what tire size?

[esterelbanshee]

I ride mostly wooded trails and sand pits and want a taller rear tire but wouldnt a 22" be a bit tall considering the front is a stock size tire? I need the extra clearance for ruts but dont want the front to be taller than the rear or does it even matter?

[trail rider]

some people say it does matter if the rear is bigger than the front tire that it will handle funny. if you are going to go with some tall rear tires, I would suggest getting some taller front tires as well, like 23's or 22's at the least. that way it wont look like a tractor, and you will gain a couple inches of ground clearance too. what kind of tires did you have in mind?

[Whyzedtwofiveoh]

Well, if you don't mind your bike looking goofy i run 23 inch rear mud lights and 23 inch goodyear fronts. It works really good, you have alot of clearance for ruts, rocks and mud. It just looks retarded. Im going down to some 20s in rear and 21s in the front though, just because i can't stand the look.

[Pasi S.]

I have 23" fronts and 22" rears. Maxxis Razr 2. I use them in winter time. It´s not so bad I think.

 

 

Gearing is 13/42 with 22" rears.

 

-Pasi S.

Edited February 28, 2010 by Pasi S.

[esterelbanshee]

We get insane amounts of mud here in the spring so i was thinking about getting an Interco Vampire for mud but this tire would probably give me huge traction in snow as well. Is a 22" really a 22? Or is it a 21?

[peterlocal22]

i run 23 in front and 22 in rear,

love the set up

[Invader]

i run 23 in front and 22 in rear,

love the set up

x2

[Michael Jackson]

20" in the rear

22" up front

i wouldnt want bigger in the back than front, the bike would be nose heavy, harder to wheelie over obstacles, handle like an f150

Edited March 4, 2010 by Michael Jackson

[esterelbanshee]

A few of my buds here have Holeshots and tell me they're basically useless in our mud. Thats why they run Vampires in the spring. Gonna shop around a bit and see whats on sale

[MikeNick]

I run 22's in the front and 20's in the back..Seems to be a good combo atleast for me.I ride wooded trails, open fields and creek beds some...Also holeshots suck in muddy conditions..If you got mud like we do here in southern Ohio I'd get a set of MAXXIS Sur-Trak's or Vampires..I had Sur-Trak's that were 22x11x9 an they went well in the mud.

[lilmegill727]

22 front. 21/20 rear.

[vegas banshee]

i ran 22s in the rear and stocks up front and was fine.. dropped a tooth on the front sprocket for gearing but i think u should eventually get 23s up front too.. i just got rzr2s for the rear of my 450r and 23 itp track stars up front and the track stars are nice but really not as tall as i wanted..

[esterelbanshee]

I've been trying to score a set of Interco Vampires and nobody around here can get them for me but they can all get the SwampLite???? WTF. That tire doesnt even come in the right size so why even tell me that. Why would they be able to get one model but not another? I had no problems getting any Interco Swampers for my trucks so this seems really dumb. Just venting. I'm going to find some of course

[Michael Jackson]

I've been trying to score a set of Interco Vampires and nobody around here can get them for me but they can all get the SwampLite???? WTF. That tire doesnt even come in the right size so why even tell me that. Why would they be able to get one model but not another? I had no problems getting any Interco Swampers for my trucks so this seems really dumb. Just venting. I'm going to find some of course

 

the PA guys bought them all up and are hoarding them in their basements.

[Meat]

The majority of GNCC\XC racers use 21x7x10 up front and 20 inch rears on 9 inch rims. Depending on the track, some guys use 22's on the front. The smaller diameter the front tires, the better its supposed to handle. MX racers use even smaller 19 and 20 inch front tires, because the smaller the diameter, the better shee handles. The only benefit of the larger front tire sizes like 22 and 23 are the added ground clearance. Most racers prefer a better handling quad over any ground clearance gains. Bill Ballance won 9 consecutive GNCC Pro titles with 21's up front and 20's in the back. Same deal for Chris Borich and I think the majority of Pros use the 21-front, 20-rear setup. I realize we're not Pro GNCC racers, but GNCC racing is nothing more than trail riding.... trail riding to the extreme, and they seem to do fine with the 21-20 setup. If you've ever seen any pictures of the GNCC tracks, then you'll realize that if the racers use 20 inch rear tires on these GNCC tracks, the 20's will work fine on your trails.

 

IMO the big 22's on the rear suck when compared to a 20 inch size. The 20's are just more "sporty". They're lower, so its a hellava lot easier to slide the ass-end of the quad. And we all love to slide our quads around corners. 20's will out slide 22's every time.

 

The taller tires raise your frame higher off the ground so you get better ground clearance, but they also raise your center of gravity. Low center of gravity is preferred over a high center of gravity.

 

Taller tires also fuck with your gearing. Going up from 20 rears to 22 rears will cause your power to shift to the top end. You lose some ability to lug around tight trails but you gain some top overall speed. Desert racers run big 23's up front and 22's in the back for this reason. You don't need a tight handling quad for desert racing, you want ground clearance and a higher top speed. Top speed numbers are useless for 98% of us. Honestly how often are you riding trails WOT in 6th gear ? Now of course since the larger diameter rear tires increase your top speed and decrease your low end torque, you can counter this by re-gearing the quad.

 

Another bitch about 22's is the weight issue. Not only do the 22's weigh more, the weight is 'rotating mass'. The 22's will make your engine work harder to spin the heaver tire. The increased weight also plays a role in suspension action too. Your rear suspension will react better to lighter tires. I realize that we Banshee guys usually run the stock rear shock, and that rear shock was originally set up and tested to work with the stock 20 inch tires. The suspension deal is not a major issue, but its one more small nail in the coffin of 22 inch tires.

 

The only scenarios that I can think of that 22 rears are better than 20's would be snow riding and mud bogging. And the 21-front, 20-rear setup is the ideal setup for most sport quads, we all know the Banshee is a different kind of sport quad. The Banshee motor is explosive, hard hitting and sometimes a handful in tight trail situations. The bigger, heavier 22 inch rears, combined with the proper gearing should help tame some of that hard power hit.

 

Iv tried 22 rears in the past and I won't ever buy em again. Last year I bot a used set of 23 inch front Holeshot XCT tires and I won't be buying that size ever again either.