- Joined
- Jul 27, 2010
- Messages
- 5,485
- Reaction score
- 659
- Location
- Blouberg, Cape Town
- Bike
- KTM 890 Adventure R
On smaller bikes every knobbly and kW counts.
I have a youngster commuting to college on a CRF250L every day. He was complaining about top speed. When I fitted a set of Shinko 705s road biased tyres, he was much happier with a higher cruising speed.
I recently replaced the 2014 CRF250L with a 2020 CRF250L, and I saw 135-140km/h for prolonged stretches on the R300 with the standard IRC Trails GP fitted. Yes, the -17 onwards makes 1.2kw more, which makes a difference, but tyres plays a huge secondary role.
After wearing out the standard IRC Trails GP on the CRF300L, I fitted the widely recommended Dunlop 606 rear and a MT21 front. The top speed on the 300l dropped by a good 15km/h.
Fitting aggressive knobblies slow down these bikes. I will go back to the IRC trails for a balance of knobblies and road riding.
In the meanwhile we will be fitting a set of Shinko's to the 2020 CRF250L to see what difference it makes. It will most probably be a small improvement, but on these bikes everything helps, especially when you have to keep up with N1 traffic.
In short, the more aggressive the knobblies on these smaller bikes, the more top speed compromise. If you are doing lots of dirt, the D606 | MT21 combo is great, but if you commute regularly and need speed the Shinko 705s which is considered an 80/20 tire might not be such a bad choice after all...
The OEM choice of IRC Trails GP-22R tyres rated as a 50/50 tyre might just be the right compromise for these bikes.
Maybe the manufacturers do apply their minds when they release a bike on the market...
Standard OEM IRC Trails GP-22R tyres:
Shinko E705 - Considered an 80/20 tire
Difference in power between 2013, 2017 and CRF300L.
I have a youngster commuting to college on a CRF250L every day. He was complaining about top speed. When I fitted a set of Shinko 705s road biased tyres, he was much happier with a higher cruising speed.
I recently replaced the 2014 CRF250L with a 2020 CRF250L, and I saw 135-140km/h for prolonged stretches on the R300 with the standard IRC Trails GP fitted. Yes, the -17 onwards makes 1.2kw more, which makes a difference, but tyres plays a huge secondary role.
After wearing out the standard IRC Trails GP on the CRF300L, I fitted the widely recommended Dunlop 606 rear and a MT21 front. The top speed on the 300l dropped by a good 15km/h.
Fitting aggressive knobblies slow down these bikes. I will go back to the IRC trails for a balance of knobblies and road riding.
In the meanwhile we will be fitting a set of Shinko's to the 2020 CRF250L to see what difference it makes. It will most probably be a small improvement, but on these bikes everything helps, especially when you have to keep up with N1 traffic.
In short, the more aggressive the knobblies on these smaller bikes, the more top speed compromise. If you are doing lots of dirt, the D606 | MT21 combo is great, but if you commute regularly and need speed the Shinko 705s which is considered an 80/20 tire might not be such a bad choice after all...
The OEM choice of IRC Trails GP-22R tyres rated as a 50/50 tyre might just be the right compromise for these bikes.
Maybe the manufacturers do apply their minds when they release a bike on the market...
Standard OEM IRC Trails GP-22R tyres:
Shinko E705 - Considered an 80/20 tire
Difference in power between 2013, 2017 and CRF300L.
