I know your looking for suggestions 'based on experience' but I don't have an 800gs. But I have done quite a few miles on TKC's on my 1200gs.
Last September My other half and myself covered 2700 miles around the Alps, she on a 650gs (single) and me on the 1200. I rode on TKC's fitted new for the ride. Jill had Pirellis fitted, though I can't remember which ones except that they were road tyres (the bike was sold on shortly after our return).
Both bike where fully loaded with all the kit, plus those extras necessary for ones comfort. The tent weighed 10Kgand both bikes had large alli panniers and 42ltr top boxes.
Upon our return there was no significant ware to either set of tyres. Both bikes performed very well with the exception of the TKC's when riding on the cobbled hairpins of some of the passes. they gave the impression of riding on flat tyres, but with no loss of grip.
The 1200 has now done 9000 miles on the same set of TKC's and there is still 3mm left on the rear. I have been getting 14000 front and 11000 from the rear with the TKC's and comfortably touch my toes on the corners. As for the 650 I'm still in contact with the current owner and have not heard mention of new tyres as yet, and he is commuting two up about 40 miles daily.
With our experiences I would have thought that you would actually need only two sets of tyres to get you there and back. I would be confident of getting about 7000 miles from the rear TKC whilst fully loaded.
Tourances where mentioned by Sijohnstone. Though as he mentioned not the EXP's as they are too soft. If your going to be riding on tar and gravel these will do you well with excellent mileage and road handling. They do come in 90/90/21 to fit the older R100gs's and also the HP2, so therefore should fit the 800 nicely.
Though it's not directly 800gs experience, I hope this gives you some idea as to what you can expect on your travels.
Good luck with it all.
Val.
but thats mostly off road
gets 5000k out of his rear is surprising.
My rear tyre is shagged with just 850 miles on it.
and the front still looks like new
still go for the TKc again but of to scotland in august so probaly on me third back tyre then.
How everywherehereandthere
Shag
if i was you id stick to the roads you know what happens when you go offroad think back to the last south wales trip we did and you fell off at the first hurdel lol
That's more like it Seamus. I don't know what shag was doing to his to only get 800 miles out of them... maybe the clue is in the name... as in I shagged them to death
Question for shag. You don't do burnouts with them do you?
Oh and shagged, Bollocks or WORN DOWN same thing lol
Thanks Val. Very helpful - 9K on the same set of TKC's is amazing - far more than I'd anticipated. I'm guessing the 1200 and the 800 are close to the same weight. If I can locate a pair of tourances for the 800 I''d definately prefer them to the bike's stock Battlewings.
Again thanks for your imput.
mystic, there's no way you'll get 9000k out of a rear TKC on an 800, unless you keep it under 20mph and ride in sub-zero temps.
Yeah, tourances are available for the 800. Twisticles posts the 800 tyre dimensions in some very early thread on tyres, so just call up a tyre depot that caters for bikes, give them the dimensions and tell them to order you a set of those and tkc's. you'll find the tourances will give you a huge mileage and in fact, you'll likely get by with only 2 sets of tyres for the whole trip. i'd leave with the tourances fitted, throw some tkcs on the back for when it gets bad in russia and then refit the tourances on the way back. just bring a set of tyre levers and soap with you and you'll be all good. enjoy and take loads of photos.
Thanks Si .............. never for a minute thought I would! The bike will be carrying a fair bit of weight ... weather hot .. and road surfaces varied to say the least! As to 2 sets of tyres for whole trip ..... think that would be very optimistic given the weight being carried / temps / and very varied road conditions. We estimate somewhere around 15K total.
I agree with you about the longevity of Tourances - I've had 9K+ from a rear on an 1150 admittedly all on black stuff.
What's bugging me is the thought of riding with a pair of tyres perched on the back - they're not that light to say nothing of the bulk - goes entirely counter to the principle of keeping weight low down! ... For sure wont do much for the bike's handling!
reassure at times!!
Hi just changed the front after 5.1k, was on the limit though.. rear still ok though, if a bit / extremley squared off - however the handling seems ok considering.
I've consolidated all my various posts on the 800GS on a blog (to save myself searching for my own ramblings!)
