Dangers Of Riding On The Street With Off Road Knobbies

[TLRick]

I have a DRZ-400S which I use to commute to work with. I went off roading today so I opted to put on the Michelin

S-12 "Not For Highway Use" Tires on for the mud. Besides going into turns fast when the pavement is wet which I heard is not advisable, how dangerous is it to use these for my everyday street use? ?

[426F]

My shoulder is still not 100% from a crash about 7 months ago. Knobbies + pavement + need to stop quick = CRASH!!!! I would have to advise not to do it from personal experience.

[ba10]

Jason, I see that you have a fire fighters emblem; I assume that you are one. How do you like it? My son will be graduating from fire cadet program in a week and is pretty geeked about it. Just like to know your thoughts?

[EnviousDRZ]

I have a DRZ-400S which I use to commute to work with. I went off roading today so I opted to put on the Michelin

S-12 "Not For Highway Use" Tires on for the mud. Besides going into turns fast when the pavement is wet which I heard is not advisable, how dangerous is it to use these for my everyday street use? ?

Ride slower than normal and give yourself extra space. Watch the brake and throttle, on good grab of either will ruin those tires, or they did mine atleast.

[MrBlahh]

. Knobbies + pavement + need to stop quick = CRASH!!!!

I can do stoppies on pavement with knobbies, just like my street bike.

I can feel the knobbies start to slide when I turn or brake hard, but they still grip good

now if it's wet, watch out, they loose traction lots faster than a good street tire

[MotoChris521]

I only run mx tires on my dual-sport bikes.Yes they have less taction on the street.But they have total traction off road.I 'd rather be able to steer around a rock/ditch/rut in the dirt than play road racer on the street.IMHO. ?

[Squidward]

Non dot means nothing. My IRC M5B/D756 combo grips tarmac just fine. The benefits of dirt vs the sacrifices on street are well worth it, imo.

[MrGadget]

I had those tires on my XR400 and rode around town just fine. You wouldn't catch me riding a motorcycle on the street in the rain no matter what tires it had though. Those knobby tires made a cool HOWWWWWWL noise on the pavement.

Did you get them balanced? Mine weren't balanced and I noticed a little speed wobble on the highway.

[wickedsprint]

They work fine onthe street if you don't get too stupid. As to not riding in the rain...ok...must be nice to have that nice of weather...in college I only had a motorcycle and pretty much rode rain everyday...just get a good parka.

[Halfcab76]

I have a DRZ-400S which I use to commute to work with. I went off roading today so I opted to put on the Michelin

S-12 "Not For Highway Use" Tires on for the mud. Besides going into turns fast when the pavement is wet which I heard is not advisable, how dangerous is it to use these for my everyday street use? ?

I have no problem with quality knobbies on paved mountain roads, and love the sharp twister's. Water, pavement, and knobbies, is when I have a problem. Only my rear tire is DOT.

We have found that cheep knobbies will hurt you on the street, most have no support for the knobs, even if DOT rated.

[Rodzilla]

Just something to think about..

If you are running non-DOT tires and are in an accident, it may be a loophole for your insurance to deny your claim.

That said I run knobbies on my bike too. ?

[Halfcab76]

Just something to think about..

If you are running non-DOT tires and are in an accident, it may be a loophole for your insurance to deny your claim.

That said I run knobbies on my bike too. ?

Good point...but I belive you would only get a ticket. It will depend a lot on, who, what, when and where. ?

[Chorbelt]

I don't have any particular issues running knobbbies on the street (Kenda Millvilles) but I don't commute daily. Isn't the s-12 a soft tire? I would be more concerned with the fact that they will wear very quick if you put a lot of street miles on them.

[velosapiens]

Isn't the s-12 a soft tire? I would be more concerned with the fact that they will wear very quick if you put a lot of street miles on them.

the s12 is a 'soft conditions' tire, which normally means a harder rubber compound, and they wear quite well for most people (including me). in contrast, a harder condition tire should be a softer rubber, to grip on the hard surface, and should wear more quickly.

mw

[Ccarl]

Got em on my KLX, stopping seems to be a little worse, but i still like em for when i hit off road!!! Wet also isnt the best, but oh well, better than DEATH WINGS!!! what came on my KLX

[NOR_CAL_WR]

I would not even consider those tires for street use! My bike is not street legal but I have gone short distances on the road running S-12's and it felt like I was riding on mush. They were brand new at the time and being a soft compound tire they gave too much around corners for my liking. Plus when you brake those soft knobs really give. Now that they have worn down a little they are not as bad but I would pick another tire personally

[WoodButcher]

I've got m12's on my S model and ride on the street all the time. Time to get tbe bike inspected and I'm going to go with DOT knobbies this time. I am much more careful on wet pavement, but they are all I've ever used on this bike (a week with deathwings). My plan was to ride them till they were worn out and put DOT's on and I have timed that about perfectly. They are ready and the inspection expires this month.

[Halfcab76]

Isn't the s-12 a soft tire? I would be more concerned with the fact that they will wear very quick if you put a lot of street miles on them.

the s12 is a 'soft conditions' tire, which normally means a harder rubber compound, and they wear quite well for most people (including me). in contrast, a harder condition tire should be a softer rubber, to grip on the hard surface, and should wear more quickly.

mw

Vary true ?

[TLRick]

Awesome INFO. Thanks for everyone's opinion. It really helps a lot. ?

[twoblackbelts]

Are they Full-Race knobbies? ? :cry: