front end skate
 

06 gas gas 300

My front tire seems to be skating around a bit. Not so much to scare the crap out of you but enough to kill your confidence in the front end. Running an mt 18 at 10lbs. Compression is full soft, rebound is cranked up pretty good probably 3/4 full on. It doesn't deflect, or ping pong around, just seems to wander a bit in certain situations. It could be the 10 lbs but i always run low pressures on my tires. bike also seems to have a bit of a push. any ideas on what to look to to solve this?

My first thought - the front end is on the verge of knifing-in due to too much rebound damping, especially since you mention the compression is full soft. That's easy and quick to test.
If there isn't enough rear race/rider sag handling will be quicker - maybe too quick. A friend with a tape measure are in order here.
Tire pressure? That's easy to check as well.
Make one change at a time and it doesn't hurt to keep notes.

What conditions are you getting the skate? The reason I ask is that some front tires are very skatey if used in conditions they are not designed for.

Do you still have the stock Michelin front tire? I am very impressed with the all around perfromance of the Michelin Enduro Competition MS on a wide variety of conditions from sand to hard pack clay.

I ditched the front tire and replaced it with a pirelli mt 18. I ride alot of wet roots and rocks and was told the mich was dangerous in said conditions. anyway when going over the bike i found that the nuts that hold the bar mounts to the top clamp were a bit loose. I suspect that was the cause of the weird feeling.

So now you know what rubber handlebar mounts feel like on a jap bike. :)
If the stock tire is supposed to be bad in slippery stuff, I can't wait to see if it improves. With 1400kms and 14lbs in my stock Michelins, I really like the feel of the front, which is showing very little wear at this point and most of my riding is on slick wet rocks/roots with clay thown in. On loose stuff (gravel or sandy hardpack) I have to move more forward to get it to really stick, but everywhere else it seems pretty good.
The rear I'm not as impressed with, and reversing it for yesterdays ride didn't improve it, but I had to try to get some more miles out of it. They do clean out pretty good in mud though.
I think I'll try some Trellborgs next. Any comments on them? I haven't tried any in years, but I remember likeing them.

Who told you that?

The Michelin works amazing well on wet rocks. It is no more dangerous than the other good front tires on wet roots.

Try a Michelin comp 4 on the front. I think the MT18 is targeted at harder terrain which doesn't sound good to me for wet roots and rocks. You might want to consider a trials tyre on the back - but make sure you keep the pressure low or it wont work.

Hmm interesting, i was told by someone who seems pretty knowlegable that it was a tire designed for european grass tracks. Was told by another rider it was scary in wet rocks. I didn't give the tire a chance and put the mt 18 on the front because it's familiar to me and thought a known entity on the front would be good for working on getting the bike dialed in. I still have it so after the mt 18 i guess i'll give it a shot. I though it was more of a soft condition tire. The MT 18 is the tire of choice amongst New England harescramblers. they spend a lot of time in roots and rocks, wet and dry!!

The Michelin comp 3 & 4 were designed for the WEC in Europe & now North America. They are designed to be good all round tyres including on rocks which feature quite heavily in the WEC when it visits places such as Greece, Italy, Spain etc. They also have to cope with wet forests and grass MX tests as stated. But don't forget cross country tests and extreme tests also feature. There may be more specialist tyres that will excel in one particular terrain but the FIM enduro tyres should provide a great all round trail tyre.

If wet roots and rocks really are the thing you should try a trials tyre on the rear it will provide amazing grip compared to a nobbly. Bit interesting on wet grass or surface mud cornering though as they let go very suddenly when they reach a particular angle..