St Anthony 200x Paddles

[UI Vandal]

Heading to the dunes this weekend with some buds. Right now I am running Carlise Strykers (PO put them on). Tried these out at some smaller dunes and they worked okay. Looking at getting a separate paddle set since I live so close to StA. In the somewhat near future I plan on picking up a dirt bike, so these paddles will be used on the 200x for a while, then handed over to the wife for her TRX250x.

I have a budget of $175 for wheels and tires. Reading up it looks like I should be aiming for 6-7 paddle tires in a 20" size, unless someone might recommend otherwise. I'd like to get them at RockyMtnATV since i can order on a Tuesday and have them by Wednesday. So, what setup would people recommend?

[Jeepermc]

Alot of folks are gonna say haulers....I've had good luck with sand stars on both by 300ex and banshee...I thought they had too much traction on the tecate so I bought sand sharks or skates for it...little less agressive than the sand stars.. my .02

[jb2wheels]

I bought a set of AMS Sand Snakes on Al wheels from Rocky Mtn ATV last month for my trip to Little Sahara. I ran them on my Loncin powered 84 200x. They were great. Dropped the gearing a little bit to help the poor thing lug my fat butt through the sand. Very happy with them.

I figure I'm only going to make 2-3 sand trips per year at the most so I could not justify the Hauler $$. When I lived 100 miles from Glamis 30 years ago, well, that was different...

This is what I bought - under $160 to my door. I should point out - I bought this size and wheel because I have 400ex hubs and tapered lugs on this 200x and will eventually run these tires on my 350x project.

20x11-9 Sand Snake on STI Sport Alloy Polished - 1985 Honda ATC 350X

Part # 1324340001
$154.96 1 $154.96
…AMS Sand Snake ATV Tire 20x11-9 (2 per pkg.) 2
…4/110 STI Sport Alloy Wheel 9X8 3.0 + 5.0 Polished (2 per pkg.) 2

ATV Chrome Valve Stem - 1985 Honda ATC 350X

Part # 1258440001
$2.00 2 $4.00

[UI Vandal]

So, would you recommend an 18 inch tire then? Or just go for the 20 inch since they will eventually go on the 250x?

[jb2wheels]

I have not run an 18" tire and I have no 250x experience so I can't really help there. Maybe somebody else.

I have some 22" (22x11x8) Chen Shin dune runners on my other 200x. It has a tired original engine. It would not pull 5th in the sand with me (280ish??) on it. I should probablly run the 20" paddles on it and the 22" behind the Loncin. The Loncin engine really rips compared to the tired stocker.

I think the 20" Sand Snakes would be perfect - mostly because they're inexpensive and work just fine for me.

[UI Vandal]

So, AMS Sandsnakes in 20" or AMS Sidewinders in 20"? I would think the kind of riding I do (and the wife does on her 250x) the sidewinder would be preferred (scooting around ignoring big hills since we dont have high HP). Thoughts?

[pcs]

ive used both ams sand snake and sidewinders and they are ok tires, the thing i dont like is that the paddle is too soft and wont last long if you hit hard stuff. also they use lots of natural rubber on the carcass which will begin to crack in high heat/sun exposure. if you dont have experience with paddles and like to slide around a lot, use angle cut paddles. straight paddle hook up harder but they are harder to steer with unless you have good practice with them. with a low hp 200x/250x, if you have too much paddle, the motor will struggle to pull in higher gears. a really good tire ive used for low hp machines for all around play in sand are not sand tires at all
http://www.maxxis.com/MotorcycleATV/ATV-Sport/M910-4-Snow.aspx
they grip well but dont bog the motor when you are going up a big hill and need speed and can slide very well. used them on a 82 250r and 89 blaster that could barely make it up comp hill with sand stars at butter cup. we then switch to these and could make it up easier with them. however for short drags the blaster hooked up better with the sand stars. i dont like sand stars because they are heavy sand tire and they split at the vertex of the angle paddle. a good straight paddle for a 200x and a 250x would also be a skat track glider (not hauler), 6 paddle.
http://www.skat-trak.com/atvsand.html
pricier but skat track paddles last a long time. many of my riding friends have had a set for years with regular weekend use.
for wheel choice i would go with a 8"blue label douglas wheel, light weight and will help you float better on soft sand. if you go with a 10" wheel and 20" tire, not much side wall will cause you to sink more in the sand vs having more balloon with the 8" wheel and sitting on top of the sand, especially when you swap them on the 250x because of the added weight of carrying a "built in spare tire."

[UI Vandal]

Well, I am sure glad I didn't get paddles. I was either up or down shifting every 5 seconds all day to keep in the power band. Momentum is key with a little bike like the 200x. I feel that if I did run paddles I would have been way over paddled. I turned the Strykers (think Duro hf243) around for a tiny bit better scoop action. I was able to go everywhere I needed and about 80% of where I wanted. Surprised everyone with how well I kept up and handled the little guy. Maybe in smaller dunes like Florence paddles might be okay, but out there at St Anthony I would recommend against any paddle other than the smallest versions.

[pcs]

i talked to a few guys that use to dune back in the 80s on small atcs at the imperial sand dune area and most of them ran tires similar to those maxxis 4 sno tires bc scoop paddles had too much grip unless they ran a built motor on alcohol. also, that running scoop paddles on soft sand would kill the factory clutches on a 200x bc of the hard grip. post pics of you trip.

[UI Vandal]

Only one person took pics + videos (mother of one of my friends), then there were two with helmet cams. I'll see if I can get my bud to hand over some follow-the-little-trike vids (while he was riding his KTM 300 2t).