Kuntry,
I had my 26" MR's installed by the dealer, before I took delivery. The dealer had the bike out front of his shop. He said that he got more comments from customers about the MR's than the an other tire,

When I took the bike over to Les Schwabs Tire, to get some sealant installed, even the manager came over and admired the tires. When they let the air out of the tire, it didn't even settle a little. He was impressed. He said, that it may be a ride flat tire.

I ride in snow every day. In the real deep stuff becareful about digging in. They tire will dig down to China. I feel that I can do a lot of my riding in snow, in 2WD. If I think it is going to bog, I give it a little more gas.
I can't wait for the snow to clear, so I can hit the hills and see how they do over fallen trees, etc.
I don't think you will be disappointed.
I put 6lb in the front and 5.5 in the rears. This gave me less vibration in the handlebar.

Weetoots

 

Harold,

I just can't wait. How much did they weigh?

 

You know what I would really like to see someday, a chart listing all the weights of the most popular tires and both stock and aftermarket wheels. That would be a big help in deciding which tire or combination to buy. Some time ago someone offered their opinion that the worst possible place you could add weight to your machine was to the tires and wheels. They also suggested there was a specific ratio of horsepower loss per pound added, but I don’t remember what that was.

I must admit, my Sportsman is in the condition it’s in somewhat unintentionally. We go through (and enjoy) some deep mud on our trail rides. For this reason I’ve played with aftermarket tires for years. When the Goodyear Mud Runners came out with such positive reviews I was very attracted to the idea of an excellent mud tire that handled and rode easily in all conditions. My brief experience with Vamps made this even more attractive.

In my opinion, ground clearance is to mudding what location is to real estate. The already superior ground clearance of the SP gave me no real reason to consider a lift kit but the 26” MRs did. The fronts would rub badly when the suspension compressed. Now, with front and rear lifts and 26” MRs, I have an extremely capable mudder that rides over the 10” rocks everyone else has to dodge. The increased steering effort and higher center of gravity caused by the lift kits and the slight amount of power consumed by the bigger heavier tires are things I’ve grown accustomed to. Life is a compromise.

It’s not that these mods are necessary. With the exception of being more careful over rocks my wife follows everywhere I go on her SP shod with 25” Bear Claws and no lifts. It’s just a matter of working a little harder to get there. No one should start out with the combination I have, it leads to complacency and the skill of working through a mud hole becomes rusty. It’s best to develop these skills on a less capable machine and work your way up.

The power consumed by the weight of the MRs is noticeable, but in my opinion, negligible. My wife’s HO with Claws has only slightly more power than I enjoy on mine. And while I’m no woods racer I still often ride fast enough to receive complaints from my riding companions. The power of the HO and these mods are a good fit for my riding style and conditions.

As for the better tire between the Claws and the MRs, I like them both for different reasons. Both are reasonably puncture resistant. Both have good manners in all conditions. The MRs will steal some power that the Claws won’t but they’ll walk through mud that can leave the Claws behind. The Claws get my “best value” vote, being relatively inexpensive for such an aggressive ATV tire, but their composition is soft so don’t expect high mileage from them if you’re in a lot of rocks and hardpack. Their softness makes for a cushy ride at the recommended tire pressure. The bottom line is “would I buy them again?” The answer is yes. I just put the second set of MRs on my SP, the second set of Claws on my wife’s, and shod our new SP 6x6 with Claws all around.

 

ok guys here's what i found, stock 25" tires mounted on stock rims, fronts weight 23lb. 5 oz., rears weight 34lb. 5 oz., 25X8x12 runners on stock h.o. rims weight 30.lb 15oz. and measure 24", 26x11x10 runners on h.o. rims weight 45lb. and measure 261/8 height the lugs measure 3/4" deep on both. weights were taken on a digital freon scale, all heights were measured with the tires mounted on the atv, i placed a level on the top of the tire at the center and measured to the floor,tires were infalted 5 psi, lug depth was measured by placing a straightedge between the center lugs and recording the depth at the casing. with the shocks on my sp set in the second notch, i measure 14 1/2" clearance under the rear frame and 10" under the front, thats with 25" tires on the front and 26" on the rear. also a 27x12x12 triclaw magnums on a itp chrome rim weights about 46 1/2 pounds and measures 27 1/2 " high @5 psi

 

The real reason i sold my MR,s was that the power loss was to great I really loved them tires. I still own a set of rear 26x12x12 and will pick up a set of fronts in the future. There a damn good tire.

 

Great information Harold. Thank you so much for your input.

I noticed that you mentioned the front tire diameterr of 25" and a rear diameter of 26". That is precisely what my dealer recommended. 25 in the front and 26 in the back, to eliminate the need of a lift kit.

In addition, with the final drive ratio at 2:1 in the front of a Sportsman and 3.16:1 for the final rear drive ratio, this combination would work even better by bringing the two drive ratios closer together.