For our trip to the Oregon dunes, we needed to outfit our Kawasaki KFX450 with some tires to help it get up the steep tree-laden trails of Winchester Bay. A newcomer to the sand tire industry, STI wanted us to test its new Sand Trax rear paddle tire and front ribbed tire. ATVR was the first magazine to get their hands on this new tire/wheel combo, and I was anxious to put them to the test.
When you first pick up these wheels and tires, you instantly notice one thing: These babies are light! With the front weighing in at 12 pounds and the rears at 18 pounds, they are much lighter than their low-priced competitors. The rubber compound used in these two-ply tires has a spongelike feel, which means they are flexible and allow for a lot of flotation. Our only concern would be how resistant they are to being punctured.
Also aiding in the low weight of this combo is the new .150 spun-aluminum wheels on which the tires were mounted. Made from 6061-T6 heat-treated alloy, they are as light as some of the thinner aftermarket wheels but claim to have the strength of their thicker competition. Since I weigh in at 250 pounds, I'll definitely put them to the test. I've been known to taco thin wheels without effort and put some distortion in the thicker unreinforced models as well. We'll see how strong these really are.
The front tires are a standard single-rib design, which look as though they can be mounted on either side of your quad. They do have a nonfunctional pattern on the carcass that would say otherwise though. The rears are a nondirectional eight-paddle V-cut with a mini paddle in between each main paddle. They are definitely unique compared to other tires on the market and look as if they should do well.
I installed the wheels, filled the tires to four psi and set the mighty KFX on the ground. As it sat on the hardpack ground, you could see the sidewalls squishing out just from the weight of the quad alone. I hopped on the machine and rode on the pavement access road out of the campground.
As I hit the sand, I looked back and saw that there wasn't much roost being thrown up from the small, 25mm tall paddles. That's nice for whoever is following you but also a characteristic of low bite. Another thing I noticed was that the soft carcass of the tires helped absorb much of the harshness of the extremely well traveled damp sand. They soaked up quite a bit of harshness, giving a ride comparable to that of a radial tire.
The front tires seemed to track very well and kept the quad right where you pointed the bar. There was no excessive twitchiness in the steering, which I have felt in some of the more expensive units out on the market today. So far so good, for these.
When I got into the steeper dunes is when I started noticing the difference of these to higher-end units. If I ever came to a stop on an uphill slope or very chewed-up sand, these tires were quick to dig themselves in. Taking off without getting stuck required a lot of throttle or a lot of finesse. Once I got rolling on top of the sand, I never had a problem.
Climbing the dunes never seemed to be a problem. The tires gave just enough bite to get up the steepest climbs without bogging down the motor. The V-shaped paddle design also allowed me to slide the rear end of the quad without worrying about front end push. These tires won't put you at the front of the pack in a drag race, but they do provide a predictable, playful ride.
I was racing around the sand trails that ran through the thick pine trees, and I occasionally bounced off protruding tree roots and worried about punctures. Not once did anything penetrate the tires leaving us with a flat or a dinged rim. They handled the trails better than I had expected.