Best tires for the 5

[kx666]

i am by no means an expert o tires, but
somting i have noticed is if i ride on hard serfaces the tires that have the shortest life (without cracking and spliting) tend to preform better.

if i ride soft or rocky terain i like harder rubber tires that flex less.

[Albertan]

For hard tracks (blue groove like the old Bridgestone M22 worked well on) the Kenda Carlsbad sticky works really well, but wears fairly fast.  For pretty much all around, long wearing, do-it-all, I think the Maxxis IT is the way to go.

[TheGDog]

I found the Maxxix Maxx Cross Desert IT.  It looks like a pretty beefy tire, and one of the reviews came from a 500 owner, and he said it lasts longer than any tire he has ever run.  The 60.00 price tag is pretty nice also.  If you want to check it out here is the link.

http://www.rockymountainatv.com/productDetail.do?navType=type&priceRange=allPrices&navTitle=Tires+and+Wheels&webTypeId=139&webCatId=8&brandId=161&prodFamilyId=3242 

Just bought a '96 KX 500 that had a brand new Maxxis Desert IT on the Back... and one on the front had mild wear. 

My first ride was out in Victorville -> Stoddard Valley.  Thought I didn't spend a great deal of time Monkey'ing with Tire pressures, I did drop the pressure on-the-trail because they didn't feel like they were hooking-up all that great out there.

I never really got a confident feeling from the front... escpecially in rocky sections with your typical desert shale stone.  The front tire would deflect off smaller rocks in an almost scary fashion.  A little of this may be suspension clicker settings... but the bike was setup for a slightly bigger and heavier rider than myself.. but i'm very aggressive on the desert floor.

I dunno... I'm thinking more of a Soft-to-intermediate terrain tire may be more confidence inspiring out there in that particular terrain.

I'm curious to here what other SoCal riders out mounting on this Beast for Gorman?  For Victorville?  For Lake Elsinore?

And please... I'm very interested in the WHY you like tire X in terrain Y.  What behaviours about them did you think excelled in this locale over which other tire you've also ridden at that same locale.

Any input greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

BTW... di I mention that I thoroughly LOVE this K5!  This thing romps ALL OVER the '01 KTM450 MXC I used to have.

[Hillclimb#42]

 Kenda Washougal are the best for the money. Pirelli Laguna Cross has awesome traction. It all depends on riding terrain. I always go with intermediate, but look for aggressive nobby pattern. pay attention to pattern and side nob style. anything that resembles a broken paddle, or a scoop to the tread will hook up. Random patterns seem to work well, but tend to be too middle ground for me. Side nobs give you the stick on turns. The same is true for front tires. Compare spacing between nobs also. The tighter the pattern  the better it will work on hard pack. Wider spaces work better on muddy and sandy conditions. It helps keep the tire from loading up. New front tires help to ride tight lines and new rears are for all around throttle control.
 There is alot of previous discussions about tires on here. Check out the search deal.....

[don46]

I think tires are a personal preference, there are going to be tires that all will agree are junk and others that  nobody can agree on. Terrain has the biggest impact on what tire to use, and not familiar with your terrain I wouldn't make a reccommendation. I personally use Bridgestone tires for MX, why, because they sponsor my son, are they the best  I also use IRC, and Teraflex for other applications. What does your dealer stock? that may be a deciding factor as well.

[TheGDog]

but look for aggressive nobby pattern. pay attention to pattern and side nob style. anything that resembles a broken paddle, or a scoop to the tread will hook up. ...

 There is alot of previous discussions about tires on here. Check out the search deal.....

Sorry man, I realize that you can't know my level of experience right off the bat. I've been hip to what you're saying since way long ago. 

My only reason for putting out this question is that if I ya pick a tire that is to TOO much designed just for sand and mud.. then the Desert Rocks will tear-off knobs crazy fast.

Anyhoo... hopefully some other SoCal natives will see my question and lemme know which tires hook-up better in those locales I mentioned.


... and yes.... I've been extensively using the searching tool... hence the reason I came upon this discussion thread.  Yet thank you for your concern and desire to help.

[bigbellybob]

the best tire for a 500 is a sand tire.