I've run several sets of 244s on my old DR and the XR I have now came with a set of 705s. I have also run a few sets of 705s on my DL650 and a set on my wife's Ascot. I can give you my experience but to be honest, it's exactly what you would think just by looking at them. The 705s last longer and feel better on the road. The 705s work great on the DL650, stick well in the twisties, last pretty well and do better than straight up touring tires in the dirt. They actually work OK on packed dirt roads. They are terrible on sand or in mud as to be expected. I would not fiddle with them on the smaller dual sports though unless you rarely hit the dirt. As far as longevity, the rear 705 on my DL went around 8K miles during a recent Trans Lab trip. They don't last near as long around the house due to me playing so maybe half that when ridden in anger. I never had a single bad issue with them, bias ply or radial. The 244s on the DR650 do OK on the dirt untill you hit real mud as you would figure but worlds better than the 705s do on my XR. The 244s worked well enough in most off road situations and they do OK on the street. I have had issues with the 244s shedding knobbies but I think alot of that is due to me running low pressure off road, then being lazy and running them on the street without airing back up. They get hot then when you hit the rocks and play, the center knobs rip off. Only had that happen once though and even though three knobs were ripped off within the first 1K miles, I ignored it and rode then till they were done which was around 3.5K miles. Long story short, I will run the 705s on the DL again but will be taking them off the XR and would rather run 244s on a dual sport.
I installed a set of 244's about 1200 miles ago. Love them so far. Break in was about 150 to 200 miles until I could say they had a soild feel to them. Road ride and handing nice. Mud not a true dirt tire but will work in the mud if you are careful. On gravel and hard pack seem great to me. Tire seem to be a good all around tire not great at anything but good at all things. Alot like my DR650. So for the DR650 rider who likes to ride roads and get on the trail also I like them for that purpose.
I don't know if that jives with my experience. I never ran them that high. I actually settled on around 22-25psi for the most part and yea, I know that's under their recommendations. Matter of fact, I think my knobs chunked off on my first set was because I would air them down on the dirt then was lazy and would air em back up often/soon enough. I would get em hot and soft on the tarmac at 15 or so psi, then hit a rocky trail and peeled the knobs off.
I've got a CBR125 that I slightly modified to work as a dual-sport. I did research and found the shinko 244 to have the best rating overall. They do have a tendency to either work very well, or lose knobs like crazy. But at least they don't have the bad reputation for road driving as the Kenda k270. I can't say anything of personal experience for the Kenda or IRC, but the Shinko has worked perfect for me so far. I've taken it on dry pavement, wet pavement, gravel, dirt, mud, sand, and snow. I can't say I have any complaints. I wish they dug in a little better off road... but, if they did, then they might start acting like the Kenda on road. It's a very good compromise for a dual-sport tire. I expect the wear life on these tires to be excellent, due to how incredibly light the 125cc bike is. The less weight being put on the tire, the less friction and heat caused when driving, therefore, the less tread wear. So far, I have had them on for a total of almost 5k and barely any wear at all. P.S. I apologize ahead of time for the giant pictures... But if you scroll a little, it should help you get up close and personal with the type of riding I do on that bike. :] <img src="http://img859.imageshack.us/img859/3350/0821011001a.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/> <img src="http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1016/0820011208.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/> <img src="http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/4677/0822011027c.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/> <img src="http://img804.imageshack.us/img804/2474/0823011048.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/> <img src="http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/1517/0825011134b.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/> <img src="http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/653/0826011139b.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/> <img src="http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/9477/0828011154a.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/> <img src="http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/6893/08300111402.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/> <img src="http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/6885/1011011836a.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/> <img src="http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/8242/1031011737a.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/> <img src="http://img860.imageshack.us/img860/3215/1213011436.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/> <img src="http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/1155/1227012348az.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/> <img src="http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/3988/1227012350.jpg" alt="Image Hosted by ImageShack.us"/>
I have a 270 on the rear of my KLR and with almost 14000 miles on it I expect to get at least another 1-2000 miles out of it. Rode the GDR border to border and back on it, rode 4500 mile road trip, to CO, MO, AR, all over. Maybe I just got a good one, don't know, but I will buy another. I posted this on an earlier thread. Tire now has about 14500 on it. Gonna change it out this winter to be ready for Spring.
