Hi Gang,

I live in Newfoundland, Canada. aka the ROCK and its not tire friendly trail down here.

The problem is, most of our good trails where we ride are full of real sharp slate/slag sharp jagged rock. I mean this dam stuff could be fashioned in to spear heads and arrow tips if needed. It’s easy to get a puncture flat or side wall tear. If that don't get ya, many of the other trails are full of root and twig ends with again sharp ends. The answer in Newfoundland is to get a decent tire or stay on the Sunday trails...

The obvious thing to do is to change the rubber to a 6ply but I want a wider selection of tires for the front to choose from. As is, because of the odd ball size of the front tire that the 06 limited edition bike came with, there are not many after market tires in that specific size. The dealer tells me I can add spacers to my studs to push my tires away from the struts to allow for a wider front tire. Thus giving me a wider selection of tire to choose from with more ply to it..

Has anyone done this on a 06 sportsman 500 efi and is there impact to ride or machine? I don't want to impact ride height too much and I don't want to mangle the front end doing something weird. I've been told there are fellows using washers and others using spacer kits to achieve the same goal.

Is anyone running an aggressive tire with spacers on a 06 SM LE? If so what is the configuration....did you loose height? Are the tires hitting the struts and or fenders? On the trail, I'm always prepared for the flat, but I would like to step away from the hot zone by getting a better tire. Any info greatly appreciated.

Cheers.
d