Shinko 244 Series Dual Sport Universal Tire

Just installed the tire. Looks great, just as I expected. It is cold here in Idaho. I don't expect to get to try the tire for at least another month. Far too soon to tell about tire life, handling or traction.

-m-2016--

My grip and handling ratings are mainly for off-road use.
My on-road use is limited to riding approx. 15 miles from home to the trail head at relatively low speeds (under 50 MPH).
The off-road grip and handling is nowhere near full knobbies.

So far, I really like this tire. Good value, good handling, great for dirt and paved roads.

-m-2000 KAWASAKI KLR650--

I installed a set on my KLR650. The rear was a bear to spoon on but both went on without issues. I've done about 5k mi on them so far. The rear is showing significant wear and has about 30% life left. The front is showing 80-90% life left. They felt floaty at first, but I either got used to it, or they broke in well.
I've done 15% serious twisties, 70% city/hwy commuting, and 15% gravel/single track.
The front washed out once, but that might have been my technique. At >5000mi a set, this will be my go-to general use dualsport tire of choice.

-m-2007 KAWASAKI KLR650--

I bought these tires based on tread pattern and friends comments. Mounted them this week and it’s rained every day. Today the sun was out, I call a friend and told him I wanted to try out my new tires. We rode 100+ miles today a mix of dirt, gravel, single track and one trail that was on his property that hadn’t been ridden in months. This tire is wonderful, even in the slick slimy stuff, it performs. He was running pirelli knobby Dot’s and at times he was struggling for traction! I had great traction.

-m-2006 SUZUKI DR-Z 400S--

I really like these tires I got front and rear , they've held up great probably have 100 miles on then and hardly worn

Tire was easy to mount. Size is smaller width wise than OEM tire. Brand name was different than what I was buying. This came as a cheap Chinese tire. I put it on the bike to sell. It felt somewhat squirrelly in gravel roads. I don’t think I would buy this again.

These tires are an incredible value. I honestly wasn't expecting much for less than $100 bucks for set of tires. I spooned them on and was pleasantly suprised. They make some noise on hard surfaces like any off road tire will do. They do handle twisty pavement pretty well but they really shine in the loose dirt and mud. If you ride more than 50% of your miles on the pavement, I recommend a different tire. These tires do not have a directional tread pattern. I spent a long time looking for a rotation direction arrow. I highly recommend these tires.

-m-2006 SUZUKI DR650SE--

As others have said you can't beat this tire for value and performance. Mounting is a breeze. This tire is very playable. Grip is great except in wet and muddy conditions or very loose and dry dirt or sand.
On road they are smooth, quiet and grip well. On hardback and rocky terrain this tire will surprise you with how well it grips.
Comparing to my kenda trackmaster which is basically a full knobby. This tire holds its own and wears much better. The only time I prefer the kenda is in muddy or loose conditions.

-m-1991--

I have 2500 miles on this tire now. It seem to wear about the same as any other dual sport tire. It all depends on how you ride.
Seem to have good traction on the street. Really good on dirt and gravel roads. Has a howl at freeway speeds, but over all a good tire.
Ride on!!

-m-1999 SUZUKI DR650SE--

Best bang for the buck dual sport tire out there. Love these things...great performance and life....at a much cheaper price than other brands.

I'd recommend this, seems like a decent tire, so far its handled the pavement, back roads, and 1 trail without issue. Haven't had it very long but happy with it. Not as meaty as a Dunlop 606, but for the price and my riding I'm very happy to stick with Shinko again. R

-m-2012 SUZUKI DR650SE--

Cheap and seams to grip well on the street. Limited off road use so far.

To start, I ride in Arizona on a KLR 650. I ride probably 50/50 hard gravel to pavement. My riding style is aggressive, well as aggressive as one can be on a KLR.
I have had 2 rears and I am still on my front. I consistently get 2000 miles out of a rear, NOTHING more, my front has 5000 and counting. Probably plan to change it at 6000 miles. On the front it was 2000 dirt, 3000 pavement. For dirt trails and gravel roads, I recommend these over the Shinko 805. They have much better grip in braking and overall traction.

-m-2011 KAWASAKI KLR650--

These are my go to tires for dual sport use, they offer the comprise for road and dirt use in my opinion and you cannot beat the value. I have used them on everything from DRZ's, KLR's and my current DR650. You can run them at higher pressures for road and still hook up well due to the softer compound. The side walls are also very flexible and make trail side tire repair easy.

-m-2005 SUZUKI DR650SE--

These are hard to beat for the price. Are there better tires for dirt/mud? Yes. Are there better street tires? Yes. But these are very hard to beat for 50/50 tires that have very good longevity and are very competent at both off road and street usage. Sure, you could spend more money to get "better" tires, but why? These just work. My only complaint is they are a little noisy on the road, but that's the nature of the beast with this style tire.

-m-2013 SUZUKI DR650SE--

Haven’t used these yet, but bought them for the price. Seem to be exactly what I was looking for.

bought the 3.0 front and back on a 1967 Honda trail 90. the front fit but I wish I had bought the 2.5. the 3.0 on the rear is prefect. will buy again on my next trail.

-m-1970 HONDA CT90 Trail--

Several friends run this tire we’ve all had good luck and it’s a great value.

Have not been off road with them yet but smooth and quiet on the street. Will update when I get off road.

-m-2015 KTM 300 XC-W Six Days--

After 500 miles in the Arizona desert still looks and works good. Much better than Kenda it replaced good off road and on road too, but on KLR250 so not over powered at all, a bigger bike may wear it faster, but I am very happy with the tire especially at the price.

-m-2002 KAWASAKI KLR250--

All around great tire for the money. Can’t comment on long term use but, i have used shinko tires before and have had great luck.

-m-1993 KAWASAKI KLR650--

Exactly what I expected. Very smooth on the road and performed excellent on the few dirt roads I’ve been down so far. Only have about 300 miles on them so far thanks to this lovely New England weather so I can’t rate the tread life just yet. Would definitely recommend.

-m-2001 SUZUKI DR-Z 400S--

Changed supermoto tires to dirt tires. They have plenty of traction plus ride well on the street.

Drastic improvement over what I was running. They are much better off road than I expected and other than a little road noise are great on the pavement also.

-m-2015 HONDA CRF250L--

Put these on my KLR 650 and rode it like a sport bike, you can lay in the curves with no issues. And of course no problems off road or on gravel. Just chugs along. Would recommend these tires any day.

-m-2008 KAWASAKI KLR650--

Put a set of these on my klr650. I ride mostly hard pack roads and some pavement. They perform great. When I find myself in some sand or mud they hold their own and will get you home. Exactly what I wanted at this price point.

-m-2006 KAWASAKI KLR650--

Works good for what I need. Price is right

-m-2005 SUZUKI DR-Z 400S--

these are my second set of tires. they work great on and off road. handeling is really good on the pavement feel like street tires and the tread is more than enough for most trail riding,,they will handle a little mud but not like a motocross tire will. havent seen anything were i ride they want handle ..will be buying more oh and i have them installed on a 250 dual sport and very happy with them..thnanks AAA+++

-m-2017 HONDA--

I have bought two sets of these for my 2016 KLR650. The first set lasted about 5200 miles. I am using IRC heavy duty tubes and Dyna Beads to balance (one ounce front, two ounces in the rear). I ride my bike to work once in awhile but my rides are probably close to 50% dirt.These tires do pretty good on the street and highway; I'm not a speed demon but I like twisties! Pretty predictable for as far I'm going to learn the bike over. Braking is predictable. I did experience some cupping on the front, but it wasn't horrible. The tires seemed to get a bit louder as they wore down, new they're fairly quiet. I didn't experience any chunking. I have been running 24 psi front and rear on the street.

Off road these 244's are a huge improvement of the stock Dunlops. They're pretty good in Arizona rocks and hard packed surfaces and do ok in all but the softest surfaces. I don't ride much in mud (especially deep mud). I don't think they're not the best for deep mud or deep sand. I still haven't settled on a best air pressure for off road use.

These tires are an incredible value! Two new tires for under a $100 with free shipping is awesome! The best tires are new tires, so get ya a set.

-m-2016 KAWASAKI KLR650--

I decided on this set based on two things 1) Price 2) Recommendations from friends. I have only had them for three rides. I have given them a pretty good all around test. Sure footing on the pavement, Solid traction in the loose dirt and gravel, and as reasonable as can be expected in some sloppy muddy forest service roads. It will be interesting to see how long the tread lasts. At this point with a wide basis test I would definitely recommend. They seem to be a solid tire and an extremely good value.

-m-2008 HONDA XR650L--

Just like a dual sport bike, it's not the best at anything but it is just good. Can't beat the price. The ordering and shipping were flawless. I will buy this product again

-m-2010 KAWASAKI KLX250S--

Good overall tire, but if you truly ride 50/50 I would recommend something with a little more bite.

-m-2008 KAWASAKI KLR650--

this is a really nice tire at a great price thanks to Rocky Mount ATV for shipping out properly

-m-2004 SUZUKI DR-Z 400S--

After buying shinko before for my KTM and not being pleased , i was willing to try out their dual purpose tire for my non performance based bike TW 200, For a dual purpose tire the knob height is almost the same as a full moto hard terrain tire with very close knob spacing, you get a little knobbie thump at low speeds on pavement ,but offers good off road traction / DOT tire with a more rounded profile that works good on pavement.Tire is heavy & thick . No rating on tread life as i am using the little TW 200 for trail upkeep . I think it it a very good priced tire & recommend it for TW owners who want a cheaper but aggressive D/P front tire. I used the 5:10x 18
-m-YAMAHA--

I put it on my Suzuki DRZ400 that I use as a road bike. Road traction has been fine and off-road it has done OK, but I haven't really put it to much of an off-read test. I am not looking forward to pulling that bike out of the mud if it gets stuck.

-m-2006 SUZUKI DR-Z 400S--

These have lots of grip on the street, a little unpredictable in the dirt. They hook until they don't, and then they get pretty wild.

I was nervous about buying a "dual sport" tire for my street legal KTM 350 XCF-W, but the grip is great on the road and surprisingly well in the dirt/mud/rocks I ride, the rear more so than the front. The front wants to wash out in loose stuff if you are going hard. I only have about 1k miles on them, but seem to be holding up well.

-m-2014 KTM 350 XCF-W--

I normally go with the Kenda k270 but I was told that these tires are a really good cheaper version and man oh man but these on my 08 KLR650 and was blown away took them in the dirt they never left me wanting more traction on my way back from playing in the dirt as a torrential downpour tons of traction on wet pavement highly impressed by these inexpensive tires I've only had these tires about a week now so I can't really rate the life on these tires

-m-2008 KAWASAKI KLR650--

The front Shinko 244 I had mounted to my Yamaha XT225 caused a disturbing and dangerous wobble at speeds above 55 mph. It's a dual sport tire, so I'd expect better. Lowered tire pressure and adjusted suspension, that helped a little bit, managed to get up to 57 mph without dangerous headshake. I ended up swapping for a Shinko 705 on the front. Would not recommend if you're planning on doing any highway driving.

Bought to replace the front tire for my new to me KLR. Traction, durability, and handling are great so far (about 2,000 miles) but this tire does create quite a bit of road noise. Plus the tire says it's only for up to 75 mph which is a bit disconcerting, but I've had no problems going over that speed.

-m-2014 KAWASAKI KLR650--

I like these tires as a general tire. A trials tire or knobby work better on dirt and mud, but give you pucker on the street. These work pretty well in the dirt, mud, rocks, but work well on the street also. I've had several of these tires, they're a good value and work pretty well.

-m-2010 YAMAHA WR250R--

Mud, dirt, rocks, gravel, pavement, the 244 eats it all. I have it mounted on a TW200 and it is a significant improvement over the stock rubber. I've not logged many miles as yet, so I can't speak to their longevity. But, for the price, I'm not very concerned.

Put these on a plated XR400. So far so good. About 1200 miles, mostly Street and don't see any real wear. Seem to stick to the pavement pretty well, also, when I lean it over. Only been on a few trails and gravel. Not enough to have opinion yet. Didn't balance them, and I have a rim lock, but still don't notice any roughness even at 60mph. Overall, seems like a really good DOT tire, if you need that rating. May try something a little more aggressive next time, but for now these are great.

Put these on my XR650L. Ride 70% gravel and 30% pavement. Good tire for the cost. Tread life and performance is very good. These tires performed well on a long trip last summer where I covered over 3500 miles on rough roads.

-m-2013 HONDA XR650L--

This is my go to trip tire on my WR250r. Great tread life(over 5k)
Aired down on gravel, and harder surfaces the rear grips pretty well. No complaints on pavement grip. Skip the front, and run something more aggressive

Great tire for two tracks and gravel roads. Works well on pavement even when wet. In heavy deep sugar sand not so good tho. I will still use this tire as most of the time the deep sand is only a very small portion of where I ride. 3000 miles so far and holding up well. This is on a Honda XR650L which has been adventurized. Fairly heavy for the long haul.
Also used on an 03 KLR650 adventure. Both of these bike only see 15/20% pavement. Mostly dirt road,two track and ORV trail in Michigan
-m-2000 HONDA XR650L--

-m-2009 KAWASAKI KLX250S--

Pros: this tire is pretty nice on the road, good grip, no road noise, and seems to be pretty long wearing. on the dirt it grips pretty well in a straight line, I've surprised myself getting up some pretty stout (for my skills) hill climbs.

Cons: its a 50/50 tire, so a recent trip to ocotillo wells showed that the 244s don't give a lot of confidence when making turns on dirt, and likes to wander on sand.

-m-2003 SUZUKI DR-Z 400S--

Looks and rides good. Only had it for 1 week and only been on black top.