ATV Tire Review & Demo | Kenda Bear Claw HTR | on a Yamaha Kodiak 450 

Thank you kind Sir. They are beastly tires indeed.

How far in the northeast are you man? I ride in the Adirondacks and im thinking these tires are the next for my 850 outy!

@@alexwright9145 I live on long island NY where there is absolutely no riding! I ride mostly in Pennsylvania!

That's awesome. I've never tried the original bear claws, but I've heard good things. You can't really go wrong with Kenda. They are good tires, especially for the price compared to some other brands. I might try some Tusk tires next, they are Rocky Mountain ATV/MC's in-house brand and are very affordable as well.

I do not think the Kenda's are too stiff at all. They are the tire that I would recommend. You can always play around with PSI to achieve comfort level that you're looking for as well. I found that between 4-5 psi is pretty decent.

@@ThomperBeThompin awesome thanks !

Finally pulled the trigger and ordered a set of stock sixe 25s for my rubicon. Did you find you lost any power going to these ? Can't wait to try them

I think both will ultimately be good choices, but If I had to pick, I'd choose the tried and true Kenda's. They are 8 ply rated whereas the SunFs are 6PR. I have heard good things about the SunFs, but I've heard GREAT things about the Kendas. If budget is an issue, the SunFs might be slightly cheaper, but if not, I'd go with the Kendas all day long.

Hey Flying Brian! I'm a huge fan of you guys. Bottom line up front - I prefer the Kenda Bearclaw HTRs over the ITP Terracross, but it isn't by a huge margin. The Kenda's are slightly cheaper and also have a directional tread pattern which helps more in the slop. The Terracross are still very good in my opinion, but I just prefer the Kendas. I also think having a directional tread pattern for the front tires helps in higher speed stability (which is one of the reasons Maxxis did that to the front tires of their Bighorn 3.0s). In the end though, I'm probably not pushing the tires hard enough to really tell any major differences. Weights are almost identical too.

@@ThomperBeThompin I can say by far you’ve got the best Grizz vids on RU-vid. I told Chad a month ago this Thompin dude was gonna cost me a lot of $$$!!!!

Haha! It was Chad's opinions of the Grizzly (best all around trail machine) that pushed me over the edge in getting one. Loving this thing, but the yellow color sure took some getting used to.

Thanks!

I'm wondering what the actual height of the 25s are as well.

I'm sure there has to be a slight loss in power going to the heavier tire, but I honestly haven't really noticed it. Staying with the stock size helped minimize power loss.

@@ThomperBeThompin thanks...have a 2019 Kodiak 450 and needed to replace tires. Think you sold me on these.

@@kevinlazar8537 Heck yeah man, I'm still satisfied with mine.

I actually prefer the stock tires on it. They are lightweight, so they're easy to turn for that smaller machine. Good traction too.

@@ThomperBeThompin I have one as well and agree that the traction has been good. Have been thinking about moving up to 23 inch tires and a more aggressive tread pattern

@@Cbrookmon it should still turn them pretty good. really it all depends on your writing style and the type of terrain you're in.

Haven't really tested it, but it seems imperceptible to me. if there is a difference in acceleration and top speed I imagine it's a small percentage. Was easily cruising at 45 mph down the road with these tires and that wasn't quite top end.

I got these from a company called "Ricochet Off-Road" here in the US. This is their website: ricochetoffroad.com/collections/2018-yamaha-kodiak-450 Also, Yamaha makes there own set of aluminum skid plates for chassis protection that you can purchase.

@@ThomperBeThompin Thanks! I'm French so I would like to get this one here. Good job for your videos!

They're excellent in deep snow. That said, they have a hard tread compound so if you're on trails that are also pretty icy then these might not be best. They really do have a hard compound, they are wearing like rocks. In my opinion they're only weak spot is on extremely slick services like wet mossy rocks, and ice. Everywhere else they shine

I actually got these off amazon, but some of the popular online retailers have them as well.

@@ThomperBeThompin do you have the link because I’ve been going through Amazon and other retailer and I can’t find them

@@cinna2253 darn, I just checked a couple of the major retailers and they're all out of stock. It appears they have them in 26-in diameter, but not the stock size 25 in.

@@ThomperBeThompin that’s alright man thanks for your help happy ripping

So it looks like the wild thangs that came stock on this machine were the "AT" version. Meaning, they are only 2ply and the tread is only 1/2 in deep. Looks like the other wild thangs on CST's website are much, much better with deeper tread and more plys. Great tires if you get the non-AT version.

Agreed. Very tough, good traction, excellent wear, but will zap a bit of power.

Really? These in a 25x8x12 are at 21 lbs, I’m currently still on stock carlisle tires, was considering these, you got any recommendations ?

@@xaviercorona9014 they are plenty comfortable. I completely disagree with the rough ride comments above.

You still running bear claws after 8 years and they held up? I am here debating on getting a set

I hear great things about those reptiles, good choice. Keep in mind, for this video I deliberately tried to overwhelm the traction of the tires by going very slow up steep, wet slopes. If I were riding normally, never would have lost forward momentum. That said, I've heard these have a harder compound, so they won't be as good as other tires on wet rocks, for sure. I'm hoping the trade-off is very long tread life....to be seen.

You missed out on an awesome tire by passing on the HTR. Really too bad you based your decision on this video. On a machine with a locking front diff. in real world riding, you won't find a better tire for your ATV. I've run a bunch of different tires on several different atv's, and the HTR tops them all. If they made them in a big enough size, I would have run them on my Polaris General. From the rocky trails, hard pack and snow of the Rockies to the sand and slick rock of Moab, I haven't run a better atv tire.

@@ThomperBeThompin I know, I should have worded that differently. When I went back and added the locking front diff part I should have just deleted the first part. I will see if I can still edit that.

I've got these tires on my 660, and have had since May 2012. No qualms. My brother in law put Reptiles on his 03 AC500, and those are awesome tires as well. There are so many solid aftermarket tires out there anymore, its pretty hard to go wrong with a good all terrain.

@@andybassham2369 so how many miles have tall put on the tread? I gotta replace the stock Carlisle tires asap. I love in Georgia so there is some mud in the winter and its pretty dry in the summer. I want more grip, better handling, and a little extra for mud control is all.

True dat! Full time 4wd, all terrain paws that can instantly change to mud terrain or water terrain, plus he has exceptional suspension travel and axle articulation. Tough to compete against that...

Yeah, just grap a little front brake, she woulda climbed right up.

Yeah that's a lovely little diff lock trick I have on my 2011 Foreman 500