BannedCR500Riders.com

whats best tire setup for winter, ive heard screws rip out too easy, trellyborgs are expensive, so i was thinking this

or a teraflex or 140 M5B with holes in the knobs and carriage bolts with nyloks thru the holes countersunk so just threads stick out
or what else can i do??? does a teraflex have enough open area for snow or should i get a knobby knife and cut out some tread
yes even tho i heard the teraflex isnt that good i need to try it at least once

hard to think you'll get better traction than this


but seriously, i would drill holes in the knobs and stick a sharpened bolt through it with a washer on the inside and out. then they wouldnt be very apt to rip out.

Hey Chris,
I have tried all of the above but the snow bike track.

If you ride frozen dirt the only thing that will survive rocks etc decent is the tungsten carbide tips on the trellis or michelin winter friction tires.

The gold / cold cutter screws work best on bare ice, or snow on tip of ice.
They will get dull and throw lots of screws in the dirt, real fast.
However, the traction they provide is superior to the trelliborgs and michelins with tungsten studs.

Woody's snowmobile track studs are somewhat better then the tungesten trellis, you need some long enough to extnd past the knobs. They will tend to tear the tire carcass up, and the track cleats like you pictured work the absolute best for traction, but really tear up tire carcass.
The track cleats destroy a tire very quickly.

Overall for your rocky terrain, I would suggest the trelliborgs,
Out where I live the farmers have picked all the rocks mostly, and I ride the frozen fields, lake, and river, so I prefer a professional studded tire just like they use on the ice ovals, but both sides of the tire, I know I will be replacing studs after every second ride but the traction is 3 x's better than the trelliborgs.

The track cleats might work well with snowmobile trails where you are chewing up the trail, without digging into the dirt, but i just can't see that happening with your warm weather, and the bare hills to climb.

I have also tried the carriage bolt with big washers and nylock nuts.
Worked real well, except the tire was heavy, and the tire profile was bad, and the bolts wore down real fast, since grade 8 was the hardest I could find.

remember, tire profile is as important as traction, so something with many little sharp edges will work beter than using massive cleats etc if you want it to handle, and corner predictably

I'm drooling over a set of MF44 tires for the lake next to the house, trelliborg for the rest of it

The track cleats might work well with snowmobile trails where you are chewing up the trail, without digging into the dirt, but i just can't see that happening with your warm weather

up top in the middle of winter i rarely hit dirt, or rocks but if studs are hard on the carcass would that make the teraflex better???, i was also thinking a 14 or 16 cup paddle but dont know if itl hold up?
i just want to be able to go farther than my friends(i prolly can without any studs, but want to go circles round them) , so im after max straight line traction
i never rode on ice, im on the same trails as summer, but maybe ill try it this winter

all my winter riding i never did anything to my tires, didnt even have tread left,
i started riding before kindergarten and right till i got my 500 4 months ago i only EVER had 1 new front and 1 new rear, so im pretty good at keeping the bike under me

what about front tires, i noticed my carlsbad would roll wet snow up like a blanket over the tire and sometimes it wouldnt even spin, just plow thru
im thinking a soft terrain tire with rainX sprayed on it, dont really want to try a ski
i was thinking this bridgestone m101

or this IRC M1A

or Kings KT-921

The paddles would be good for chewing up groomed, hard packed snowmobile trails... the sled heads might be angry with you
Stud (screws) the paddles, and use one like a viper or dominator, with a big chunk of rubber at the end of the paddle, one that handles hill climbs will be better for screws than a pure sand paddle. I would go like 14 or even more paddles for snow, it won't power down like in sand.
This will give you the most snow moving traction.

If its got only a few inches of snow, and frozen dirt below, get the trelleborgs.
I suppose a guy could cleat a street tire, so it has no knobs, just cleats and maybe woody's picks (sled studs) that would be a mean tire.
I would use a specific tire like a pirrelli diablo strada.
These street radials have steel cords, and very strong carcass...

here is one i wore out!
The rubber compound sucked on these tires, but they carcass proved very durable.... I rode the bike home 25 km with it worn like this, and it finally lost air on the last 1-2 km!





I would use cleats and woody's picks , no knobs, I would use a smaller tire because its going to grow lots with all the metal in it, approx 1" -1.5" taller and wider from the hardware.

Just remember, you want the rear to slip enough and predictably so you can still steer the bike, rear steer that is.....

The trelli's suck in comparision to a screw tire, with the good cold cutters tall screws, but the screws get dull fast in dirt,

seanmx57 wrote:I'm drooling over a set of MF44 tires for the lake next to the house, trelliborg for the rest of it

I hear ya... $1500 worth the tires....

I suppose a guy could cleat a street tire, so it has no knobs, just cleats and maybe woody's picks (sled studs) that would be a mean tire.

thats a damm good idea, ill have to see where i can get sled cleats

i think ill end up trying everything except trellys because of thr price

2strokeforever wrote:

I suppose a guy could cleat a street tire, so it has no knobs, just cleats and maybe woody's picks (sled studs) that would be a mean tire.

thats a damm good idea, ill have to see where i can get sled cleats

i think ill end up trying everything except trellys because of thr price

not sure,
a while back I found a box of old cleats, 3/4 the width of those pictured, but 2x's as wide,

check out some of the old sled shops in your area maybe.
I am sure some older guy will know who made them,

I tried google for 1 hr today with shit luck.
LMK tho, I would buy a box, I think I will do the street and cleat for my all around tire this year, and set of MF44 specific for ice only.

I guess I have been calling cleats, what they call studs,
the picture wioth the square cleat looking devices are still called track studs..

anyway here is a link to tci imports catalogue for snow traction products.
http://www.transcanimports.com/download ... sories.pdf

kimpex has a good selection of the standard picks

completly off topic, but has anyone ran a trials tire on a 500? i ride with someone(KTM200) who uses one and swears by it, but does it work for the 500? all the riders that like them seem to ride smaller bikes, is there a reason for that?

2strokeforever wrote:completly off topic, but has anyone ran a trials tire on a 500? i ride with someone(KTM200) who uses one and swears by it, but does it work for the 500? all the riders that like them seem to ride smaller bikes, is there a reason for that?

actually there are a few guys around Kamloops that like the trials tire.
One is named Cam, on kxriders.com, and he has ridden kx500 forever...
he swears by them trials tires.. I think hardpack dirt, and rocks it probably can't be beat.



in the old days we studded dirt track tires, not knobbies