Best mud tyres?

[Wellyman]

SHinko's are the old yoko 540's, they were the best tyres in the early 90's but no devolpment has gone in since, would go MS3's out of the buch you have picked, way better than mc4's in the mud imho

You must go fucken slow if you think a MC4 is crap in the mud! (Oh he's riding a Suzuki no wonder)
Love my MC4 rear, haven't changed off the original front yet.
WM

[scott411]

You must go fucken slow if you think a MC4 is crap in the mud! (Oh he's riding a Suzuki no wonder)
Love my MC4 rear, haven't changed off the original front yet.
WM

i didn't say they were crap, i said the MS3's were better in my opinion,

[crazyxr250rider]

You must go fucken slow if you think a MC4 is crap in the mud! (Oh he's riding a Suzuki no wonder)
Love my MC4 rear, haven't changed off the original front yet.
WM

nothing wrong with suzukis mate, every make has a bad model

[tysonzane]

Ok, on Sunday i did a ride in Taumranui, and it was MUDDY!! Not to mention the best ride ive ever done. My tyres were o-k but i can see other people were going better on other tyres. I then rode a dodgy XR250 with a Shinko on the front and a dodgy MC4 with no air in it on the back for the last 1 - 2 km. I was impressed with the Shinko on the front, it let my ride in and out of runs better then a MT32F and was more responsive on turn in, and all this on a XR!!! So it must be alright once i get it on my bike!

I talk with a few people about the MS3's, and they thought they were more a motocross style mud tyre then the mud that i saw on that day (very gluggy, deep and extra slippery). And remember on the trail rides it can be a bit start-stop at times what with all the quads and people with crap tyres, but on the motocross track you've got heaps of momentum up already... And ive found people saying the MT32 rear and Shinko rear are good for getting going again from stopping on greasey hills and in deep ruts, unlike the MC4 which im currently running. But i did notice there wasnt much sideways traction with the Shinko rear.

So ill be intrested to hear from Scott as to what you think of the MS3 under trail conditions. Because i plan on doing Trail rides, Enduro's and the odd scramble etc.

Thanks everyone for their input!

[scott411]

fair call about the trail ride situation, 1/3 to half my riding is trail rides, (this weekend to Tawarewa for the 1st time this year, can't wait) i don;t do enduro's but do a few cross country's, i currently have MT32 rear and a MT32F front they have impressed me as i am not usually a Pirelli fan, however i will be going back to Michelins next time a good clearing mud tyre should clear on with situation, i haven't run shinko's for a few years now so i can't really comment on them, i remember the fronts being awesome in mud tho,

[tysonzane]

fair call about the trail ride situation, 1/3 to half my riding is trail rides, (this weekend to Tawarewa for the 1st time this year, can't wait) i don;t do enduro's but do a few cross country's, i currently have MT32 rear and a MT32F front they have impressed me as i am not usually a Pirelli fan, however i will be going back to Michelins next time a good clearing mud tyre should clear on with situation, i haven't run shinko's for a few years now so i can't really comment on them, i remember the fronts being awesome in mud tho,

Well ive run the MT32F and its almost about done for me. I found it to be a good alround tyre for all general situations. Same as the MC4 rear. Ive got alot of friends who are using what you're currently running and ran the MT32F for one ride and then chucked a Shinko on the front and are now saying that is a bloody good combination.

I think ill do this weekends set of rides (quite a few planned actually) and then buy a set of MS3's next week to fit up.

How do the MS3's go in dry situation or gravel roads etc and how do they wear? Because i know with the Shinko's they become extra unstable in the dry and you start ripping the noobs off the sides really easy with the soft compound. I think ill then go back to the MT32F and a MC4 rear for the summer rides where i know they work well where its dry and still preform alright when theres the odd mud patch.

[scott411]

they seem to hold up well when compared to other mud tyres, they are also designed to be turned around, they say when the M wears out on the top of the knob turn them around,

i normally run MH3 (intermediate hard MIchelins) in the summer, they out last everything, but when they run out of them (not unusual) i run Bridgeston e M402 in the summer

[tysonzane]

Just thought i'd give everyone an update on what tyres i did end up going with. I wanted to get a Shinko on the Front and a MT32 on the Rear. The local bike shop didnt have a MT32 in my size but according to the Pirrelli Manual the MT320 was a better mud and soft terrian tyre. So with a bit of pressure from other people i went with the MT320 rear. The last weekend i went with a private group of riders at the top of the coromandel where there are some decent hills and when it rains (which it did), it is muddy! The first serious obsticle i came to was about a metre high bank that was close to verticle and i dropped it because the there was jack all traction on the edge of the tyre. The next big hill was also a real struggle to get up with traction been a real issue. I was pissed off that i didnt get another MC4, but i lowered the pressure from 12 psi to less then 4 psi and it worked ok for the rest of the weekend but i still think the MC4 is a better tyre and the MC4 has alot more sideways traction which is a real bonus because with the MT320 once you start to lose it, it just lets go in a big way. The MT320 however is better then the MC4 at getting initial traction off the mark or if you get stuck in a bog and want to get moving again, but with the MC4 once you're moving and you've got a decent wack of speed on its a great tyre.

The Shinko was an awesome tyre on the front. I was able to climb in and out of ruts with no problem which is definately a bonus and i found that you can have a mad lean on the front tyre and it will just keep on gripping and gripping where as my MT32F that i used to run would have let go a long time ago. The Shinko is damn skeatchy to ride over 80km on the road or quickly on gravel.

I think for mud tyres in the future where im just doing casual events ill try an MT32, S12 and MS3 to form an opinion of weather i still love my MC4. I'll do one more mud event (probably the Rotorua Trail ride this weekend) and if i still dont like it, it will be going on Trademe! I really like it how the MC4 runs well in nearly all situations be it thick mud, the beach or hard rocky situations, and others have agreed with that. The MC4 does wear quickly in the summer because of its soft nature. But i have had a lot of people say that you can run a MC4 for a lot longer before replacing compared to the Michealns and Pirrelli's. I know i could rotate the tyre to gain the edge again but then you lose braking traction, and no this isint a myth, i've tried and tested it!!

Thanks to Scott for his info and opinions before all this. Cheers.

[zarinat]

MT32 & either MT32F or Michelin front- little known fact but most pros using pirelli, use the mt32 everywhere (unless its rock hopping), I have even had some lasting at Harrisville also, behind 450's (but theyre stuffed after the day- but they do the biz) The MT320 also seems to handle everything you can throw at it.... just keep the tyre pressure BELOW 13 psi- or the roost will be 90% rubber!

[scott411]

zarinat is right, most pirelli sponsored riders muse MT32 everywhere (inclueding Everts)
Tysan - MT320 are no where near as good as MT32's you can get MT32's in 110/100-18 that will fit your bike, we have put them on many KDX200's etc

[tysonzane]

Hmm, its good to hear that the MT32 is a better tyre because overall i didnt like the MT320. Like i said i'll give the MT320 another go to form an opinion of it in terrian that i havent already riden in. But its looking like ill buy an MT32 sooner rather then later. The old man runs a MT32 on his 400 but in the 120 size which fits in the ruts that have been dug up by 110's quite nice but i think ill stay with a 110.

[mc4aregreat]

Good reading though.I also have an M32F on front and a MC4 on the back. Hey they work. Never got stuck or lost the front at Desert storm. (Having to go slower helped). Like many others, ya gotta have mud tyres for trail riding, They may wear in the summer, but boy they have got me up and out of strife a number of times when the skies open up, or that one and only bog hole we seem to come across.

The M32f is a funny tyre though, Its claimed to be a soft to med tyre, the bees knees in loose soil and sand, on smooth medium terrain its darn near suicide.But on hard rocky terrain it seems ok, and wear is not like i expected. They deffarnantly? need something to grip to though.

For years i have always consider a knobby tyre, a knobby tyre, and didnt worry what i had on, until i got my new bike that came with Hard terrain tyres, man did i have some mean off's,and cursed every time i got stuck. I bit the bullet and got decent tyres. heh hah!!.

[Wellyman]

Good reading though.I also have an M32F on front and a MC4 on the back. Hey they work. Never got stuck or lost the front at Desert storm. (Having to go slower helped). Like many others, ya gotta have mud tyres for trail riding, They may wear in the summer, but boy they have got me up and out of strife a number of times when the skies open up, or that one and only bog hole we seem to come across.

The M32f is a funny tyre though, Its claimed to be a soft to med tyre, the bees knees in loose soil and sand, on smooth medium terrain its darn near suicide.But on hard rocky terrain it seems ok, and wear is not like i expected. They deffarnantly? need something to grip to though.

For years i have always consider a knobby tyre, a knobby tyre, and didnt worry what i had on, until i got my new bike that came with Hard terrain tyres, man did i have some mean off's,and cursed every time i got stuck. I bit the bullet and got decent tyres. heh hah!!.

I agree that you are going to fucken slow if you get stuck using an MC4, they have been better then the stock pirelli's i used to have.
go Metzeler!