Greasy TKC80s

I've just had a set of TKC80s fitted (£145) and have covered 200 miles on them over the weekend. How long do they take to bed in? I've had a few heart stopping moments when the tyres has let slip and I'm concerned that they don't appear to be getting any better.

Whats the best tyre pressures for them? I've currently got 2 bar in the front and 2.2 bar in the rear.

Hey Rob, what do you do with your bike!!!! at 200 miles, not only should they be well bedded in, but mine were showing distinct signs of wear. Absolutely sha???d at about 1500 miles, but they gripped like...well...stickey things almost from the moment they were fitted.

I certainly never managed to get them to let go: squirm, certainly, but they never caused me any concern (other than the rate of wear that is).

IMHO, great tyres if you can afford to replace the rear on a monthly basis. Meanwhile I'm back on Tourances

Dennis,

I was looking for some reassurance. I put the TKC's on ready for Spain (3k round trip) doh!

Ok! fess up who said they lasted for 3.5k?

Mine lasted about 1200 miles before they were 2/3 gone and making the bike drop badly into corners...... Front was still good but the rear was well past its best.


Could be the way I ride I guess.......

One thing I would say though, if it has been at all damp or wet when you were riding, "they all do that sir!" as they say.

Oh, and the difference in braking distances against the Tourances is really quite scary, they doing about 40 on a straight smooth piece of road and see how fast you can stop!!! Not good.

Don't worry Rob, Dennis' wear rate is exceptional. I dread to think what sort of, er, 'progressive', riding you would need to do to match that.

The tyre profile squares off quite soon from new, then you have more rubber in contact with the road and the wear rate slows down. My last rear TKC80 lasted 3,500 miles. I ran it almost down to the wear-ridges to get the full milage. The last 1mm down to the wear-ridges took me from 2,900 to 3,500. The first 1mm from new dissappears within about 100 miles!

The front tyre is on target to last 6 or 7k.

I reckon cruising at high speed bolt upright all the time is what wears them out fast. They are a soft compound rubber so above say 80mph they will get very warm, good for grip but bad news for wear. Stick below 80 most of the time, aim for twisty roads not straight boring ones, and they'll get you to Spain and back no problem.

They seem to grip just as well when worn out as they do when new (maybe even better? or perhaps by then you have full confidence in them). Grip on dry roads is excellent. The rear tyre will certainly squirm around a bit as the big tread blocks flex under load, but I like that - you can feel exactly what's going on and get loads of warning before it really lets go, under severe provocation. Nothing wrong with bit of rear-wheel steering.

The handbook-recommended pressures work fine for me, 31psi front, 35psi rear.

Sounds like the TKC-80s off-road capability will be severely diminished by the time you get to Spain. Better plan on changing them sometime during your trip.

Ok! I've changed my opinion. I went for a 70 Mile blast today and 20 miles in the tyres suddenly started to work...gave it big licks for another 20 or so and then pulled over to take a look.
blocks had changed from black to grey and the edges have started to peel off the blocks, there are also fine splits starting to form along the length of some of the mid-section blocks. By the time I got home I was starting to enjoy the grip.

I think the tyres may be old stock and the rubber had started to harden thats why they felt greasy.

Wear:

At 220 miles the tread had lost 0.5mm of its original block height
At 293 miles the tread had lost 1.5mm of its original block height

I'm not sure about the splits in the block...A visit to the suppliers is in order.