Rocky Mountain Dirt Bike Tires...

Bit's and pieces of tire info scattered all over the place, but I can never find it when I'm looking for tire suggestions!

Post up your favorite dirt bike tires for Colorado trail riding...

How about info on what tires, size, bike you've run them on, and a few comments on why you like them.

I'll start with a recommended rear tire...

Bridgestone "Gritty" ED78 Desert.
Rear tire in 120/100-18.

I've used KTM 450 EXC... Very stiff carcass, long lasting. Great long distance desert terrain tire. With Tubliss and slime, you can probably run this guy with zero pressure for quite a few miles off road.

While I haven't used it personally, the matching front is NOT recommended by many!

I have been running the MT43 on the back and an MT21 on the front of the XR400 since very early this spring, I love the combo but my highway time is very limited. Works fine for 55 mph county roads and shines on the trail. I used to go with the venerable D606 rear and the MT21 front on my DR650, loved the 606 on the back but never could get a warm feeling about the front.

seems like the best combo is the Pirrelli MT21 front and the Dunlop D606 rear. I think the 606 front is okay too. sizing as needed.

now, what's the best dirt biking oil? and what about that blinker fluid?

MT43 (trials) front and rear on my WR250R. I've never had a problem with highway miles on them. I can do 45 minute pulls with the throttle pinned without drama and got about 3k out of my last rear. Cornering on pavement isn't as scary as it seems- it's better for me than a tall profile knobby. Very little spinning from the rear on most surfaces, and capable in sand.

For gravel road and paved touring I like the T63, but it's not awesome for prolonged trail use because the edges go off to fast and it spins up really bad. The D606 spins up too much to be useful with a small power plant. It's doable, but not fun. The MT43 grips without drama and the downhill control of the front is really nice.

I've got D606's on my 525 EXC now and they work very well. I can lean her over like I like to on paved twisties and they do well in the rough stuff too. Pretty inexpensive to boot.

Michelin AC10 for the front. DOT approved and overall a great multipurpose tire. My fav. Combo right now is this front along with a MT 43 on the rear.

+1, great off road on the rocks and such around here, and on pavement I could lean it over way farther than I thought before I suddenly lowsided.

Bridgestone M59 80/100 on front. Switch between MT43 and a Mich S-12 XC 140/80 on the rear.

Would love to hear if anyone's found a front that doesn't peel off the side knobs on technical terrain. I have several brands of old front tires sitting around with 70% center tread left but no sides.

Always been a fan of the D606, have had more sets F&R than any other d/s tire.

Have used the MT43 - love it offroad but have not spent much time with on pavement.

A non d/s tire, but one I like that lasts on big thumpers is the Maxxis Desert IT.

Wasn't too fond of the Bridgestone Gritty ED03/ED04 (DOT knobby)

90% off road /10 % paved and gravel.

MT 43 lasts fairly long best for everything BUT DEEP MUD.. when riding around pitkin etc check out the rear tires of the more experienced riders ( NON ROOSTAFARIANS). trying a dunlop on front this time...

Conti MX They are a new tire. Open design, knobs are hard as hell, soft sidewalls. Normally a 500 cc class bike takes a rear off in 20 hours here in the desert. My contis were still going strong and hooking up really well at close to 50hrs.

I like the fronts too.

I run a dot MT21 front and a Motoz Desert Tractionator on the rear of my CRf450.
Works great on/off road and those Motoz tires last longer than anything I have ever tried.
I tend to spin up the rear alot coming from two stokes where one needs t okeep the power up in the torque band.
This lends itself to destructing rears quickly. The front I like due it being dot and they seem to work in everything desent, from the sand of Moab to the decomposed granite around the Front Range.

SMALL BIKE (530):

I really like the Dunlop 952 front. Very good off road and lasts quite a bit on road too despite being an aggressive Non DOT tire. The rear 952 sucks.

Michelin AC-10 are pretty good DOT tires, last almost as long as a set of D606, but are more aggressive.

The D606 is a solid long lasting rear. Not great on traction, but a good compromise for dirt and street.


BIG BIKE (950):

I had settled on a Pirelli MT-21 front and a D908 rear, but since the D908 price skyrocketed this year and I can't justify spending $180 for a tire that only lasts 1200 miles or so I switched to a Mefo Super Explorer for the rear. Can be had for $150 and lasts 3000 miles. The Mefo has less traction than the 908 initially, but after 600-800 miles on the 908 the traction of the Mefo is even, but the longevity is double.

It's interesting that many people who don't ride in CO very much would probably be surprised how well desert style tires work there. You see quite a few desert type tires mentioned here, and those of us who've ridden a lot in CO realize why. While there are lots of muddy singletracks to deal with, there are probably many more rocky, dry, dusty trails where the desert style tires do their job. I notice the rear trials tire has become very popular in many applications, and I've ridden with some of you while you used that tire. I've yet to warm up to them, but they apparently work very well for many. As Blake mentioned, I've grown fond of the Maxxis IT desert tire for the front, even though it's not DOT. I've been amazed at how well the inexpensive DOT Kenda Trakmaster works on my KLX300S as a rear tire. As cheap as it is, it works perfectly in Neutech Tubliss setup and doesn't chunk knobs in UT and CO. Maybe a higher horsepower bike would challenge it a bit more. The rear 606 is hard to beat as an all-arounder, but it's just gotten a bit expensive IMO.

Rear: IRC VE33 , or Pirelli MT-43

Front: IRC VE35

Bridgestone M403/404 combo. Best all around tire I've found for a smaller bike with big hp. Ned turned me onto them; I never would have bought a tire that says "Motocross" on the sidewall, but they work great and last well. Not DOT.

I local AA offroad racer turned me onto that combo but I have yet to try it. The Dunlop Geomax MX51 F/R pair works well in the SW part of the state where we see a lot of sand and mixed conditions.

Maxxis IT Desert front and rear on the XR650R.

I loved these on my smaller WR250F, jury is still out on the bigger 650. Very finicky with respect to tire pressure, too much and they handle like crap. With the Tubliss system I've been running ~5 PSI rear and ~8 PSI front.

Thinking about switching it up this year, may have to try Hayduke's Bridgestone combo...

I live out on the Western Slope where most of my riding is out the back door off-road w/ very little pavement. There seems to be an affinity to Maxxis IT or Maxxis Desert IT out here. I used them on my 525 exclusively and they always hook up wether in the Mtns or the Desert. 120/100/18 rears and 90/100/21 Front. I like the heavy sidewalls as they can handle more impact climbing up steps and rocky washes. If you do flat out, the heavier sidewalls can be ridden (slowly) w/out breaking apart the bead. When I can't find a deal on these I have had good experience w/Bridgestone M404s, and Pirelli scorpion XCMH. Currently riding the latter on my 530 xcrw. In my opinion, Intermediate rubber is the way to go in Colorado.