Knobblies.....on the road behaviour?

[dafly78]

Hi been looking on here for a while and have seen the ODD gs with knobblies. This will be my choice when I raid the piggy bank later in the year. My only experience with such tires is on much lighter bikes. Just wanted to know how riders using these get on on the hard to avoid tarmac bits. How much more cautious do you really have to be?

 

[Trippy]

I rode everywhere on TKC's with no problem at all just taking it a bit easier in the wet on tarmac.

However they only have to let go once (like any other tyre) when being pushed a bit too hard in the wet (like I was) and hit some over banding or oil (like I did) and your insurance company will have a bill for £3200 (like mine did).

Now run Anakees and fit the TKC's for weekends when I'm going off road.

 

[davidgibson999]

Hi been looking on here for a while and have seen the ODD gs with knobblies. This will be my choice when I raid the piggy bank later in the year. My only experience with such tires is on much lighter bikes. Just wanted to know how riders using these get on on the hard to avoid tarmac bits. How much more cautious do you really have to be?

I used them in Morocco earlier this year on my 12gs and they were surprisingly good in the dry (think the hot roads helped too) but I didn't like them in the wet on tarmac especially on the twisties.

 

[Jon P]

Just fitted my first set of TKC80 for a quick 2000 mile trip up in Canada.............used Tourances, Anakees, T66 and Sahara 3 for the past 200,000 miles, all tires which I thought were great in most situations. The TKC80s are bloody noisy, VERY noisy in fact and make the bike vibrate a LOT, for the first few hundred miles I kept thinking somethng was wrong with the motor. They tip the bike into corners very sharply and do not have much feedback or confidence when tipped over. They even seem to effect how the bike slows down - as though they are not very round??? (the bike kinda goes up and down a bit just as I am slowing at less than 20mph). They make the bike harder to push around and of course they are not going to last as long as the Tourances.

On the plus side they look great - just what the bike should have fitted - and of course they work much better off road......though some of the hard dirt/gravel roads I have just been on in Canada were exactly the same with the Tourances!

To answer your question, if you are thinking of having them just for the road I wouldn't bother - based on my experience. I know a lot of riders do rate them on the road and I agree that they are better than they look but they don't make sense just on the road. I reckon if you are going down more sloppy back roads then great. As for me I will go back to Tourance/Anakee when these run out and continue to ride off road with a bit of caution.

 

[JanTurn]

I would not use knobblies on a tarmac road - at least not for long distances. To get the best out of the GS's handling I would always fit pure road tyres. I think its hard to get the feel or feedback from a knobbly on the road compared to a pure road biased tyres. I found that with TKC80's that when the front wasn't pushing the back was spinning up. I also never got the same cornering stability or the braking capability that the road tyres can deliver

 

[Dahoum]

I rode everywhere on TKC's with no problem at all just taking it a bit easier in the wet on tarmac.

wot e sed

apart from that the ride is a bit, well.... knobbly

 

[PeterNI]

Hi been looking on here for a while and have seen the ODD gs with knobblies. This will be my choice when I raid the piggy bank later in the year. My only experience with such tires is on much lighter bikes. Just wanted to know how riders using these get on on the hard to avoid tarmac bits. How much more cautious do you really have to be?

"Bike" mag included knobblies in their recent tyre test of 1200gs. Lap time was impressive.

 

[Loiq]

I run the 1150 on anakees and my HP on knobblies, it very much depends on what sort of tyres you using if they're None road legal offroad tyres and you've made a mistake by taking'em down a short stretch of tarmac.... from my house to my mates 100 miles round trip...

it's like trying to ride a cement mixer the contact patch on the front tyre may only be 3 10pence-ish sized bits of rubber...

if it's desertios it's not too bad lumpy and bumpy and the even chunkier tyres are fine as well... You'll be slower in the wet till you build confidence if you don't slow down you'll be off and skidding on yer gentlemens downstairs down the road and getting the bike repaired.

 

[earthmover]

TKC's are suprisingly good, for a knobbly tyre. If you are going to be mainly on tarmac you will be replacing them often. Followed a mate on a Tiger down the Cat and Fiddle at a "brisk" pace one wet evening on them and gave him a shock. Also shocked myself when I found that I only had 11 psi in the rear (and a nail). I have Tourances on mine most of the time, but have a set of TKC's in case the need arises.
The choice, as they say, is yours.
Mark

 

[MikeP]

TKC's all the time.

If you have grown up used to radial bike tyres, you may not like them.

I recognise most of the comments (above) about wet grip/over-banding as being applicable to bias-belted tyres of yore. If you remember those days, you'll know that it's more about feel than actual grip.

Yes they will step off studs and over-banding in the wet but once off the offending item, they will grip nicely.

Yes they will extend braking distance a little or encourage the ABS to kick-in a bit earlier under extreme braking conditions but then if your riding includes lots of charging up to a stop, that's your choice.

Wear? Depends. I've had 9K+ from a front (admittedly it was horribly cupped) and over 6K from a rear. Not as much if there's been a decent amount of un-made surfaces chucked in.

Steering is quicker, especially when new.

Noise? Pah! I ride an 1150 so I can hear little above the engine clatter and if I was worried about noise the first thing I'd worry about was the gear change racket.

 

[Flipfly]

A bit loose in the wet if you push on, but absolutely no problem as long as you ride accordingly.

I ran them on the 1150 and I now run them on the 650. Using Conti escapes for our trip to the Alps, and then the TKCs will be straight back on when I get back.

TKCs work once you learn to trust them, until then they can feel a touch wobbly.

 

[Wreford Miles]

Are you thinking about them for the style or because you need them?

If it's the later... TKC's are fine, they let you know what's happening dry or wet

 

[JanTurn]

it's like trying to ride a cement mixer the contact patch on the front tyre may only be 3 10pence-ish sized bits of rubber...

This is an important point .. on tarmac road I like to put down as large a contact patch as I can. This is especially so under breaking (application of the front break) when the weight of the bike shifts forward to the front tyre and the rear lightens up! The more tread I can put down on the road the better.

 

[dafly78]

Thanks for all your views and comments. If I do choose the TKC's it wont be just for the look I will be doing enough off road riding to justify them and havent the resources or self disciplin to change tires at the weekend, every weekend. They might even keep me more alert on the road. R

 

[Magwych]

I switched to TKC's last September in advance fo a Moto Morocco trip, and haven't switched back. Sure, they don't give the same feedback as radials, but once you get used to them they are fine. I do stray off the road on my home from work, so do like to have tyres suitable for the worst conditions.

My new GSA came with Metzeler Karoos , now that is a scarey tyre on the road in th wet. Back wheel spins on most overbanding on the motorway when it rains

 

[Trippy]

But how much off roading, if its just going to be the odd forest trail or gentle (and I'm guessing from your location) rather flat green lane Anakees or Tourances will do you fine and give a lot better ride for 99% of the time your sat on the bike.

If however your new £12000 bike is going to be 'used' all year and have to climb rocky hills or pull its self through mud and sh1te yep TKC's are the business.

 

[Mutley]

TKC80's

Plenty of us ride on them all the time. They are a road tyre with an off road bias, as opposed to Battlewings and Tourances which are a road tyre with a deep tread.

Obviously they won't grip at the extremes like a sports tyre will, but then you are riding the wrong bike for that anyway.

Unless you are an ex-racer I know plenty of people who are scarily quick and only use TKC's (rain or not).

They are an aquired taste though, and the rears wear out after about 2,500 miles of spirited riding (but then you can get two rears and a front for less than two Tourances).

Try them for the next 5k miles. If you don't like them go back to road tyres.

 

[Magwych]

Try them for the next 5k miles. If you don't like them go back to road tyres.

That's a fair point. they are cheap enough, if you really cant use them after breaking there are a few of here with an eye out for good condition TKCs

 

[JanTurn]

Obviously they won't grip at the extremes like a sports tyre will, but then you are riding the wrong bike for that anyway.

tyres.

The GS will hold its own against any sportsbike! Off rode I ride a 650. Lighter and easier to pick up if it goes over compared to the quarter tonne of the GS.

 

[LiquidLAN]

I ran on TKC's for ages and never had a problem with then in the wet or dry... I did how ever find that they didnt feel as good in the cold so I used to run TKCs in the summer and Tourance over winter.

I'm running tourance all the time now and using a smaller trail bike for off-road stuff

keep thinking about getting a second set of wheels to run knobbles on as its all easy enough to swap over...


Got to be honest the whole tyre question is one that gets asked a lot here - originally I thought the 12ADV look way better with knobbles, but now I dont care, nearly all of my riding is on-road which is why I've gone for that tyre choice... it does make so much more sense.