Best tires for desert with rocks

[TunedPerforman]

I have about 40hrs on my stock tires and they are shot! I was looking for info on what will be the best for desert riding with a lot of rocks!!!

[bearair]

We're running Kenda Knarlys on both my 400ex and my wife's 250ex. They are fantastic in the desert. We're running 22" on both of them. That's stock diameter on the 250, and adds 1" of ground clearance on the 400. The Knarlys also can be had in 20" diameter, but we have a LOT of large rocks where we ride.

After riding on them for almost 2 months I can highly recommend them for desert terrain. They stick like glue to rocks, get good bite on hard terrain as well as in the loose stuff, and are wearing fantastic. They are a bit heavier than stock as they are a 6 ply tire. I dropped from a 14 to a 13 on the front sprocket and dropped my rear preload a bit to bring the rear end down slightly at the frame. My wife raves about what a difference they made to handling on her bike, but I attribute a lot of it to the fact that they are a flat profile tire. The stockers on the 250ex are basically balloons that make for a narrow wheelbase.

I've heard good things from other local riders about the Razr XC tire also. Haven't ridden them yet so can't say firsthand. They were out of stock a couple months ago when we ordered the Kendas.

[TunedPerforman]

Thanks for the info!, Where did you order them from. I just looked at rockymountainatv and couldn't find either specific tire. It sounds like we ride the same area hemmingway.

[Blstr88]

I second the Kenda Knarlys...there arent any deserts on the east coast here but they've always been great for me on my YFZ and I mostly ride in loose packed sand pits...definitely a good tire. I run the 20s though

[bearair]

Rocky Mountain is showing out of stock for the Knarly XC in 22". They're also showing only the 22x11x9 and 21x11x9 sizes. Expected in stock date is July 7th. Thought there was a 20" selection last time I looked. The 21's would probably be a good choice also and they are in stock. Part number is 1121800001

There is a Kenda Knarly (non XC) with a slightly different tread pattern that's still for rocky terrain. They are available in 18, 20 and 22" sizes. The XC tire is just the latest version of it. They show in stock for the Knarly on Rocky Mountain. Part number is 1054620001 for the 20".

We ride down by Murphy and the Silver City road quite a bit also. We like to go back in the hills behind Tiddie Creek and up to the Black Mountain area. ROUGH country.

[TunedPerforman]

Thanks again, I'm going to put in my order!!:D