Any one have any experience using the Full Bore M-41 and M40 tires on thier F800? I have never heard of them but they look good on the screen. http://www.motorcyclemaniacstore.com/category/7359/m-40-adventure-sport LaPorte
Good catch. Shinko 705 are $10 cheaper per front/back as well. http://www.motorcycle-superstore.co.../Shinko-705-Series-Dual-Sport-Front-Tire.aspx http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/29/393/20401/ITEM/Shinko-705-Series-Dual-Sport-Rear-Tire.aspx They're good tires for the money if you aren't planning on any deep sand/gravel/mud. They handle well on the road for the most part.
I have gone through two sets of Shinko 705's. Thay are a good tire for the price. I was looking for a tire with a little more off raod traction and to beable to get a little more mileage out of the tire. The Full bore M-40 and M41 look good on the computer screen, but until you put one on your rim and try it you won't know. I thought I would ask if anyone has put on a set and ran them. LaPorte
Agreed, can't tell much until they're on the bike. However, if you look at the tread they look 100% exactly the same (to me anyway) so the M40 might be a rebranded Shinko. Maybe give them a call and see if that's the case, worth a try. As for more offroad performance and higher milage, that's a tough call given the array of tires available and operational differences between riders: some people ride faster, weigh more, have different road surfaces that can affect the wear of a tire (aggregate composition), some do two-up, use different tire pressures, etc. All of those factors contribute to mileage and what one person reports might be totally opposite from the experience of another rider due to those factors. I've yet to see any control-based research on tires using repeatable testing methods and repeatable results; anything else ends up being conjecture and too high of a potential for one-off experience. Even with my bikes I've had overall tire milage on the same model of tire (MT21 for example) where I got 20% more life out of one set compared to other sets of the same tire model on the same bike. Anyway, there are definitely a lot of tire threads with personal experience, opinions, and mileage reports to help your research though.
Motorcycle Manaic Store sells both Shinko and Full Bore tires. The Full bore M-40 150/70R/17 looks like it has smaller pads/knobs on the tire than the Shinko 705 150/70R/17. I did get some information on the tire from the sales rep. He said the tire is manufactured in South Korea and the tread depth on the M-41 90/90-21is 8/32" and 9/32" on the M-40 150/70R-17. That's all I could fine out. I need a new front tire on my F800. The Shinko 705 is just about gone, so I ordered one of the Full Bore M-41 90/90-21------We will see what happens? If it's the same as the Shinko 705's, well thats ok, it's been a good tire.I have a fairly new Bridgestone TW152 on the rear which I like on road and off road (no real mud) it's ok. So when the TW152 goes away I will try the Full Bore M-40 and see how that works. Spring is just around the corner and it's been a real mild winter here in northern California (so far) compared to last year. I am ready to go out and do some riding. LaPorte
Just received my order for the Full Bore M-41 90/90-21. Other than saying Full Bore on the side wall it the exact same tire as the Shinko 705. Well you live and learn. The Full Bore M-40 150/70R-17 I would asume is the same as the Shinko 705. Shinko are a few dollars cheaper, save you money!
A blog entry on Fullbore Tires http://socal-overlander.blogspot.com/2012/10/in-search-of-right-tires.html Also they are not made in china as reported on here.
I ordered a pair of Full Bore M40s for my R1200GSA because they were about $165 shipped for a pair, vs about $300 for something "better." Handling was a little iffy at first, but seemed to settle out. There was always something weird about "turn in" that wasn't confidence inspiring, but if I ignored that, they seemed to grip just fine. They do OK off road. Better than more street oriented tires, but not as good as the TKC 80s. After about 4000 miles, I noticed that there were some big cracks in the tread and it appeared that the tread was coming away from the tire in a couple places. I contacted both Full Bore USA and Chaparral Motorsports. Chaparral basically told me the tires were junk (yet they were happy to sell them to me) and that I should be happy to have gotten almost 4000 miles out of them. I also spoke with the US rep for Full Bore, who was very helpful. He asked a few questions about my bike, riding habits, load carried, etc and explained that failures were very rare. He said all the failures he's seen have been due to excessive load or heat. Then he offered to send me a new tire for a little more than the cost of shipping. I think they handled the issue as well as they could have, and I was happy they stood behind their product. I probably used half of the tire's useful life and ended up paying about half what it would have cost to replace, so it was a wash. End result: you get what you pay for. They're not as good as tires that cost twice as much, but they're as good if not better than anything I've seen in their price range. Now, I'm off to the trails on my TKC 80s but I will throw the replacement M40 on the bike once those wear out and give them another chance. In their defense, I am a big guy, and I did ride 2500 miles two up with gear in summer temperatures that exceeded 90-100 degrees at faster than normal highway speeds.. That probably had a lot to do with the failure I experienced.
I have to retract anything nice I've said about the full bore M40s.. my second attempt with them resulted in even worse results.. the rear tire completely disintegrated AGAIN with about a thousand miles on it. Chunks big enough to damage my mud guard flew off. I would wholeheartedly advise against these tires for anyone owning a large adventure bike. 2 dangerous failures out of two tires.. never again.
here's a pic of the tire.. could have been ugly!! whatever I saved on the tire, I quickly lost when it took out the mudflap..
They are NOT the same as the shinko 705 similar tread pattern but wider spacing between the lugs, ive got both tires sitting here, they are different ( slightly) the shinko 705 was a great tire, the full bore not so much. less than 3500 miles of mixed commuting, highway, lots of gravel, dirt, and some offroad. tread is thin, traction was never great, I will not buy another one.
I was just considering replacing my rear M41 on my Caponord. The current one has just over 3K miles on it, but I don't see that it will last much longer for off pavement use. They do handle well, but after seeing the picture, I don't think I'll be getting another one.
