im going to put new tires on my ole' 87 moto4 soon and cant decide which. its two wheel drive and wont be in the mud much. i need to know what people who know think........the sur traks or bear claws? they are really close in tread but i wanna hear some "success stories" (people who've owned some) i know maxxis is a really really good tire and kenda bear claws are highly recomended. heck, maybe they are "flip a coin" close. thanx for the reply's

 

Love my Bearclaws. But, my riding conditions may vary from yours. I ride gravel, hard pack dirt, sand, and a lot of snow. I use a plow too.
I got to tell you though, if you get wet mud in them, they do tend to load up, then as you increase speed, you are covered with mud.

 

cool bob. thanx for the reply. i think they'll all fling that mud out out a fast pace, hopefully some would eject it at a slow speed rather than fast.

 

I had sur-traks a few years back on a timberwolf and loved them. They did real well in the mud but also performed nice on hard pack. They are a two-ply tire, but I never had any punctures and I do a lot of riding in the woods where thorns are common. The rubber the tire is made out of seemed to be more durable than your typical two-ply tire. The two ply also makes the tire lighter. I have never used the bear-claw's so I cannot comment on those.

I had the sur-traks about 5 years ago, since then there are a few more tires to choose from out on the market. I also like the titan 489XT's, a buddy of mine has those on his Foreman 400. When it comes time for tires on the Kodiak I will probably be looking at either the sur-traks or the 489XT's.

There is a tire shootout at the following link:

http://www.atvnews.com/output.cfm?id=48979

They test the Bear Claw there as well as some other tires. The Goodyear Mud Runners get a real good review in the shootout.

 

appreciate that info buckwheat. im leaning towards the bear claw becuase of 4 ply

 

Just for your information I checked the ply rating on my Bearclaws. I have 6 ply on the front and 4 ply on the rear.
(I'll try to keep this simple)
Two years ago I thought I'd be smart and put the same size tire, 25x10x12/4 ply Bearclaws, all the way around on my Kodiak. Seemed like a good idea, besides, it's the same all the way around on my 4WD Ford.
BIG MISTAKE!!.
Not only did the tires hit on tight corners, but it wandered all over the trails and rode terrible. I thought seriously about going back to stock tires.
But, this spring, I took off the front tires and replaced them with 25x8x12 Bearclaws. But, they were 6 ply not 4 ply tires. In the end, that turned out to be a good decision, because all of the problems I experienced before were gone.

 

kodiakbob, ill have the same setup as you now have-- i want 25x10x12's for the rear and 25x8x12's for the front--i want to get all 4 or 6 ply. now............. if i could just find hubs to convert my big bolt pattern (raptor wheels fit) to a little'r one so they are same front and back... got any tips? i want to get a set of takeoff kodiak or big bear 12"wheels.

 

Bearclaws are great. Good tread, 6 ply, good rim protection, great sidewall strength, and cheap to boot!