Thanks to the fine folks at UPS, I managed to get TWO of these and the lugnuts in today. Not quite sure how you manage to separate them and then leave 1 pair in Mesquite, TX while the other keeps going, but sure enough Buster Brown figured it out. So I'm screwed til Monday (unless its actually lost seeing as it still shows on time for delivery today on their website despite it being 9PM here in Arkansas right now). I'll give it to Rocky Mountain, they wrapped them together with the showing sides of the rims both facing inward. Otherwise I would have a nice hard ding in the flashy side of one of the rims. Thanks again UPS @$%@#$%! They also dropped this off on my cousin's porch while nobody was at home rather than my house which is about 500 yards up the driveway. Hey, free shipping so what can you expect.

The shipping woes aside, since either nobody runs these tires really or talks about them, I'll try and provide information here as I get it. All I have is the fronts, and I'm not going to mount them alone just for principle. With 5psi, and not on the quad under a load, the 25x8-12 measure at a dead even 25". I'll take that since most 25" tires measure 24.5 or under. They are on STI rims, and the shipping weight that UPS posted was 62.7 lbs for the fronts and 71 lbs for the rear. My mathematical genius puts that at 31.3 each for the front on an STI C7 wheel and 35.5 for the rears apiece. Going off what I've found on tire weight from a few sources (which varies), Front tires are probably 20lbs and change and the rears somewhere around 25lbs. The STI C7 wheel which I've never found any specs on anywhere must be between 10-11 lbs each.

The 8" fronts don't offer up much protection for the rim. It protrudes probably 1/8" away from the sidewall. These will get dinged to pieces I'm sure. Still can't comment on the 10" rears yet of course. The red/orange Bear Claw is on both sides of the tire, so if you wanted to run blackwall out like a Bighorn, thats not a possibility (I want the logos out myself).

I'll add to this next week so long as UPS manages to get the rears to me before summer. And I'll try and let anyone know if these are decent or if they suck.

 

I'd like to see some pics after you get them mounted.

 

Yes, I would also like to see that pictures.

 

Well, I would have got those pictures up tonight had they showed up. But they didnt. Dang UPS website still shows what it showed on Friday afternoon. I suspect they lost them or misloaded to a different terminal. They come shrink wrapped together with a UPS label on there. The pair I got had the label shredded to pieces and the shrink wrap was on its last leg. Good chance they got busted up and the label destroyed. I had contacted UPS and this morning they sent an email saying I should contact RM and have them initiate an investigation. I emailed RM, then later called them. The poor gal that answered the phone had that big sigh when she found out this was a problem call rather than just another order. She was forcibly polite (meaning she would much rather be doing something else), but as clueless as can be and rather stubborn in her ignorance. I told her I figured the freight was lost at the moment and she said it was likely delayed by weather. BS to that. Both front and rear tires were supposedly in Mesquite, TX on Thursday and the fronts delivered on Friday. I asked what weather, since it was in the 70's all weekend and she said she had heard that there was bad weather delaying shipments. Well, Branson, MO got wiped out by tornados recently, but thats a good 2.5hrs north of me, and Dallas is southwest. I told her the others made it fine, and she said they probably got loaded on different trucks and one was delayed by weather. Again, made no sense. I told her that I work in LTL trucking for a living and there have been no weather delays in this area. Its 270 miles from Mesquite to Fort Smith, and not a lot further if they went to Little Rock first and then backtracked. It likely got misloaded to another terminal or they just can't locate it at the moment. And she says in this major sarcastic tone "OOOOORRR.. it was delayed by weather like I said before". At this point, I had to remember that I was at work, because I was about to crawl up her butt and cause a natural disaster of my own. I just backed off and got off the phone then. She said they would look at it tomorrow and if there was no status change, they would send a replacement order and possibly overnight it. I didn't want to cause a stink with them, because it wasn't that important, just a hassle, and of course, I didn't care for her tone whether it was her fault or not.

Enough of my ranting. I've got the fronts mounted and its just sitting and waiting on the rears. On a high note, I sold my old Mud Machines & ITP steel chrome that had been in the garage collecting dust in less than a day on Craigslist, and moved my wheel spacers on ebay later that day. So that cuts down on some of the cost of the new tires/wheels. I did some measuring just for the heck of it as well.

The front track with stock wheels and 1" XXBILLETXX spacers on was 45 3/4". The front with just stock rims/tires was 43 1/4", and the front with the Bear Claws and STI C7 was like 47 5/8". This was just with a tape measure and a yardstick. The 25x8-12 Bear Claw HTR on a C7 rim weighed in at 31.4 lbs. using my bathroom scale (weighing myself and then me holding the tire). On the other hand, a 27x9.75-12 Bi-Claw on an ITP steel rim weighed a little over 39 lbs. I haven't weighed a stock 660 rim and a worn out Dunflop yet, but I can say this, its going to be a lot lighter.

I'll get some pictures up if I ever get the rest of this crap in.

 

Finally after two weeks and two UPS attempts, I've got the full set. Did not get much seat time at all though before it got dark, so all I can say is that they are new tires, and new tires grab a lot better than worn out Dunflops. I will say this, I weighed one rear dunlop on the stock rim and it was 20lbs rim and tire. Matter of fact, that's not believable so I'm going to do it again. Ok, stock dunlops with very little tread on stock yamaha rims - 20lbs front and 22lbs rear. I'll be keeping those in case I ever want a super light tire again. The Bear Claw HTR's weighed in at 31.3 Front and about 35.1 on the rears with the STI C7 wheels.

First impression was that they will be perfect for what I wanted them for. Trails & woods. Steering is better than with the stock. Obviously its harder to crank the bars from a standstill than with the light stock tires, but as soon as you're moving, the steering is better. Tracking was better than with the stock tires and spacers. Overall width is like 47 1/2" or something like that. I did make a run down a dirt road and wow, I now understand what everyone means about the way radials ride. Almost like a car. Smooth as can be. Took a few pictures before everything got dirty (rained all day yesterday here), but my camera is on its last leg and doesn't focus well.

 

Wow... it's really awesome. I really like it.

 

Your new wheels are making me jealous. Nice tires too.

 

I didn't know anything about STI wheels or if they had any upside or downside, but at $10 or more less than ITPs each, they seemed like the way to go in the end. The fronts are going to get nicked up I figure. There isn't really any rim guard there. The extra width makes it a lot more stable than before, and its nice to have confidence that you're not going to spin out hard on climbs. I've just jacked around in the woods at the house with them, but they do inspire confidence. They will flat tear up your yard too. Not for golf courses.