Cycle News Staff | September 10, 2020
The MX-208SR is a new off-road tire from Sedona Tire and Wheel. It is an Intermediate-terrain tire designed for off-road and motocross use.
The $69.95 front (left) and $99.95 rear Sedona MX-208SR tires feature steel-belt radial construction with dual rubber compound and tall lugs.
What makes the MX-208SR tire unique is its steel-belted radial construction and very tall lugs (knobbies), the tallest at 21mm on the rear. The MX-208SR tire also features dual rubber compounds. Sedona says the center knobs use a rubber compound designed to achieve “excellent anti-wear characteristics,” while the side lugs use a rubber compound formulated for “ultimate cornering bite and control.”
Despite being marketed as a motocross and off-road tire, the MX-208SR is stamped DOT. It comes in five rear sizes including 18- and 19-inch variations. The front is available in just one size: 80/100R-21.
The MX-208SR is DOT stamped. This aggressive-looking tire is ideal for dual-sporting as long as 99% of the riding is on dirt.
Sedona MX-208SR Tires Lowdown
Standout Feature: Steel-belt radial construction
MSRP: $69.95 (front) / $92.95-$99.95 (rear)
Sedona MX-208SR Tires Rider Analysis
The hidden little secret here is the DOT stamp on the MX-208SR sidewalls, which really caught our attention with these aggressive-looking tires. So we immediately mounted them up to a dual-sport bike, for which we feel these tires will be ideal. And we had just the bike—a 2020 Suzuki DR-Z400S, a motorcycle in desperate need of better tires in stock form.
Because of the steel belt design, the MX-208SR has an incredibly stiff sidewall, which requires a lot more muscle to install than usual, more so with the rear. Be sure to have plenty of lube on hand and long tires irons (for good leverage) when mounting these babies.
The ultra-stiff sidewall also means you run very little air pressure. We found the rear needs no more than five psi (and even that’s pushing it), while the front seems to work best with around 10 psi.
While providing way more off-road traction than the original front tire on the DR-Z400S, the MX-208SR front doesn’t inspire as much confidence as the rear MX-208SR on hard-packed roads.
We have about 100 miles on the MX-208SR, and so far, so good. Of those 100 miles, approximately 60 of them are on dirt and the other 40 on pavement, though we consider this tire a 90/10 (dirt/street) tire, which means it is, for all intents and purposes, a 100-percent dirt tire. The MX-208SR tires handle pretty much as you would expect on the pavement—like moto tires. The front especially feels wallowy on the asphalt, but both are surprisingly quiet. Relief comes instantly when you transition from pavement to dirt.
The MX-208SR is a vast improvement both front and rear over the DR-Z’s stock rubber (hardly a shocker here). The back tire can find good traction on various surfaces, even on hard-packed and dusty fire roads where it performs surprisingly well for having such rigid knobbies. The front isn’t as confidence-inspiring as the rear on the hardpack; we just could never entirely give it our complete trust. However, our confidence level with the front did rise as the terrain got softer, wetter or loamier.
The MX-208SR rear tire can make its own traction everywhere and wears well. This is how our rear Sedona tire looks after 100 miles, approximately 40 of those coming on pavement and the other 60 on mostly hard-packed dirt.
What we like most about the MX-208SR is riding over rocks. The DR-Z400S is not a lightweight motorcycle (nor are these tires), but with the Sedonas installed, the bike seemingly floated over rocky terrain. This has a lot to do with the stiff sidewall. As a result, the DR-Z’s handling improved dramatically. This is what the company means by “Dead Blow Hammer” in describing how this tire disperses energy and reacts when slamming into hard objects or square edges; there is very little unwanted rebounding or deflecting.
So far, our MX-208SRs are showing minimal signs of wear. We expect these things to last forever and rarely get pinch flats because of the stiff carcasses. But if you do get a flat, heck, you would probably hardly even notice it and, most likely, be able to get back home with zero air pressure.
Even though the company doesn’t market the MX-208SR as a dual-sport tire, we feel this is an area where this tire really shines. Both front and rear perform well under a heavy motorcycle, offer excellent footing (especially the rear) on the dirt, we can’t imagine ever getting a pinch flat with these tires, they seem to wear well, and they are reasonably priced. But the MX-208SR is essentially a 100-percent off-road tire, so keep that in mind if you do a lot of pavement riding.
Hopefully, we can get our hands on another set soon and then we’ll let you know how it performs when mounted up to a lighter and higher-performing MX or off-road bike on the track. CN
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Good all-around on-dirt performance |
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Wears well |
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Reasonably priced |
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Difficult to mount |
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Unpredictable on hardpack (front) |
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Fair at best on-road performance |
For more information, visit www.sedonatires.com
