pirelli mt-43 trials tire..DOT yes!

Good point. I commented above about running at 8-9 psi in the woods (lots of roots and rocks = pinchflat opportunities) with no problems, but I'm a lightweight at ~150 lbs. My bike is a DR350; actual bike weight with toolbag and gas is ~330 lbs.

My throttle control is just fine, so is my riding. I'm sure you guy's are great riders...all I have to do is ask. I am a big guy, 235lb, which changes a few things. These psi figures are an example of how to adjust traction on the fly. I have run my tire as low as 10 to 12, but found out that higher psi worked overall. The Mojave desert is not a forgiving place,and most riders will run higher psi out here. If you have not changed one of these on the trail, they can be difficult. In the Sierras, some guy's will run 8 to 12, depending on conditions. I ran the last dual sport ride at 14, but had very little road sections.
I'm not trying to tell you what to do, I just wanted to offer a way to adjust traction on the fly. This tire is as good as it gets. Sharp, rocky desert conditions are not the same as loamy Washington or quick sand Florida. I hope to make it to the NW to try out this tire in loamy condition. If you want to see what conditions I ride in, check out my blog http://www.iridedualsport.com and check out Mojave. Send me some pics and videos from your rides and I will post them. I would like to compaare terrain types and riding styles to this tire.

I run 6-8 psi in the trials tires on my KTM XCFW 250.
I also use the Tubliss setup.

It's starting to look like the next tire for me (MT43) So what is a good partner for the front ?

Current MT21 F TKC R 690E

conditiions ........ gravel, cinders, areas with multiple cond, woods, slab any where from 1 mile to 200 miles to get to areas.


Robt

If you are looking for an agressive front DOT tire check out the Pirelli Scorpion Pro.....a lot more bite then the MT21.....but to match up for Dual Sport riding the Mt21 front is just fine.....

As far as tire pressure when I had 14 psi in my MT43 it made control on gravel rather "fun" so to speak....8 psi works fine on all surfaces for me....

I run 8 to 10 PSI.

I ride slowly in the woods on technical single track that has lose dirt and mud. I also have a map switch to control the throttle response. I find that if I use the softest setting then I loop the bike less. I prefer the traction. If I run over 10 PSI the rear tire is too squirrely in the mud.

I have been running an MT43 rear at 14psi on the rear of my 690r for about a month in drastically varying terrain. I ran the Rubicon trail on aug 9th and there are rubber scuff marks wrapped up the sides of my rear wheel so I know that the sidewall is flexing more than a knobby ever could and is getting dangerously close to pinch flat territory. If the trail wasn't entirely square edged boulders that you HAVE to slam into to climb, I would feel comfortable running 10-11 psi.

On the road the tire feels a little squirrely to me even at 20 psi and I swear that I can feel the sidewall wrinkle under hard acceleration. It is however waaay quiter and smoother than any knobby I have ever run. I think the best solution for on/offroad performance is to carry a pump.

As already said by so many others, trials tire do not like to be brake slid into turns and then full throttle out. I have another wheel with a motoz x-circuit on it that I still prefer for trails with hillclimbs that require full throttle assaults to claw your way up (too steep to climb walking on all 4, and soft.)

I ran one at 13psi in a desert race on my CRF450R. It had a lot of sharp rocks and I was in 4th and 5th a lot, but no flats and it floated well in the sand.

See a few comments in this thread that the MT-43 is not a good tire on the pavement. My question is has anyone tried it on the pavement with appropriate 25-30psi? If riding more than a few miles on the street I always air back up for safety.

Also anyone try the 2.75-21 front MT-43 yet? Seems all are running a front knobby with the MT-43 rear, why is this?

_

I have the MT43 on the rear and for me it is much better on pavement than the Bridgestone knobby I had before. I don't see how anyone can say a knobby is better than a trials tire on pavement.

That said, I generally don't go knee dragging with a trials tire on the rear and a knobby on the front. I run about 20 to 25 PSI on the pavement out to the trails and I have had not problems, but I am just getting to the trails, I am not looking to have fun in the twisties (granted I sometimes forget myself a little).

On the way back I am running 10 PSI or less because I drop the pressure when I get to the trails and I don't carry a pump (that is going to change) - in that situation the tire is squirmy due to flexing on pavement and you have to take that into account. Not dangerous unless you forget.

The only issue with the MT43 on pavement is you will run out of tread in the twisties. When you hit the edge of the knobs it steps out NOW. In long sweepers you can feel it coming and hang the rear out like a flat tracker, but if you throw the bike too quickly into a hairpin you may end up facing the wrong way. Don't try to run with the sportbikes and motards and you'll never notice.

The MT43 front has only recently been available in this country. I had a competition trials front tire on my KLX for almost a year and didn't see any advantage over a knobby.

I ran quite a bit of pavement with mine. Plenty grippy but wear was not the best. Each pavement ride showed easily visable wear. It would have made 1k miles but would have been completely bald by then. I had a holed tube at 900 miles and mounted a different tire. My first cactus thorn punture on any tire.

High pressure did not seem to have any advantage for wear. The last few rides to work(50 mile round trip) i only ran 15psi.

so all i can find is one size for this tire and that is 4.0x18 the tire that i have now is a 120/80 what ist he converson for the 120/80 in relation to something like 4.0x18?

I am trying this tire on a Suzuki DR200. The bike is lightweight and low powered so there is little problem keeping the tire hooked up in sand. I ride DS in North Florida and was concerned about how it worked in deep fine sand but it works better than the Dunlop 952 knobby it replaced in sand and is much easier to live with on pavement. I rode a 140 mile DS ride today with 75% pavement and 25% sandy or hardpack dirt roads (and 3/4 mile across clear cut timber acreage with stumps and flattened trees/saplings to 8" in diameter). This is the mixed type of riding I'll do most of the time and what I got this bike for. On dirt or unimproved roads the 952 would slip some in the sand and then hook up 100% when the sand got thin over underlying hardpack marl or limestone if the road was made like this. This made for a surging kind of feeling when riding 35 to 55 mph as the tire alternatively hooks up then slips some. The MT43 does not do this as much leading me to believe the pure sand traction is better than the knobby. The other day I rode in a sand burrow pit with short steep hills to climb and I noticed no difference in handling or traction. I am running 12-15 psi DS or mid 20's just pavement.

This tire is 25 mm or 1 inch taller off the rim than the 110/90-18 it replaced. I did not have to add chain but if the chain was new the tire would not fit in the swingarm without hitting the top center of the tread against the swingarm. Mine barely cleared at adjustment marks 1.5. It is a narrower than a same sized knobby because if lacks the knobs sticking out on the sidewalls.

So far it has no downside for me but I haven't had it in wet mud yet.

This is exactly what I needed to know.. I tend to lean greatly off-road and have a strange habit of drifting the bike in the corners on the street. I was tempted to try it but if its not a good drifter I might stay away.. I didnt like my 606's cause the front would drift too much on the twisties.. and the MT21's wore fast but drifted very nice and predictable. If the sign said 25mph corner I knew I could run it at 75+ on my 625 SXC with out issue. I have a set of 17's that I got for the SXC but the stuck too well and kind freaked me out.. felt like it would high side.. I run my 450 on the street in some tight 15-25mph posted twisties.. just afraid of being surprised.. off road getting dumped in the dirt is one thing but on the tarmac...

This will be my next tire on my KTM 400.

Around here the only tire that is going to get you to the top of a steep muddy climb is a fresh M5B @ 5 PSI. My front tire of choice is an MT44 @ 12 PSI. This is on a 450 KTM.

Thinking that the MT43 might be a good d/s tire for my WR450. But I do enjoy getting to the top of muddy hillclimbs...,so maybe not. There sure are a lot of folks saying "I'll never go back to knobbies". Hmmm, what to do? I hate choosing tires.

Everybody has their favorites, but where & how we ride differ quite a bit. Wish I had a twin to ride alongside me on each ride to see what works best for "us".

Which knobbies are made with the hardest compounds, the hard terrain or the sort terrain? I'm figureing the hard ones would last longer on the street.

It depends on the mud. If it is gloppy clay-like mud, then a trials tire will suck. I have used a Dunlop Trials comp tire in the mountains here in Canada, and the mud is very peat like, and the tire was great on the wet roots rocks, and even in that type of mud that doesn't seem to plug up the tire much.

As far as street riding, the Dunlop was much softer than the MT43, and it wore very well on the pavement, but the Maxxis Desert IT, which is very hard, melts on the pavement. I used to run Dunlop D606 and the Michelin Desert on my old KTM 640, and they lasted very well on the road. Hard rubber, but must be the compound that makes the Maxxis wear down so fast compared to the others. The Trials tyre was very soft, but very rubbery like erasers, and it seemed almost immune to wearing anywhere.

This is a new tire beside one with 40 or so hours of roosting, rocks and slickrock in Utah, and some street. It finally chucked the center row of knobs when I did a day of very fast gravel and tar. I kind of did it on purpose as an excuse to get rid of it. I love trials tires 80% of the time, but off camber work and corner sliding are terrifying, so I'm done with trials tires. I just got back from Utah with the Maxxis, and other than the 20 miles of highway that melted it down a little, it performed pretty much the same as a trials, at least as far as this noob could tell. They do last much longer than knobs though.

Also keep in mind the mt43 is kind of a hybrid trials tire. I run a Michelin competition trials tire on my yz and it's completely different then the 43 on my wr. The mt43 corners much much better than the comp tire, it also wears very well and has great road manners. IMHO it's apples and oranges. The mt43 does so well I won't go back to a 606 on my wr. I will swap back to a s12 on the yz when it's wet and muddy, mainly because of true off camber stuff we ride, off camber leaves are a comp trials tire nemesis.

Glenn nc riding and Wv riding are very similar, give the 43 a chance on your wr I think you will be suprised. Run it at 6 psi and the knobs flex enough to clean out the mud, even red clay. It will take some miles to get comfy with it.