[Ayoub]

Hey guys, I’m a beginner on MX I used to ride in my young age and now coming back after 15 years. I have a 2012 CRF250 I used to ride in Florida which is sandy and now I’m going up to the Montreal area for the summer and bringing the bike. I need to change the rear tire since it going bold and I don’t know what kind of terrain is up there and what type of tire should I buy? Now I have a GEO MAX 100/90-19. Any suggestions will be Much appreciated. Thanks!

[JimDirt]

Welcome to the site !!

To be honest , you cant go wrong with a Dunlop MX33 Soft/Intermediate , it is the main tire I use after the original tire wore out quickly , I use it for sand , loam , hard pack , wet , or dry dirt , it actually works very well in just about all soil types and conditions , and it lasts forever , .... the tire you listed is not the model of the tire , All Dunlop are Geomax , the designation would be like MX3S , or MX53 or MX33 , or AT81 , so look for something like that on the tire , that will tell you what you have , it will usually be 2 letters followed by 2 numbers , like my examples above ......

My 2020 450R came stock with a MX3S , and it was sketchy at best , I had zero confidence in that tire after the "new" wore off in about 3 hours , then it was dangerous to try to go fast without feeling like you were going to lose the front end , or just crash at any moment , especially in corners , it was toast and worn down and rounded in about 10 hours , I have had the MX33 on there since , it has 64.3 hours on the bike and all but 10 of those hours is on the MX33 , it is my go to tire for just about anywhere , prior to that I preferred the Michelin Starcross Medium on my old bike , but this Dunlop outlasts and tractions it by a long shot .... if I go to a real deep sandy track , I sometimes use a Michelin Starcross 5 Soft , but the MX33 I can really use everywhere without worries about traction or wear , I ride pretty much every weekend or more if I can , and the track where I ride will put any tire to the test , it is a mixture of clay , sand and hard pack , with square edge holes , loose powder , deep sand , sometimes wet , usually dry , and rough , with G-outs and off camber areas , and this is by far the best tire I have used period in the 12 years I have been riding at this track , I would not hesitate to go to any track anywhere with that tire regardless of the soil type or conditions .

Hopefully that helps give you some guidance .... ..... Oh , and I am going on 62 in a couple months , and I was away for several years myself from the late 70's to around 2005 due to a broken back (3 times , but only once from riding and that was on the street , the other 2 were work related) , then came back , and got seriously injured , was off for another year healing and rehabbing (broken neck 09), came back , got injured again (broken wrist 2016) and dealing with other serious medical conditions (heart attack ,cancer, and a few other issues 2017/18) , and have not stopped riding since , I am almost back up to speed again ..... Advice ... Don't try to keep up with the guys that have been riding all along , do what you feel comfortable doing and work your way up , you will get it back up to speed and confidence , but let it come to you , don't force it , or it will bite you hard ... Trust me on this ... and wear a pile of protective gear (body armor that covers my Back , Chest , Shoulders , Elbows ,Forearms ,Kidney Belt , knee guards , wrist braces and oddly no neck brace because it restricts my minimal neck movement too much) ... Dress to crash and try not to ...

[Ayoub]

Before I say thank you I want to congratulate you for the will you have and still have going through everything in life and I hope you’re feeling better now. Thank you much for the suggestion I missed to put MX 33 that’s what I have so I will go ahead and get a spare before I head up there which is next week, I started riding motorcycle since the age of 8 then got into MX at the age of 16 but where I come from originally there was no one to mentor you or guide you I didn’t know better either nor my father with any bike experience so I bought a 1994 CR 250, rode it for few months learning by myself how to corner and go through whoops then jumps little by little (never cleared a jump then) then I said ok I’m gonna start my first race.... pre race day, went up a hill full speed the bike and I went nose down broke my clavicle ended up in the hospital hahahah but the love of bikes was too strong to stop me... actually it’s 18 years later I bought the 2012 CRF 250 I first went to sandlot in Florida they have a nice beginner track but I have no one to ride with the fort jump intimidated me I went around it and little by little I started hitting it but still I need to ride with more people to build up speed and confidence it’s nice to ride with friends and have guidance

[JimDirt]

Do like I said , and you will do fine , when you get to your destination , watch others , watch their speed approaching jumps , listen to their engine when jumping , they should be (especially with a 4 stroke as the engine braking inertia makes the bike tilt forwards and backwards depending on throttle input , let off the gas , bike tilts down in front , give it gas , bike tilts back) keeping the throttle steady on the jump face/ramp, you can regulate (on larger jumps) throttle input to adjust pitch , as well as pulling in the clutch and gently tapping the brake to adjust pitch (you don't hold on the brake , just tap it till your pitch starts to change , you will get the feel for what it does) .... there are tons of videos out there on the correct way to jump and how to correctly get the bike angled after take off and to land correctly , but the most important lessen , is start small , perfect the smaller jumps before ever attempting a larger jump .....

I am comfortable with 10-40 ft jumps , anything more and I either won't do them , or will only do them if I am comfortable in knowing it is a smooth transition on the downface , as steep landings suck because you have to time it perfectly , but I am old and don't heal like I did when I was 20 , actually , I don't heal like I did when I was 50 either , and honestly , I don't need to jump to be fast , you go faster on the ground then you do in the air ....there is a old saying , jump for show , corner for dough , , in other words , the guy that will be out front is the guy that can fly thru a corner faster than anyone else , as well as the rest of the track , the guy that whips and shows off is trying to impress someone more than trying to win the race (this is in the amateur class , Pro's can do it and still go faster than most)

But the key is do NOT ride over your comfort level and you should be fine ... as your confidence increases , you ability will follow ...

And as I am sure you know , that tire works really well and holds up for a long time , so you should do fine with it ...

[Ayoub]

Thank you so much for the advice Jim! You’re the best!! Maybe we can ride when I’m up there? I’ll be in Mercier but if you have time I would love to to ride with you and learn more from you! If it’s possible Ofcourse, I’ll PM you my number

[JimDirt]

Yea , but you will be on the wrong coast , I am in Idaho , west coast just below Canada (I was born in Ontario ,Canada) , but have lived in Idaho for about 30 or so years now ...(I moved here in 89 from even farther southwest) , last time I was in Canada I was 14 , so its been a while .... but if you make it to Southwest Idaho in your travels , sure I would ride with you no problem ...

[JimDirt]

Here is a little video from last weekend , I am pretty much cruising around most of the time so my friend can keep up , I get a few little spurts of fun in , but if I keep it up , he gets discouraged if I pull away too much , and he is 10 years younger than me ... ... But the point is , this is with the MX33 and it is pretty much toast after 50+ hours of this track that is not maintained unless I do it in the spring when the track has moisture after the snow melts , then in a few weeks it turns to this dust bowl .... But anyway , you will see , the tire works great in these poor conditions with loose dry sand , hard pack and chop , even worn badly it will still pull hard out of corners , as you will see in the video ....

[Aussiecrf230]

Golf courses.
Golf courses look much smoother than that and some of the best undulating ground around.

[JimDirt]

Ray ... You are aware that Golf Courses would make perfect MX tracks right ??? , I think it should be mandatory that all golf courses allow people to ride their dirt bikes on them .....daily ...

And yes , this track is rough , it does not allow for much rest , and when you are done you know you were riding ...