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Anybody know anything about the new Tusk DSport tires from RM ATV/MC?

14K views 23 replies 7 participants last post by  EricZ 
#1 · (Edited)
I saw somebody mounted a set on an older KLR on ADV Rider but I’m not a member so I couldn’t ask questions. Looks like a cheaper alternative to a 606/M21 combo? Only problem is the rear is a 130/90/17 and they appear to be pretty wide at that.
 

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#2 ·
Also, for the guys who ride with a more dirt oriented front tire than the rear tire what are your thoughts? I’d like to go with something more aggressive like this Tusk front but I got stuck with a brand new Shinko 244 by accidentally checking 2 instead of one last year when I ordered. I tried selling it locally but no interest.

I’m afraid riding something like a 70 dirt/30 front with a 50/50 rear is inviting a low side front end crash on pavement.

I liked the Shinko 244’s well enough so it wouldn’t be horrible to go with another 244 front but I’d like a little more dirt confidence.
 
#5 ·
I am riding a 90/10 on the front and a 50/50 on the rear and have no problems on pavement. I ride the bike like I did with the stock tires. Like pdwestman said, ride it a little and you get used to the feel of the new front tire.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Well not that anybody gives a ____ but I ordered a set of Tusk DSports, 90/90/21 and 130/90/17 rear $114.76 for both shipped. They don’t make it in a 130/80/17 rear. I’m hoping it doesn’t rub or do anything strange with the extra height. I decided on going with the matched set instead of doing the Shinko 244 rear like I was originally thinking. I figured I need to slow down a little on pavement anyway.

Even though I run way more pavement than dirt I do ride a dirt loop on my property nearly every time I leave and/or get home and the 244’s make me a little nervous when the front tucks a little or that big ass starts coming around unexpectedly on mud and wet grass. Hoping this helps. I plan on mounting them tomorrow evening or Friday and may bore you with my opinion on them.
 
#10 ·
Well my new tires came today but I had so damn much grass to cut I couldn’t mount them. Here they are compared to a new unmounted Shinko 244, the worn rear and half worn front. The new Tusk rear was about 14.5 pounds and just under a half pound heavier than the new Shinko. I plan on mounting them by hand tomorrow.
 

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#11 ·
EricZ,
Due to the 'V' pattern of the front knobs, the tire will probably work best & scallop less if its pattern touches down in reverse tractor tread direction. Regardless as to a suggested directional arrow on the side wall.
 
#14 ·
YES. Reverse of that pic.
Change the imprint on the ground from <<<<<<<<<<<<<< which scoops the gravel, sand & mud into the center line, to this >>>>>>>>>>>>> which scoots it to the sides, especially when on the brakes.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Unfriggin’ believable!!!! Don’t look at the pics while eating. Tire review postponed due to technical difficulties. Took the bike down the road to check out a car show before I changed the tires and hit a raccoon on the way home. Now my front wheel has a nice goo spot and there’s spray on the skid plate and bodywork. I don’t even want to touch it now for a few days. Glad I had my gear on and a full face with the shield down cause I saw goo fling up on each side of the headlights. Didn’t see anything on my clothes, jacket or shield but I left my clothes in the garage and went straight to the shower.
 

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#17 ·
I'm calling BS. You ran through a raspberry patch.
You need to make
* or it never happened.

As to the tire's marking, it's probably going to be a mystery. The Kenda K761 is also marked that way but it is fairly well established that the tire won't work for beans if mounted according to the marking.



*image courtesy of Glacier Wear
 
#18 ·
You should have washed the **** guts off as soon as possible. The longer stuff like that dries on, the better it sticks. Usually.

At least it wasn't a Skunk! :)
 
#19 ·
Hahaha good points both. I thought about the tail but had to go to work last night and was short on time. Yeah, I knew it would stick more but I’m in kind of a rabies hotspot now so I didn’t want to squirt fresh goo right away. Figured if I gave it a day for any potential virus to die off. Yep skunk would have been bad. The **** was still intact, must have liquified its insides and sent them shooting out
 
#21 · (Edited)
So far I’ve put 103 miles on these with everything from loamy singletrack to packed dirt, packed small diameter gravel/limestone, larger diameter thick gravel, broken pavement, asphalt highway and 1 open grate metal bridge. Nothing really surprising results wise. Overall I was very nervous at first but am getting more confident as I go. Definitely a learning curve here. It feels like the tires are just starting to come in and feel better on pavement. I started off with 36F 34R, moved to 32F 30R and am now at 26F 24R which seems to be best so far for mixed surfaces.

They really do well on loamy dirt, are pretty good on highway up to 75 mph with no balancing weights except Ride On balancing liquid/sealer, worse on gravel than my Shinko 244’s and downright scary on an open grate bridge that I never really noticed before with the 244’s. I liked the extra grip in the dirt over the 244’s though, which was my main reason for changing.

I think it’s premature to give a good opinion as I'd like to wait until they come in more. I started some higher speed sweepers this evening and they are getting better. For the record, although I’ve ridden for years this is my first dual sport and I’ve only had Trailwings (probably an 80/20 tire), Shinko 244’s (I’d rate as a 60/40) and now these which I’d rate as a 20/80 tire. There is a different feel with a heavy bike on knobs with hard surfaces and honestly they were not good at first on pavement and gravel. I know from experience though to take my time and to give them a chance to come in and for me to adjust. I think the higher rear sidewall changes things a little.

Being that this a new tire model from an unknown Chinese supplier I was reluctant to take Paul’s very sound advise on mounting the front backwards. I saw some things online about the splice and how Kenda doesn’t recommend it and I chickened out. I own a tractor with Ag tires Paul so I agree with the importance of tread direction because I’ve experienced it. I just figured that in reality I don’t ride a lot of mud or rain and my primary surface is pavement so I went with the sidewall suggestion. I may reverse it soon.

I definitely feel more “wandering” of both ends on gravel and I’m considering changing the front rotation as he suggested. I truth though, I mounted the rear first then took it for a ride to see how the taller sidewalk affected engine rpm (minus 100 rpm at 60 mph) of which half is probably attributed to new tread and the other half to the higher profile. Immediately upon riding my gravel road with the new rear and old Shinko 244 front I felt more float. Once i mounted the front also and at full road pressures it was worse but again I want to get some more mileage and play with pressures to be sure.

The open grate bridge though was really bad. I crossed in second gear and wondered if I would make it. I immediately turned around and crossed again in first which felt safer but it drifted noticeably. This was never an issue with the 244’s. In summation nothing really unexpected. I will continue to experiment and see how they do.

I mounted them by hand with Motion Pro levers and rim protectors without putting so much as a scratch on the rims. I used silicone spray as a bead lubricant. I had to use a large c clamp and an oversized pair of channel locks to break the rear bead in the old Shinko. Good luck to anybody who thinks they will break a rear bead loose on a tubeless tire trail side. If you can you’re a better man than me.

2015 KLR with in intermediate/experienced 195 pound rider. I’d like to think I’m an advanced rider but I see these humbling videos of what other people can do and my ego gets knocked down a few points.
 

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#23 ·
So far I’ve put 103 miles on these with everything from loamy singletrack to packed dirt, packed small diameter gravel/limestone, larger diameter thick gravel, broken pavement, asphalt highway and 1 open grate metal bridge. Nothing really surprising results wise. Overall I was very nervous at first but am getting more confident as I go. Definitely a learning curve here. It feels like the tires are just starting to come in and feel better on pavement. I started off with 36F 34R, moved to 32F 30R and am now at 26F 24R which seems to be best so far for mixed surfaces.

They really do well on loamy dirt, are pretty good on highway up to 75 mph with no balancing weights except Ride On balancing liquid/sealer, worse on gravel than my Shinko 244’s and downright scary on an open grate bridge that I never really noticed before with the 244’s. I liked the extra grip in the dirt over the 244’s though, which was my main reason for changing.

I think it’s premature to give a good opinion as I'd like to wait until they come in more. I started some higher speed sweepers this evening and they are getting better. For the record, although I’ve ridden for years this is my first dual sport and I’ve only had Trailwings (probably an 80/20 tire), Shinko 244’s (I’d rate as a 60/40) and now these which I’d rate as a 20/80 tire. There is a different feel with a heavy bike on knobs with hard surfaces and honestly they were not good at first on pavement and gravel. I know from experience though to take my time and to give them a chance to come in and for me to adjust. I think the higher rear sidewall changes things a little.

Being that this a new tire model from an unknown Chinese supplier I was reluctant to take Paul’s very sound advise on mounting the front backwards. I saw some things online about the splice and how Kenda doesn’t recommend it and I chickened out. I own a tractor with Ag tires Paul so I agree with the importance of tread direction because I’ve experienced it. I just figured that in reality I don’t ride a lot of mud or rain and my primary surface is pavement so I went with the sidewall suggestion. I may reverse it soon.

I definitely feel more “wandering” of both ends on gravel and I’m considering changing the front rotation as he suggested. I truth though, I mounted the rear first then took it for a ride to see how the taller sidewalk affected engine rpm (minus 100 rpm at 60 mph) of which half is probably attributed to new tread and the other half to the higher profile. Immediately upon riding my gravel road with the new rear and old Shinko 244 front I felt more float. Once i mounted the front also and at full road pressures it was worse but again I want to get some more mileage and play with pressures to be sure.


The open grate bridge though was really bad. I crossed in second gear and wondered if I would make it. I immediately turned around and crossed again in first which felt safer but it drifted noticeably. This was never an issue with the 244’s. In summation nothing really unexpected. I will continue to experiment and see how they do.

I mounted them by hand with Motion Pro levers and rim protectors without putting so much as a scratch on the rims. I used silicone spray as a bead lubricant. I had to use a large c clamp and an oversized pair of channel locks to break the rear bead in the old Shinko. Good luck to anybody who thinks they will break a rear bead loose on a tubeless tire trail side. If you can you’re a better man than me.

2015 KLR with in intermediate/experienced 195 pound rider. I’d like to think I’m an advanced rider but I see these humbling videos of what other people can do and my ego gets knocked down a few points.
I'll encourage you to walk into any motorcycle shop and check the tread grooves of street tires & tread blocks or knobs of adventure bike, dual-sport tires and compare the percentage of front tires that are recommended to be installed with 'reverse tractor tread' pattern verses 'normal tractor tread' direction of any grooving or tread blocks.

I think that you will find the majority of Avon, Bridgestone, Continental, Metzeler, Michelin, Pirelli, Shinko and many other front tires recommended direction of contact on the asphalt or dirt is >>>>>>>>>>> vs <<<<<<<<<<<.
I've no idea why they all don't.

I truly believe that the up-side down ,/\, as viewed from the front, >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> front contact pattern will improve your front tire handling manners, especially in gravel, sand & mud. Possibly even on that steel grate bridge.
 
#24 ·
Well guys I took your advice and flipped the front. I’ve been super busy the last few weeks and have barely touched the bike. Only 209 miles on the tires but I’m still missing my 244’s in the gravel. Going on a few hour cold temp, pavement, dirt and gravel ride tomorrow so I’m hoping for less weaving with reversed tread. We shall see. You guys have nailed everything else from loose footpegs to increased oil consumption over 5k rpms sustained. Hoping for more of the same with this tip.
 
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