I am looking at some new tires for my King Quad. I am thinking
about going up one size in the front and back. Does anyone have bigger tires on their King Quad?? The tires i am looking at are either mud bugs or titian 589 in 25X10X11 for the front and 26X12X12 for the rear. Any help is appriciated.

 

This topic has been discussed quite a bit on the KQ racnooc. I'll tell you about what I just went through with tires today as a matter of fact. Since I haven't had it in the mud yet I can't say what they will be like, but I will assure you that anything you put on the king will be better then the stock Dunflops. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] First off, I had Bearclaws before and they were an excellent all round tire for the money, I can tell you that. In addition I have seen 589 25x10x12's in action and are an excellent tire in mud. The Mud Bugs are also an awesome tire, but I don't think quite as good as the 589. I have 2 friends currently running Mud Bugs on Hondas, a friend with Vamps on a Honda and another friend with 589's on a Yamaha ... guess what ... they all go through the same mud, ride the same trails and each guy claims his tire is the best. The way I look at it is if you like what you buy then you'll be happy with it. It may also make a difference as to the terrain you are running the majority of the time. Now to answer your question, kind of, I decided I was going to try something a bit different based on a few factors. Number one ... my bike is old, despite the fact it is very well maintained she is getting a bit tired ... no pun intended there. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Therefore she has a rebuild in her future that will up her power somewhat ... I hope. I went and bought 4 Dirt Devils in stock sizes, primarily because they were there and priced really good. Also I wanted to see what they would be like and I liked the 6 ply rating as well as the price at A-1 tires in Truro, Canadian $400 15% tax included. That is cheaper then All Terrain Charlie's price. Well the first thing I noticed about the DD ... the rear 25x10x12 is way small, while the front 24x9x11 is a bit large. I called the dealer and he suggested I bring the tires and wheels back to him. We measured against my worn out Dunflops and with only 3lbs of air in the rear stockers the DD's mounted on my other back wheel was almost 1.5" lower! Then the nice guys at A-1 Tires proceeded to start switching and mounting tires until they found a combination of tires that would work. I ended up with 26x12x12 Gators on the back with the 24x9x11 DD's on the front! I know ... it is still shocking the heck out of me as well, but if you measure the height they do match up. The 12x12's have tons of fender clearance, but I haven't got to put them into the mud yet. On hard pack (pavement) in super low up to high in 4x4 with, or without, diff lock there is no scrubbing, pushing, or pulling on the front, or rear, so I think it is matched up quite well. In my opinion this is a tire consumer's nightmare ... you can't go by the sidewall numbers. To be sure you need a patient and willing dealer to do what was done for me. As for top end power ... I lost about 5km/h, or 3-4mph on pavement. My opinion on that is simple ... I bought these tires for mud/trail not pavement. 99% of my riding is trail, not out on the road ... that's why I have a car and truck. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Most of the time I am on trail. I am running in low range anyway. My top end in 2wd low range, 5th gear is actually 2km/h, about 1mph, faster then it was before! With me, my rear plywood tool box with some tools, the bumpers, winch and full of fuel the bike will do 85km/h, about 51mph, on level pavement, high range, 2wd with these 26" Gators at 5lbs of air in them. To me that is pretty damned good for a 280cc KQ with almost 10 000 kms on it. Plain and simple the KQ sucks for power, ground clearance and front end weight. You are not going to get super wheel spin with a KQ unless you spend a bunch on engine mods ... and I mean at a machine shop/engine builder, not a bolt-on parts store. You are going to use gears to get you where your going. Basically I feel if you are trail and mud riding allot go for the 25/26" combo ... just try and keep the front/rear size ratio the same. Oh yea and have fun! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

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my buddy put itp 589's on his king quad and the made his quad work too hard and he ended up blowing up his motor.

 

Hey perrya are you sure there was nothing else wrong with his KQ before the tires? I'm just asking ... not picking, or anything. This is my second King and this thing seems bulletproof. My first one has just got a new set of rings, bearings, wrist pin and clutch disks from it's new owner this spring at 18 000 kms, which is around 10 800 miles I think. It was still running good, but he said it was getting down on power. Mine has close to 10 000 hard kms, or around 6000 miles running in allot of deep mud, tons of snow plowing, hauling passengers, hill climbing, etc and it still don't take oil and pulls about as good as it ever did ... knock on wood! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] ( u know after saying that I am inviting trouble aren't I? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img])I know it is easy to lean them out a bit too much and run them hot which may cause some trouble. Also if he lugged it in too high of gear that will cause them to run hot too. I don't know, but I would be interested if you could find out what caused the engine to go. I don't even have a fan on mine and it has never got hot even with the winch on it. I try and keep the rpms up decent and use the GTX oil in it as well. I usually keep the oil changed a bit more often then it "needs" and a good clean air filter on it. Real sorry to hear about your friend's quad though. I am just about to load up and head for the worst mud bog area I know to try my new tires ... lets hope I don't suffer the same fate as your friend, but If I do I will let ya all know. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

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Hey Wileys

It sound like you keep your quad in very good running condition. I guess i should have added thay my buddy could care less about his quad and he beats the hell out of it. It serves him right though, its a shame to see a good running quad go to waste because of improper maintenance.

 

Yea I know a guy the same way with his KQ. It still runs kinda good though (considering what it's been through), but with less than 2000 kms his 94 bike is so beat up, patched and finally the frame rusted out. The one thing though it does still run. I have seen that bike go through some wild rides. One time he drowned it ... upside down and it floated down stream. We finally caught it and we took forever to get her running again. Then he drove the poor thing the rest of the day without changing the oil![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] In fact the next weekend he still hadn't changed the oil and went riding. Me and a friend finally changed the oil and filter about 4 times to get the goop out. The fuel had to be drained, the front diff we used kerosene in it and ran it slow on jack stands, then filled her up. He just never does anything unless something breaks. When something does finally stop working he just tacks it together and goes again. He can't decide if he is selling it though ... one minute yes, the next he says he'll fix it. It would be a great spare parts bike. I wish I had a picture of this monster ... everything on it has been bent, broken, hacked, wired, welded, duct taped together ... I call it the Red-Green Machine! Oh yea and two summers ago he won a pulling contest with it in the 300 class too! That was too much ... glad I didn't enter that one. I'd never live it down if he had beat me. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]