Looking for a good enduro tire for a five hundie

[FYRBUG]

I am in the process of turning my 03 500 into a street legal machine, not a motard just a road legal dirt bike. I have looked for a trials tire that will fit on the 19" rear wheel and cant find one. ( I dont want to change my rear wheel out for a 18")

Does anyone know of a good traction, good wearing enduro tire out there that will serve my needs? The motocross tire thing aint workin. 

[Polar-Bus]

You are kinda' confusing me with your term "enduro" tires ? In my mind enduro tires are aggressive knobbies. Are you looking for "dual sport" typr tires ?

If so, I ran Pirelli MT21's on my street legal WR250F, off road they were good, on road they were excellent, but keep in mind no matter what tire you choose, asphault will chew up knobs it's the nature of the beast...

[Danger4u2]

......but keep in mind no matter what tire you choose, asphault will chew up knobs it's the nature of the beast...

That's why I trailer or truck the bikes to the dual sport meets.

I only run trials tires on my trials bike.  They don't work in the mud.  I should say Oklahoma mud.  It sticks in the groves and you virtually have no tread once it gums up.  Same way with all the dual sport tires I have used.  The problem with street/ trail tires,  if they are good off road they're not good on road. And vise versa.  I have 2 sets of wheels for my KLR650 and my dual sport KX500.  One set with full on street tires and a set with knobbies.  It never fails, we have someone in our ride group that struggles because they have a 50/50
street/ trail tires.  This spring at the Arkansas Hillbilly Dual Sport ride we let 3 riders tag along in my ride group.  The guy with the KLR had 60/40 tires, 60% off road, 40% on road.  He had problems any time we got into wet muddy areas.  He fell in one of the water crossings and drowned the bike.  Set us back an hour and 20 minutes.  He fell again as he exited a water crossing.
I've tried the Mefo tires and they are ok on the road but not off road.  No more Mefo tires.  The TKC 80 tire is ok but not in hard core off road.  That's what I'm running on the KLR and the K5 for off road. I fell down last fall at the Clayton Ok dual sport ride in the mud with the TKC 80's.  When they wear out I will change to a full knobbie tire.  I have Scorpion tires on the KLR street wheels.

[hughes]

You are kinda' confusing me with your term "enduro" tires ? In my mind enduro tires are aggressive knobbies. Are you looking for "dual sport" typr tires ?

If so, I ran Pirelli MT21's on my street legal WR250F, off road they were good, on road they were excellent, but keep in mind no matter what tire you choose, asphault will chew up knobs it's the nature of the beast...

I have seen enduro tire that are D.O.T rated. A guy where I work has a WR450F that he rides to work with D.O.T knobbie tires. I think that's what he is looking for.

[bigbellybob]

although not DOT hard compound desert tiers wear good on the street. i would get the cheapest DOT tires you can find to get her plated and then switch back to the tire that works good for your riding. as for the trials tire they r soft, to soft IMO. traction is great but the soft compound will wear fast on the street and in the dirt if your spinning it on hard pack or loose rock. the biggest problem i had with the trials tire was the super soft side wall. on the street it felt flat, it was unstable at high speeds ( rear end walked around ). when cornering the tire also felt flat like it was rolling off the rim.

the bike one the right is my new dual spot and hopefully the 2 on the left will be plated soon so we can do some dual sporting stuff.

[Danger4u2]

My buddie runs this and likes it.  DOT Dunlop 606.

http://www.tiresunlimited.com/ALL%20TIRES/Dunlop/dunlop_d606.htm

[The Flyin Hawaiian]

Kenda Trak master 2s work well. They hold up decently with moderate road use and are dot legal. Cheap too! I run full knobs on my DRZ400S. Usually the old tires off of my race bikes.

[FYRBUG]

I should have said dual sport you're right. I am looking for something that has good traction on mid to hard stuff ie: fire roads, hills, packed and loose dirt. I rarely see sand or silt. However I hate riding on the street around town or 10 to 15  miles on pavement to the riding area on knobs, they shake the stuffing out me and one blip of the throttle and there goes a knob or five.

A buddy of mine swears by his trials tires and they seem to wear like iron without sacrificing traction. I want a smoother ride on blacktop and still get good traction offroad if thats possible. Dual sport may be the answer.

[barryadam]

As BBB said, the trials tires are nice, but not for spinning.
I have (2) KDXs, one with a plate for the few times when OHVs are not allowed on roads between trails.
Both KDXs run Dunlop 803 trials tires, which have the softest knobs, but I run at higher pressures (10-12psi).
Love the tire off-road, but they develop cracks at the base of the center knob, supposedly due to running at higher speeds.  I would not put one on my KX500.
That being said, I had to ride the KDX back to the truck on a section of Bouquet Canyon Road which is a nice, curvey section of pavement populated by racers and sportbikes.  I surprised the heck out of a bunch of canyon racers by staying right with their pack in full off-road gear.  The 803 stuck like glue and I got rid of all the chicken strips on that run.
My KX500 runs a Maxxis IT for off-road and it's been great on the occasional street.  It's not rough at all but I had to really convince the guy at Cycle Gear to balance it.  For any riding, the key is balancing the wheel/tire - either lots of weights or a second bead lock.
I have a second set of wheels for the street for the 500 (plated), with an 18" rear.  Bought the cheapest DOT dual sport tires (DURO) and have only put them on twice.  Let's just say I have more confidence running the Maxxiss ITs on the pavement.
Bottom line, decide what kind of riding you want to do and pick the tire for that.  The best is to have 2 sets of wheels with the best choice on each.  Try talking to guys that ride DRZ400 or XR650s and such.  Maybe advrider.com

Dunlop 803s on the KDX with DURO D/S tires for the 500 in the background...

[ID KX500]

A Dunlop 803 on an XR600. Yes the tire is too soft for hardpack and lava rocks found in the deserts of East Idaho. Second that soft sidewall,,, squirrelly was how it felt. Once I got a normal tire the back end felt solid again. Wrong application expensive lesson.

[dirtjunkie85]

I agree that dual sport type tires will not be that effective on road or off. if your mostly looking to transfer from trail to trail and will be spending most of your time on dirt i would suggest the maxxis IT dessert. it wears great is wonderful off road and should put up with a decent amount of abuse on the road. but like my friends above said, anything you slap on the back of a K5 and use on the street is gonna get torn up fairly quickly except for a strait up street tire. here's where i get my tires.
motorcycle tire