I get to try several different wheels and tires. I am just going to add my 2cents about the tires in this thread
rather than starting a new thread or a new thread for each tire in the tire forum.

I hope no one minds.

Everyone rides a little different. Here we have miles and miles of graded gravel roads and you ride them to get to the trails.
Sometimes I ride 40-50 mph on these roads and at 50 mph on a graded gravel road will without question test the lateral abilities of any tire.

The better the tire holds in the corners the better its going to hold the trail when transversing side hills or having to make a quick turn to
miss something in the trail.

Lateral control is as important to me as much as how aggressive a tire is when it comes to climbing a steep hill, getting through the snow
and pulling me through the mud and rocks.

It's the complete package that I look for in a tire, not just one single ability to out perform
the others. I would rather have a tire that is good at everything and maybe not the best of just one thing.

I don't have a lot of miles on these yet but so far this is my opinion and I'm sure not all will agree with me.




For me I think these are too wide for a 9" tire.
I prefer the tires to stay inside the fender, the wheels added a bit too.
If this was my ATV I would keep the OE wheels.



GBC Grim Reapers 8 ply
They lack good lateral control. They hold on good but once they let go there is no recovery.
Every lug is designed for forward motion and the only lugs there for controlling side movement is the center lugs and that just isn't enough.
These are very aggressive tires going forwards and backwards.
While riding I can feel the stiffness of the 8 ply sidewalls even at 2 1/2 psi. I would be willing to bet if you had a set of these on something
like a Honda 350 Rancher you wouldn't need any air in them.



Looking back at the tread on the Black Diamond XTRs you can see that STI did an excellent job placing the lugs.
They cover all the ground with every lug contributing to both directions of travel. They have a great bite both forward and laterally.

 

I am looking forward to trying these Carlisle Black Rocks on the OE wheels.
I am thinking that these are Carlisle's replacement for the ACT.

 

hows the bike holding up for you. My 850 has seen the shop 5 times in under 1 year. She has about 1600 miles

 

I'm sitting at just over 600 miles and the only issue with it so far is the intermittent ADC on the front wheels. I'm trying to find the time to take it in and have it fixed. If I keep going like I am I should have over 3000 miles when it's a year old. I am hoping I have no more issues with it.

I'm actually not too fond of the ADC even when it works.

 

I hope the Carlisle Black Rocks work better than the ACT II that come on the new XP's. They look pretty similar. I haven't seen the ACT II perform very well in any conditions.

 

Out of the last 12 sets of tires I've had the ACT HDs are the best snow tire I have ever had.

I like the ACTs too.

The softer rubber compound made them excellent rock tires due to the ability of the softer rubbber to grip the rocks, they didn't last long but they gripped great.

I don't know what the difference is between regualr ACTs is and the ones Polaris used.

I spend a day in the snow on a 800 Outlander Max with ACTs on it and it was an impressive combo.

 

I don't have that many miles on my atv even though it is an 09'. It has something like 380 miles and 64 hours. So far I had to replace a cv joint and my replacement is starting to make noise. Other than that it has been great. I haven't had it out that much in the last 6 months though.

 

Doug had a 2010 550 Touring and one of the front axels started making noise at about 200 miles.

 

I mis-spoke a little in my last post. They are 489 II, not ACT II. In any case the Black Rocks look very similar to the OE tire. Also made by Carlisle.

 

I hope they're better too