IRC TR-011 - Dirt Bike Motorcycle Tire Review

IRC Tire
TR-011

I don't know who started it, but I'm copying. I have friends from Hawaii to Idaho to Michigan running trials tires on their dirt bikes, most of whom stick with them once they switch, so I had to give it a try. I chose the least expensive trials tire, the $115 IRC TR-011, for a workout. The tire, which is made for tubeless applications, has an extremely soft sidewall and some really gooey rubber, which you would think wouldn't last very long in the slide and shred trail riding world. In actuality, the sidewall is a harder rubber in IRC's dual-compound, radial-construction design. The age-old square-block design looks like nothing special.

I was shocked once I began riding with the tire on the rear of a Yamaha WR250F. First, it didn't do anything funny, especially in the turns where I thought it would be much more prone to sliding out. Second, in deep sand the tire grips and pulls as good as any normal knobby. It doesn't have "moments" like a true sand tire does, yet it pulls consistently at any power level or wheel speed, spinning or gripping. In fact, the biggest thing about this tire is that the grip stays consistent all the time on any surface, and the slower the wheel is spinning, the better the traction is regardless of surface. The other thing the tire does, when run at pressures between 12 and 15 psi, is have great bump absorption, making the rear suspension feel even plusher. The TR does wallow around, which is noticeable on pavement, especially when it heats up. We ran it on our gnarliest trails, and it performed as well as any tire we've run, noticeably in, yes, you've guessed it, trials-like stuff. It even did great on a two-day, higher-speed Baja ride. The tire seemed less prone to spinning from a stop or when getting going on a steep incline, which means it is good for the trails, too.

Durability is really good, considering the soft rubber. It has outlasted regular knobbies by approximately 50 percent. If there were any disadvantages to this tire, they are present when braking. If you skid the rear wheel, it tends to slide more and bite less, hence in racing conditions it may not be a good choice. You can also melt the knobs off the center of the tire in extended high-speed riding with a low (8 psi or less) pressure. But for my trailbike, I'll be running a trials tire for sure, beginning with this IRC. -Jimmy Lewis