Duro Tires Top Fighter TT/Supermoto Racing TiresRacing TT and supermoto requires a lightweight tire for good acceleration and a soft compound that allows for traction on slippery hardpacked surfaces. The Duro Top Fighter lines of ATV tires are designed for just these needs and are available in a wide variety of sizes for both front and rear applications and in different compounds just in case you need a harder compound. For our testing purposes at the Stateline supermoto event, we opted to run an 18x10-10 rear and 19x6.5-10 front tires in the soft compound. Although I personally didn't ride them at the event, I did take a few laps at a nearby kart/supermoto facility to get a feel for how they worked.
While overall bike setup was completely different from anything else that I've ever ridden, these tires kept me planted to the pavement. On looser portions of the course that were dusted with dirt, the tires offered just enough traction to give good drive out of corners while still having the ability to drift. Looking at action photos of these tires gave me a good idea how the soft sidewall flexed so much that there was always a good contact patch on the ground aiding in this. Although I didn't weigh them on a scale, there was a noticeable weight difference between other tires even when compared to a standard motocross tire.
One negative to having a soft-compound tire is that they are extremely quick to wear, and these are no different. In a few pictures taken of our test rider on this machine you could see where he entered corners by looking at the trail of rubber he was laying down. I'm not saying that after a day of racing these tires are trashed, but you'll definitely see signs of wear and feel a decrease of handling as the tread starts to wear down. But when buying an item like this, you have to expect wear to be fast because of the surfaces you ride on and the compound best needed for each track.
Overall, the Top Fighter tires perform very well on the mix of concrete, asphalt and dirt that's encountered at a supermoto track. Prices start at $102.95 and don't be surprised to have to look for a Duro Tire dealer or distributor; this isn't the average tire you'll find sitting on the shelf of your local ATV shop. -Eli Madero
| TIRES | 84 |
| New performance | 28/30 |
| Used performance | 17/20 |
| Durability | 14/20 |
| Mounting | 10/10 |
| Price | 15/20 |
Bottom Line: A great specialty tire for a particular type of racing.
Duro Tires: 866/788-2060;
www.durotire.com