I guess my riding style might also be important. Primarily ride in eastern Tennessee. Brimstone, Wind Rock, and Royal Blue. I avoid the mud when possible. Usually ride fairly technical trials, good amount of rock and heavy ruts. My current top speed is about 55 mph and I rarely need to get there. Don't need to pop wheelies or plow through 3' mud holes. Just like making it back to the truck.

 

If you spend time in the rocks, and not much time trying to see how fast you can go, then 28" is the way to go with those 14" wheels. You can run them at 4-5 psi, right where you need it for the best ride and performance, without the worry of pinch flats. If you are considering a clutch kit already then 28's are the size you want, no doubt.

 

Bob, you da man. Your stellar reviews are the main reason I have decided on the HTRs. I know you prefer the feel of 28" tires on 14" wheels. Tell me this will I still get full movement through the suspension, without rubbing, with 28"? I don't tear up the trails all day long but if I get on easy trails, with water breaks to prevent erosion, I can spend some time airborne. Don't want tires smashing into plastics or anything else when I hit something hard. Just trying to be thorough before I pull the trigger.

 

Pick up a clutch kit and go for the 28s. Rubbing should be minimal if any.

 

Snap some pics when you get it all set up.

 

I had my Elka shocks set pretty soft on all four corners. The only time anything ever rubbed is when I had a full 4 gallons of gas in the rotopax on the front box, and landed hard on the front if I jumped a water bar. There is a little plastic tab that hangs down from the center of the front fender, and that is what the tire would rub on. Pretty sure that is the purpose of that tab, so the tire can't tear anything up if you land wrong like that. Doesn't hurt the tire or the plastic if you somehow manage to compress things that far. It keeps the tire from hitting anything else. Only hit it a couple of times, and never hit when I wasn't carrying the extra gas. Did it a couple of times when I had my 26.5" Rockers on, and one or two times with the 28" HTR's. A little more pre-load in the front springs would also have kept it from ever rubbing there.
That's the long answer. Short answer is, you don't have anything to worry about. :biglaugh:

 

Alright, I just ordered the 28". Will try to get some pictures when they show up and I get them mounted. Now is the time for everyone who thinks I should have gotten 26" to chime in and make me second guess my purchase, lol. Thanks for the input guys, I do appreciate it.

 

I'll be keeping an eye on this for pics when you get them on. That's the exact tire I want to put on my machine. I'm pretty sure that I will have to do the sway bar mod on mine to fit the rear tires, if I'm not mistaken. Either that or order a bar from a 2010. I also plan on staying with my stock wheels.

 

^ remove the bar!

 

Well, the Bearclaws were on the back porch when I got home last night and a QSC clutch kit was in the mailbox. I was able to sneak away from work today and get everything installed. Snapped a quick, before and after, cell phone picture. The first pic is the factory 26" Carlisle tires. Second is new 28" Kenda Bearclaw HTR.





Bob, I haven't gotten a chance to put her through her paces but the look is exactly what I was hoping for. 28" looks great on this size machine. It looks like I still have plenty of clearance around the tires, looks like nothing can rub. I REALLY love the additional ground clearance they give me. With the factory tires I had 10-¼" from the lowest point of my skid plates and the ground. The Kendas took it to a hair over 12". (the tires are overpressured right now, will prob lose a little when I drop them down to riding pressures?). Surprised me when I went to step-up on the machine and almost flipped over the other side when my foot didn't clear the footwell.

Don't know when I will get a chance to get her on a trail but around the farm the handling is much improved. My biggest complaint with the Carlisles was the way the tires would roll when cornering. No roll with the Kenda's. Had too much pressure in the tires to really comment on ride. They were much smoother than I was expecting at low speeds, I think they will be perfect around 5 PSI (any opinions there?).

The clutch kit has done exactly what I was hoping. I wasn't hoping to be able to wheelie, I don't care about my launch, I merely wanted my machine to feel the same with the larger tires as it did with the factory. First impression, Ryan with RVS Performance nailed it. Shipping was fast, his YouTube installation video is awesome. I would normally take it to the shop to have something like this done. His video made it look so simple, I had no problem installing myself. Too soon to say it is perfect but I am very happy with the results so far. I added 45 lbs of tires and I can't tell it. Low and mid range feel good and snappy. Normally hit 54-55 mph on straight stretch in front of the farm. Speedometer was reading 49-50 with the new tires. They are larger tires so I don't know how that equates. Feels as fast as I want to go and I am happy.

 

Jared,

Still happy with those 28's?

No rubbing issues?

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Wouldn't change a thing. The 28s are a perfect fit for this machine. I prob would have had second thoughts if I didn't go with the clutch kit. Not that it made a drastic change to the machine, but with all that extra tire weight it helped me to maintain the same power level that I was accustomed too. The factory Carlisles can't hold a candle to the HTRs (not that they were a bad tire). This was the first ATV that I have owned long enough to purchase aftermarket tires, the difference is amazing.

 

I agree with what all people posted about the tire's, had my first real chance to take mine out this weekend, and must say if I knew that they would have made that much of a difference I would have bought them when they first came out.

 

Fish,
Are you too on a 550xp?
Clutch kit?

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Ya 550 , no clutch kit, I hit 95 KPH on the speedo which matched my gps on my phone, measured the circumference of the stock ones @81" and the circumference of the HTR's @87" so gains of 6" per rotation.
Did a speed check with the stock ones and at 100 KPH on the speedo my gps reading was 96 KPH, so not real readings with stock tires.
If I had an 850 or 1000 I would have got 28's.