Well of coarse Ryan. Thanks for giving me something to ramble about too! :woo_hoo:
I have had several sets of tires on my quad. Started of coarse with the factory tires. Factory tires are fine, if your after top end speed or using it around the yard. Matter of fact they are actually better if your going to use it around the yard. Turning an atv with wide giant tires with giant lugs will ruin a yard in a hurry. They are made to tear stuff up and do!
Factory tires are fine for street riding, they are light and have thin sidewalls. Not so good for trailer riding. I send a railroad spike clean threw the sidewall on one of my factory tires one time. About 6 miles of hard hill climbing to get back to the truck too. I have never road on a factory tire since. :no:
Ok now this could get long. :sleep:
First new set I went with was the ever famous ITP Blackwater's very nice tires but not super aggressive. They perform well in snow and rocks though so that makes a good all around tire for street and for someone like yourself that would likely be using them in the snow and ice. Blackwater's have some of the highest traction rating on snow that any atv tire made has. I stayed with the factory height on my first set but went wider. Wide tires keep you from sinking in the sand that we ride is a lot so they was a must have.
Now days I am running just stupid big tires on it. 26/10x12 on the front (Which many don't run for rears even) and 26/13x12 Rears. Plus I have 2 1/2" Wheel spacers all the way around it so the machine has an extremely wide stance. Very nice on those steep off camber hills. The tire I am running now is a generic version of the ITP Mudlite. The only reason I didn't buy the ITP is these generic had a deeper lug. This tire is about unstopable in the mud, I have pulled out more machines than I can count but it has its downfall's too. Very heavy steering when you get in the deep stuff is one. Plus my quad is only a 400cc and by putting wheel spacer and those giant tires on it you can start to feel it being a tad short on power in the really deep stuff. It has a lot of tire to try and turn over. The main thing I like about my new ones though is the tires toughness. I hard 6 ply compound. I can take the valce stems completely out and ride that thing around all day. Yeah under a load they will flex but they are so tough under normal riding that they need no air. Good to know if you tear a sidewall on the trail.
As you can tell its kinda of a natural progression. You have one set and it is fine. Then you get another and man it is tons better. Then you get them stuck and get an even bigger set until you get to the point that when you do get stuck it takes 2 winches and a tractor to pull it out.
Now that's wheelin!!!! :D ;)
That's about all I got for now. If I was you and wasn't gonna do real hard core rock climbing or muddin. I'd buy me a set of blackwaters and love them.