I have been trying to decide which tires to put on my 650 since the day I brought it home. I would like to go a little larger than stock. The 3 tires I have it narrowed down to are 489XT, 589s and Dirt Devils. I really like the 489s but I cant get them in 26". The 589s are a bit to aggressive for what I need and Im concerned about negative effect on my steering with the 589s. I can get the Dirt Devils in 26" but I would need to go to a 26-10-12 on the front and I think the extra width (stock tires are 25-8-12) would effect my steering and handleing. What I came up with was 25-8-12 489s up front and 25-10-12 589s in the rear. Everyone seems to stick with the same tires all around. Is there any reason to not mix and match? Can anyone help with the 489s and 589 true height? Can someone help me out with this?

 

Honestly I can only think of one important thing to consider if you want different tires front to back - The rolling distance.

The rolling distance is the length the tire rolls through one rev and is not exactly PI*Dia, due to tread mush and tire pooch (can't remeber the technical terms). It varies with tire pressure and load too. Nothing else matters (unless the tires rub on stuff, that's bad too).

Anyway, I bet every quad has a different rolling distance front to back on their stock tires. You just don't know how close it needs to be. Most tire manufacturers don't tell you the rolling distance. It is a good thing rolling distances are unequal, because if they were equal you might never get the thing if 4x4 while going straight.

Hey, I guess I don't know what to tell you other than put whatever tire on there that you want, just make sure the rolling distance is within 1" or less? Looking at goodyear's site, some of their tires of the same diameter have different rolling distances of 2".

Can you could ask ITP?

 

The rolling radius of the 489 is 74 and the 589 is 75. I didnt know if the measurement needed to be exact or not. That helps to know that you only need to be within one inch.

 

Scram500man, I feel the same way about the tire thing. I don't really go out looking for the mud ,but when I get to some mud I want to be able to get through without blowing the motor up. I need a tire that is like 60% dry and 40% mud or 50/50. I'm afraid I'll get the wrong tire and my handling will be all crazy feeling over 40mph, because I like to cruise down those dirt roads feeling like I'm in control. I do know those stock tires will get you stuck in a second. I know because the second day I had it I went down to ride on the side the lake and said to myself this thing will go right on, but it got stuck right in that red clay and the tires were just sunk down to bottom of the rim. If someone had been with me after how great I talked about the 650 I would have looked pretty stupid.

 

Has anyone put different tire on the back and kept the stockers up front? The front ones seem aggresive enough to me, it's the back ones that don't have much bite. The back ones don't look like they'll last long either, but that could have something to do with the amount of time this thing is going sideways[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] The gravel on my yard will never be the same!

 

D84..know what you mean..I want to put a set of mudrunners on the back of my 650..still have good stock front tires, but the back really suck..just wondering if I need to put 25 or 26 inch on the back(mudrunners run a little small)