New shoes for the Dnepr. Shinko SR241 trail tires.

[Scott E]

FedEx delivered 4 Shinko SR241 tires size 3.5-19. I was going to buy Duro HF308's but they are out of stock and after several calls no one would say when they would be back in stock. Back when I started restoring my Dnepr MT-11 I purchased 4 Shinko 240 100/90-19 black wall classic tires on sale. They are street only tires and at the time that's what I wanted.  I have a little over 9,000 Km on them now. 2 are right at the wear limit with one being the sidecar tire and the other the spare. The one in the current pusher position looks like it will hit that minimum wear limit in another 1,000 Km. The front tire when it's time to become the pusher will go about 2,500 Km. Needless to say they have been and still are good tires but are quickly getting to the point where they must be replaced. I thought about buying another set of those but then I found an Amazon review post from a guy with a Chang Jiang sidecar motorcycle raving about the Shanko SR241 tires he ordered and installed. He said they were almost exactly the same as the 3.75-19 USSR tires in width, height, and tread pattern. After mine arrived I went ahead and mounted one on the rim I use as the spare tire. He was correct except the tread depth is deeper than the original Ukrainian made USSR tires that were on my Dnepr when I got it. Needless to say they were completely dry rotted but the tire used as the spare still retained it's shape and didn’t have flat spots from sitting in one spot for 27 years. I actually kept it as a wall hanger in the shop. Despite the SR241 tires saying it's 3.5-19 I measured the width after mounting it on the rim and filling with air. It measures 4 inches wide at it's widest point. That's exactly what the 3.75-19 USSR tire measures. According to the reviews about this tire it wears about the same as any other motorcycle tire. If it's the same as my near worn out Shinko 240 tires I'll be very pleased. I do rotate the tires as per my Dnepr owner/service manual that came with it. Oh! They can be used front or rear and have no rotation arrows so I think they will be fine as Sidecar Motorcycles tires.