Wow, old thread, sorry I missed this one.

You'll need to take my statement in context of what the conversation was about. We're talking 50/50 riding, so at least some dirt in the mix. So right away the 21" front is in the lead over 19 and 17 fronts.

Lots of bikes have tubes front & rear. YES ... it's PITA ass to do flats. But often the wheels are tougher than cast wheels, can be cheaper too.

I find handling on my current and former 21" equipped bikes has been remarkably good. You should come ride with us. On a recent twisty road ride
I out ran 5 better riders riding new KTM 1290s ... this on my 37 HP DR650 with a 21" front tire ... a knobby to boot! Granted it was all tight switchbacks most take at 20 mph. I can go double that speed on my DR. KTM guys can't hack it. But on any sort of smooth fast road ... they're GONE in an instant.
(160 HP) I owned 5 or 6 sports bikes before I ever owned a dual sport, lots of track days, schools, so i can ride a bit.

When I first started riding dual sport bikes 30 years ago I was stunned to discover just how good these 21" equipped "dirt bikes" handled. My first encounter was riding with Motorcyclist magazine staff. They were on FZ1000's,
Buell's, CBR600 and the like. On the very tight and dirty roads I kept pace easily on my old 1987 XL600R Honda.

Next, bring RAIN into the mix. Nothing works better on rainy roads than a dual sport with a 21" front. I can outrun many average riders on sports bike ... and I'm old and slow.

If you don't have good sporty roads where you live then you'll never know just how good these bikes can be. The Suzuki is simply a superb handler.

as I said, tell guys at MotoGP to change wheels and tyres especially in rain to 21" and knobbies. I'm sure they will love your idea at 150 mph.

I don't know where you ride or where you're from .. as you've left off your location. (Now why is that?)

Obviously not comparing to MotoGP here. But bring those MotoGP guys over to our BEAT up, horribly bumpy, pot holed nightmares for roads and lets see how they do.

Average speeds on such roads go from 15 to 60 MPH for the most part.

Trust me, I've ridden such road with plenty of fast sport bike guys (not MotoGP racers) and they struggle. BTW, in rain I leave off the knobbies and use a nice
80/20 dual sport tire like an Anakee or Distanzia.

Ever ride (or race Flat Track?) The tires above are a bit like flat track tires and work really well on paved roads and even on some smooth dirt roads within reason.