Dual purpose tyres for 1200...

[mark2jag]

Any good????? Anyone got any recommendations. About 60%onroad 40% offroad........

P.S. heard that TKC's slide quite well on the road.

P.P.S. Not a silly question,any question you dont know the answer to is never a silly question, err well almost.........

 

[APE]

IMO no such thing. Dual purpose tyres are compromised road tyres designed to give an off-road look. In practice they are all crap off road. TKC are good off road and crap on road. If you do 60 / 40 you need two pairs of wheels.

 

[APE]

Or two bikes

 

[richie]

Personaly I would not go for TKC for the mixture you talk about, but would give Heidenau a go

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

Heidi's - Better than TKC's on road and not a lot worse off road

Andres

 

[IJGser]

Wouldn't say tkcs are crap on road just not as good as a road tyre Perfectly ok for getting from a to b

 

[richie]

Wouldn't say tkcs are crap on road just not as good as a road tyre Perfectly ok for getting from a to b

agreed but reading the percentages a bit too exclusive for use intended.

 

[APE]

sorry 'crap' is a bit strong - but they do have a block tread pattern which is going to seriously limit their performance on a paved road. Would you fancy doing an emergency stop on a wet road without ABS on them

 

[beatmeier]

IMO the heidenau Tyre is a good compromise. . I do eighty on And twenty offroad and an willing to compromise a bit.unless I do high speed stints on a roads they are grippy enough
Have done just over 3000 miles and the front looks 70% and the rear is about half down.. . But as ape said two bikes would be the dogs b...s

 

[Fanum]

sorry 'crap' is a bit strong - but they do have a block tread pattern which is going to seriously limit their performance on a paved road. Would you fancy doing an emergency stop on a wet road without ABS on them

You can get the pegs down on a GS on a dry road on TKCs.......you just have to condition your sphincter to not pucker up when the blocks start moving around (and if you slip on a wet line or a manhole cover, it's your own fault for poor observation )

I'm doing less off-road now, so my next tyres will be Heidenau K60 scouts......probably the best compromise tyre at the moment for the GS

 

[Sgt Bilco]

TKC's are a great road tyre as long as you know what underneath you as Fanum points out

I've just got Heidenau K60 Scouts on and they are excellent. I'm hoping they will do San Francisco-Alaska and back on one set on my upcoming trips and all reports say they will. Mileage will be 8000 with a mixture of tarmac, gravel and dirt The only reason I'm not using TKC's is they will only do about 4k per tyre.

Was out today in a mix of sun and rain and muddy roads on the Heidi's and the grip was good and predictable. Not as good as a pure road tyre but not half bad

 

[Sgt Bilco]

sorry 'crap' is a bit strong - but they do have a block tread pattern which is going to seriously limit their performance on a paved road. Would you fancy doing an emergency stop on a wet road without ABS on them

Never had a problem with that

 

[chrisjk]

I have just transferred from an F800 GS to a 1200 GSA and whilst I can't speak for the TKCs on a 1200 I can say that on the 800 they were a great tyre, no problem to scrape stuff on dry corners and even in the wet, once used to the squirming, they were fine too.

 

[APE]

Fair enough got to admit I never go off road so should have kept my trap shut

 

[Wapping]

Depends on what you mean by 'off road' 40%.

40% is 4 miles in every 10, which is quite a lot of 'off road' miles in a year, given that you live in Surrey and go to Box Hill to hang out with bikers.

Do you mean 'unmade roads' .... In which case bog standard tyres will be fine.

Or mile upon mile of desert and boggy moorland. Undisturbed by modern man, inhabited just by camels, sheep and creatures of imagination.

 

[casperfelix]

TKC's are a great road tyre as long as you know what underneath you as Fanum points out

I've just got Heidenau K60 Scouts on and they are excellent. I'm hoping they will do San Francisco-Alaska and back on one set on my upcoming trips and all reports say they will. Mileage will be 8000 with a mixture of tarmac, gravel and dirt The only reason I'm not using TKC's is they will only do about 4k per tyre.

Was out today in a mix of sun and rain and muddy roads on the Heidi's and the grip was good and predictable. Not as good as a pure road tyre but not half bad

Was going to take a spare rear K60 scout on Bilco's trip but after reading a number of articles, including this one http://cjdesignsllc.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/heidenau-k60-scout-tires-a-review-on-a-big-bike/, on how long legged these tyres are I've decided to do the trip on one set. As I don't hammer the bike, much, the tyres should still be in good shape by the time we get back onto the tarmac of California. Wish me luck.

 

[Sgt Bilco]

. Wish me luck.

OK then, good luck We will all be in the same boat so here's hoping......

 

[paul nicholls]

tyres.

proof again from the responses, tyres are a personal thing,
what is right for one may be crap for another,
all each person can offer is their opinion from their own experience.
i have used nearly all of the tyres mentioned here (except karoo)
in anger.
used tkc on a ride to timbukto, and in my opinion they were brilliant.lasted 7500 miles (just, rear was well past its best but still useable, loads left on the front)
a mate went all the way to,and around mongolia on a set(7000miles) a very good mate runs them on his 1150gsa, i have to ride hard to stay ahead of him, on a 1200gsa on tourances.
on the same trip to mongolia i used the k60 scout,
at best i would say they were adequate, just ok at most things.
one word of warning on the k60 though, they are not much good in mud especially the front, infact id say scary.
yes i think they will easily last 8000 miles but the front will give you some serious twitchy sphinter moments.
what are your feelings on mixing tyres?
i think a front tkc and rear k60 would be interesting to try.
for alaska id even be tempted with a rear tourance and front tkc.
i can cope with the rear sliding but not comfortable when the front lets go.

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

OK then, good luck We will all be in the same boat so here's hoping......

I ran a pair from Nottingham to the bottom of Maroc, back again and then a year on the road after - the feckers would not wear out!

Andres

 

[Fanum]

I ran a pair from Nottingham to the bottom of Maroc, back again and then a year on the road after - the feckers would not wear out!

Andres

Andres....were they the 'scout' version with the joined up block around the circumference, or the previous K60 version which was a harder compound rubber and known to be extremely durable?

Given the age as described, I suspect the latter

It's a shame they've changed the moulding, and simultaneously upped the price by 40%