The Sedona MX887 IT rear tire.
A budget-conscious tire for riders on a budget.
The Kenda K774F Budds Creek front tire, another tire for those with no money to spend on their dirt bikes, or for guys who like the picture in the advertisement.
Yesterday (Saturday), I tried out my two new tires, the ones shown in the above pics.
I rode the CRF-450X9 (what else?, as it's the only motorcycle I own) and rode my usual loop out at the ol' Pachaug enduro loop, and the weather and conditions were just fine and dandy for a good ride.
Unfortunately, I had to go ahead and spoil the proceedings by deciding to purchase (while in a bout of money pinching during my winter pay cut period) a pair of cheap tires, the ones shown above.
These tires felt so poorly out on the trail, that I knew I'd made a big mistake before the first trail section ended, particularly with the rear tire.
What was the problem?
I mean, those pics above look so cool, right?
Sure, Lenny, as that's all part of marketing and advertising, and most certainly part of that holy word spelled SALES.
Things pictured in advertisements always look better than they really are in real life - why do you think a Big Mac from McDonald's always looks more mouth-watering-good in a commercial than the real thing up for SALE at your local joint does when you take a hard look at the one you just bought as you hold it in your hand?
Hmmmm.
Still feel like eating that, Bucky?
The problem, mostly with the rear but also with the front tire to a lesser degree, is with the fact that in order for these tires to be sold for less money than my preferred Bridgestone M22, M23, and M604 tires (quality tires from a manufacturer that does not want to be known as a cheesy tire manufacturer), corners had to be cut somewhere.
The corner cut was in the basic construction of the tire, itself, which seems as if it uses some stone-aged method of tire production that is not only being as cheaply as possible, but makes the tire feel as if it has 457 psi of air in it at all times, even though I had the front at 10 psi and the rear even lower at 9 psi.
Just for comparison, my favorite Bridgestone tires get run with 10 psi of air pressure in them.
So, the resulting performance and feel from these tires was that they bounced around all over the place, especially off the rocks that stuck up out of the ground, and they bounced off of them as it there was a black and round super ball (remember those) wrapped around my rims.
This made for a very unstable ride out of the bike, negated the possibility of any good feel from the bike, and, basically turned a good ride into semi-torture.
The bike felt so bad with these tires, I had to slow down over my favorite rough sections, and that takes fun out of the ride, Mac.
If I could put a performance price tag on these tires, they'd sell for $1.98 each.
Enough said?
You'd think that a guy who's been riding motorcycles for over 30 years would and should know better than to try this, but, as the old saying goes:
You live and learn.
Sometime, I add, you have to live and learn the same thing a second time so you won't forget it. ;)
On a slightly positive note, the forecast rain showers haven't started yet, so there's a chance I'll go out for another ride today.
Here's to hoping I survive these tires a second time. ;)
I guess you can predict these tires are to be removed from the bike during the week before next weekend.
-John
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