My brother and I have the same bikes. His is stock, and mine has some mods, which include a pipe, carb kit, K&N filter, and 25" Bearclaws. Even with my mods, his bike still VERY SLIGHTLY pulls away from me after about 5 seconds in top end. I can't say that I blame this on the weight of my tires, because my brother outweighs me by about 25 lbs, so that should compensate for the extra weight of the tires. Out of the hole, however, he can't touch me. My bike accelerates much faster than his. All in all, even if my tires did make the bike perform less impressivly in the power and/or speed department, I think I'd still go with them, because for the kind of riding I do, ground clearance is everything. Even my brother admits that his bike can't touch mine in the mud, snow, or any other rough terain. The extra traction and ground clearance makes all the difference in the world.

 

I have kept the stock tires on my 99 Wolverine, one because I believe they are best suited for handling. They have good traction for the mud, sand and just about everything you want to ride in. Ground clearance shouldn't really be a problem for the Wolverine. I have rode in just about every type of terrain possible and have no problems doing anything that any body else was doing on their atv, in spite of their make and model.
99 Wolverine FMF pipe kit, UFO handguards, front and rear belly plates, shock wear protectors from ALBA, Cycle Country plow and mount, and driver and stickers compliments U.S. ARMY.