG pipe. I mainly ride on hard pack, occasionaly some sand, and fast wooded trails. I really need a tire that will wear well!! I've heard that the bandits are on the heavy side, and come off the bead, is this true? Please help me decide.
Thanks
Mike

 

I don't really have anything to go on but my opinion but I think the 489's are a pretty good tire. They have an average tread and one that isn't going to hamper the power a lot. When I bought my new tires I considered the 489's but then went bigger and bought 26" Duro Excavators. Another thing to consider is the ply rating. I would definitely advise looking for a tire that has a fairly good ply rating. This probably wasn't much help to you but it might give you a start.

 

I like the 489s, they come stock on the sport Polarises so if you want more input on them put a post on the Polaris forum. How many disks do you have on the DG pipe? You also can think about regearing the Lakota, or going over the 22" stock tire size.

 

yakisaki,
I've never heard of a Bandit losing the seal to the bead. Whoever told you that must have been running extremely low psi, in which case ANY tire could lose it's seal if ridden aggressively. Pure Sports/Bandit suggests 5 psi. I have run 6 psi all around for the past two years. This seems to be the hot setup for me in the rocky hard pack we have here in the high desert of Az.
As to Bandits being "on the heavy side", I'd have to ask, compared to what? Compared to a 2 ply, "4 ply rated" tire, I'm sure they are heavier..that's why a lot of pro mxers run Turf Tamers for their light weight & other reasons & then discard them after one race. for your comparison to other tires, I've include some info on weights of Bandits in the event this is of critical importance to you in making a decision.
BANDIT TIRE SIZES & WEIGHTS 5 Dec.,. 1999

21/7/10AT 11.52

21/7/10XC 13.3

20/10/9AT 18.4

20/10/9XC 21.12


22/10/9AT 17.8

22/10/9XC 19.O (EXACT WT NOT AVAILABLE- APPROX 1 1/2 LBS OVER THE AT)

The new profile & tread design is also available in the following sizes..wts not requested.

22/10/8

22/10/10

Pure Sports Plans to make the front tire sizes in the new profile in the future

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THE AZ HARD PACKER, calmiller@kachina.net

save the public land FOR you, not FROM you..join the Blue Ribbon Coalition online @ www.sharetrails.org

 

The 489's are a good all around tire. However, they don't have good hardpack traction or mud traction, but they do decent in either.

The 489 is very thin, punctures easy, and tears, even with sealant, not a good choice for thorny or rocky areas. Since the front 489's are thin, they have a lot of rollover in the corners. Meaning the sidewall flexes. You might not notice this, but when comapred directly to a tire like the Bandit or Holeshot, it's obvious. Similar for the rear.

I haven't tried Bandit, but I have the Holeshots. The Holeshot XC is the first tire I have not run sealant in that still hasn't gone flat, yet. They helped traction & handling, except in mud.