Hi guys. Im heading down to the Dusty and riding a husky FE501 from Palmy North down and back up. I want to ask opinions on tyres, as i was either thinking of the D606/MT21 combo or trying Motoz Desert HT or Rallz which would easily last longer than a D606 or MT21. Ive never used the Desert HT, only the Adv and Rallz versions of the Motoz hoops. Im also wondering if the Rallz might be better suited being less aggressive vs the desert ht as so much of my ride there and back is tarmac. Cheers for any advice
I put Desert H/T's on my WR250R for last year's Dusty. They handled everything that they needed to. They have around 3,300km on them now. The rear is definitely showing a bit of wear (still fine for gravel on the 250) but the front looks mint. The 250 went down on the back of my ute (thank goodness!) so they didn't get all that highway use but I definitely do ride a bit of local seal to get to the closer fun zones... No experience with the other options you're looking at sorry.
I've used the HTs a lot on my old 690 and now have them on the 500. They do last well and I have 3000km now on one which has been shown no mercy. I'll get about another 1000km out of it I reckon. They're noisy though so would be annoying without ear plugs. Grip wise it seems a bit less suited to the lighter bike but I think pressures could be a contributor there. They're a solid tire and need quite low pressures to work their best off road.
I did my first Dusty on MT21 front and rear on my WR450 and had no issues, I then did my second on Desert HT's front and rear and found them to be better but was kind of disappointed how the rear wore down . I personally found the rear wore down as quick as the MT21 which I hoped it would last longer. This year I have the same Desert HT front and I'm trying a Motoz RallyZ on the rear. It doesn't offer much lateral grip but that's how I like to ride , I've often been told by @KiwiPewe that no one like riding behind you because you ride like a 16 year old kicking up stones and dust
I think the term I used was 'ham-fisted hooligan' On the tyre question: I used a Golden tyre 723 fatty on the rear and a 233 on the front on my Husky 701. Good tyres, especially the front impressed how it could climb out of ruts. Only niggle I had that after the last DB the rear started leaking air out of the carcass ( I ran Tubliss for the first time on that one). Got replaced under warranty but if that had happened during the DB, I would have had to put a tube. Also worth noting is that the 233 isn't DOT approved if that matters to you. HTH
The Goldentire certainly gets serious traction on your wallet. I liked the 723 front that was on the 500 when I bought it but it started to spit knobs off the sides. Might try the fatty front next.
I ran rallz rear and d606 front on last years db on my SWM. Was a great combination. Rallz was super impressive and the best wearing tyre I have ever run on a dustybutt. D606 was good too, but I was fighting a big split from the first day, so pressures were all over the show. I have a love hate affair with my front desert ht, noisy pressure sensitive pos just wont wear out.
Thanks heaps for all the advice and comments. Ive loved the 140 Rallz rear on my 690, Nd also on the front of my last 990. There doesn't seem to be any 140 Rallz left in stock, only the 120/90/18. Is a 90 much taller than a 80, and what size would suit a 500exc/501fe the best?? Think i want to go Rallz rear and maybe HT front, i also used the Metzler MC360 mid/hard front on my 690 which i liked, it was surprisingly good onroad and they seem to wear pretty good. Im just wanting long lasting and durable tyres to last the whole trip which will be around 3500kms ish
Me again. Just starting to look into what Android App ill use for route navigation on the Dusty Butt. Ive currently got the pro versions of NZ Topo Maps and Back Country Navigator Pro. Im assuming we get given a .GPX File of the route, im not sure what app is best suited for this. Any advice is appreciated as always. Cheers
Does the pro version of GPX viewer has offline map option? I tried it earlier, and I couldn't figure out how to make it work offline. I ended up with NZ topo maps, it does the trick even though its a bit bulky.
Yes it does have offline I've been riding around this week with every bar the GPS off on my phone and it works perfect
I used Backcountry Navigator pro and it worked very well. Here is a link to download the entire south island map which you can use in the app. When we were sent the GPX file it was a single file with all 3 days tracks included. I used a program on my laptop to break it into 3 separate files (one for each day) to make it less confusing to read while riding.
