Shinko Trail Pro 255 = CRAP

I posted a few weeks ago that I finally got around to mounting a trials tire onto my XR.  Everybody raves about these trials tires for dual sport bikes.  Ok to be fair, the one everyone runs is a Pirelli, but I have a 19" rear wheel and the Pirelli only comes in an 18".  So my only option was to run a Shinko Trail Pro 255 which I mounted with a Tubeliss at the same time.

I was skeptical.  After a few miles on asphalt I didn't really like it -  constantly felt like it was flat.  But offroad whoa...I felt like I was riding on one of those velcro walls with a velcro tire.  It was nuts how grippy this thing was.  In 25 miles of dirt I was hooked - trial tires are awesome!    Eventually I started to get used to the feeling of them on the road so even there they started to grow on me.


But then today happened.  I was in my garage and noticed my rear tire was flat.  The tubeliss was still pressurized but when I tried to put air in the tire I could hear it rushing out.  Checked the tread and found several cracks where the lugs met the tire body.

Turns out those cracks go all the way through and this tire is now trash.  The best part is:  they lasted all of 250 miles...


I was running 15psi on dirt and 22psi on road.  Maybe that's not the right pressure for these I don't know.  The sidewall says the max pressure is 33psi so I think I was well withing range.


Shinko's website says all warranty claims have to be made through the dealer where the tire was purchased.  So I'll put in my call to RMATV tomorrow and hope for a credit towards a tire that's not made out of recycled chewing gum, but I've already left a 1 star review for this turd.