TKC80s... any good for winter C roads??

[Dreamer]

Yes, I know, I know, lots has already been written about them, they're great offroad and some folks use them all the time...

BUT I have a specific question. (sorry).

How do they fair on crappy tarmac roads? The bulk of my usual commute is single-lane country back roads... tarmac'ed, but including such fun things as
- copius amounts of gravel and mud in centre of road
- dead twigs/branches fallen from trees
- horse shit (fresh and old)
- wet leaves
- dead rabbits
- large potholes
- floods
- etc, etc (every day is an adventure )

Do you recommend TKC80s for this sort of 'bad roads' stuff, or am I better off sticking with Tourances?

The Conti TKC80 provides the de-riguer finish to the adventure style motorcycle. The tyre choice of world conquering adventurers and standard equipment on the BMW R1200GS Adventure. The Conti TKC80 delivers un rivalled on and off road performance, all season, all weather, in all terrain and every road condition, regardless of continent! Conti TKC80 World Conquering Grip, don't go exploring without them.

 

[Fanum]

I use them all year round and have no issues with that sort of roads..in fact in some ways they're perfect for them.

They will slip a little on hard slippery stuff, IE wet ironwork, banding etc, and if the mud's deep and clay-like, they will cake up and become big hoops of mud.

Other than that though, (and they're predictable when they do slip) they are superb and for broken tarmac/loose stuff they'll probably be better than the Tourances.

HTH

PS also look at Heidenau K60's as an alternative

 

[ovenpaa]

I also commute mostly on bumpy country backroads with a mix of quarry mud, roadkill and 4x4's on most corners and the TKC's faired well when I ran them on a 640 Adventure, in fact the road holding on tarmac in the dry is awe inspiring. I did manage to get the front end to tuck on one occasion however that was in CMK and it was on a wet roundabout and I was braking very hard so it was to be expected.

 

[Dreamer]

Thanks guys, for the quick response - confirmed what I'd hoped, but it's always good to get first hand experience.

Ta muchly.

 

[Shep]

If you never go off road then stick to the more road biased tyres, unless your just after the rough tuff look of the TKC

If your riding is mixed then i'm sure you can adjust your riding style to suit

The biggest drawback i've seen with TKC's was in wet weather braking, the stopping distance is extended a lot further with the knobblies, this can be catered for by adjusting your riding style but there may just be one time when you wished you had stopped 6' quicker

Shep

 

[Dahoum]

I use them all year round and have no issues with that sort of roads..in fact in some ways they're perfect for them.

They will slip a little on hard slippery stuff, IE wet ironwork, banding etc, and if the mud's deep and clay-like, they will cake up and become big hoops of mud.

Other than that though, (and they're predictable when they do slip) they are superb and for broken tarmac/loose stuff they'll probably be better than the Tourances.

Wot the BOFGT sez

 

[brassmonkey001]

Great tyres, I always use them through winter when the lane gets crappy. Tourances are great on dry roads and even on wet but clean roads, but if the roads are shitted up then you'll fare better on the Conti's.

 

[colinw]

I think it depends how you want to ride, I have tried a set and tbh i think they are crap on the road, I ride hard and even on good tarmac they were braking away all the time, also the front of the bike will steer VERY quickly which will cause you problems on wet roundabouts, they are not designed for high speed use and are not rated at over 100, imo they are no good over about 60mph, on a windy motorway at 80 you will see what i mean.

I have reverted to road tyres and am now running trail attacks and they seem very good, standard tourances will be a good tyre too, I actually wish i had not tried the tkc's.

 

[AdamA]

They are better than Tourances in the mud.

How is your nose?

 

[ExpatinIstanbul]

I've got TK's on my 1200, and love 'em. In Istanbul every journey means experiencing pretty much every road surface and they work well on all. A downside is, as someone has already mentioned, they are not so good in the wet on hard/shiny surfaces, but that's the same for most other tyres anyway and only requires a little more attention when riding.

Motorway speeds are not a problem. A couple of weekends ago I went on a trip with L from this site and another mate out here. We used motorways for roughly 400km, with my bike loaded with camping gear and had no problems cruising at 120-140Km/h. We also used badly surfaced B-Roads and twisty country lanes for another 400km, at not exactly slow speeds, and I had no problems keeping up with the Tourance clad bikes of the others. Last weekend I took a 600km trip with the wife and full "wife luggage allowance", traveling at an average 120Km/h, again with no trouble, even though this was in high winds.

Tyre choice is always subjective, but I like TKC's mostly becuase they give me more confidence when trying a bit of softroading, as I'm pretty inexperienced and crap at it. The road use elements of the tyre are just as good as the Tourances I used to use, so I reckon I've got the right rubber for me.

 

[Dreamer]

They are better than Tourances in the mud.

How is your nose?

Haha.. touche!

The only problem with TKC80s offroad is that it takes away the 'wrong tyres' excuse and makes it impossible to disguise the crap riding.

 

[Dreamer]

Tyre choice is always subjective, but I like TKC's mostly becuase they give me more confidence when trying a bit of softroading, as I'm pretty inexperienced and crap at it. The road use elements of the tyre are just as good as the Tourances I used to use, so I reckon I've got the right rubber for me.

Exactly what I'm after.

 

[sparkplug]

Exactly what I'm after.

I'd agree TKC80s are no problem at all on tarmac. The first few miles on brand new ones are 'interesting' as the bike feels like it will only go in a straight line, but don't panic as after a few miles they settle down.

The only 'downsides' are that you get a bit more vibration on tarmac than you would with tourances (but it's not that bad) and that they wear out much much quicker so don't be expecting 8,000 miles from TKCs.

Well worth having tried them at least once Dreamer, then you'll know what works best for you

 

[JIm]

I tried TKCs last year when off-roading in Spain. Before that I used Tourance.

I found the TKCs confident, however, I found that the bike felt like it was "falling" into bends when leaning, I did get used to this.
I'm back on Tourance now and it felt much quicker and positive in the twisties.

Just a comment on Tourance EXPs or whatever they're called, I have one one the rear, it does seem to be wearing quicker, I'll get maybe 5500 miles out of it, thats mostly fully loaded, fast, motorway miles. I think they're meant to be more sticky, I certiantly had no problems arround the wet Alpine passes this year.

Jim