TKC 80's

[scooterme]

Has anyone tried fitting TKC 80's on an R? I just saw they're made in our sizes now, studded up they could make a great winter tire, if the front tire knobbies can fit without snagging the mudguard.

[Karamazov]

Scrambled R

Oh yeah, I'm getting me some of those. I have a trip coming up this Spring and plan to pick up a set. I'll be posting pics and reviews.

[Lost Rider]

TKC's are just horrible on anything wet, icy, snowy, etc. Maybe with studs for riding on ice, but that would be scary as hell on pavement.
They are so-so off tarmac, far overrated by the 12GS crowd that doesn't know any better with the tire choices they have. Terrible on wet tarmac, good on dry tarmac. They look cool though...
I averaged about 1500 miles per rear on my 8GS, about the same with Nancy (a mellow rider) on the 650GS, they wear fast and didn't last long and that was on a lighter, much less powerful bike. Killed one in 1200 miles when riding the Trans America Trail and pushing hard on gravel roads.
The front starts to cup with very uneven wear after 2000 and feel weird needing replacing by 4000 miles.

I've ran more TKC's than I ever wanted to use before I went to 18" rear wheel on the GS (for better more commonly found tire choice and off road performance), I was forced to use them regularly because it was what most dealers would have in stock in my travels, hard to come by anything else for a 17" DS tire. I never thought they were much if any better than most, less aggressive DS tires out there for off tarmac performance, a great street tire that looks meaty.


They would certainly look cool on an R, tough, mean, aggressive and all that, but in practice I don't see them as a viable option for any kind of traveling tire, I bet the 180/17 TKC is also not stocked most places, unlike the 140/17 or the 130/17, with how they wear you would have to pre-arrange tire swaps if traveling around on them.
Would like to see someone try them out though on the R, I wont be.

[Karamazov]

I went through a full set of TKC80s (two rears and a front) on my 650X and loved them. Before that I ran Tourances - which came on the bike, a set of Kenda 761s, and two sets of Anakees. I thought they were an excellent tire. Handled well on pavement and very competent off road. If I were looking for a touring tire, or an off road tire, I would look elsewhere, but for a dual sport trip with a mix of both, I wouldn't hesitate to buy them again. Considering there really aren't any other options for an aggressive tire on the RR, I'd say it's a pretty easy decision. As far as wear goes, it's no secret Joe goes through tires faster than anyone on the forum. I'm more than comfortable putting TKC80s on for a 2k+ trip without concerns of needing a swap. I also think the TKC80 will be perfect for a dual sporting RR with it's fat rear - I'd expect it to perform like a TW200 on crank.

[scooterme]

I guess there is nothing new under the sun. I found these pictures of a crazy S1000RR. Also, my fear of the front tire catching on the mudguard may be confirmed.

[scooterme]

Scrambled R

Oh yeah, I'm getting me some of those. I have a trip coming up this Spring and plan to pick up a set. I'll be posting pics and reviews.

I'll keep my eyes open for your review and pictures. BTW, I love the Scrmbled R

[Lost Rider]

I went through a full set of TKC80s (two rears and a front) on my 650X and loved them. Before that I ran Tourances - which came on the bike, a set of Kenda 761s, and two sets of Anakees. I thought they were an excellent tire. Handled well on pavement and very competent off road. If I were looking for a touring tire, or an off road tire, I would look elsewhere, but for a dual sport trip with a mix of both, I wouldn't hesitate to buy them again. Considering there really aren't any other options for an aggressive tire on the RR, I'd say it's a pretty easy decision. As far as wear goes, it's no secret Joe goes through tires faster than anyone on the forum. I'm more than comfortable putting TKC80s on for a 2k+ trip without concerns of needing a swap. I also think the TKC80 will be perfect for a dual sporting RR with it's fat rear - I'd expect it to perform like a TW200 on crank.

Fair enough, we all have differing experiences on subjective MC related things like tire mileage or performance. The TCK's are good dry street tires, when comparing them to more aggressive DS tires off tarmac they aren't so great IMHO. Though like I said, Nancy has got similar milage on her G650 and she's not aggressive at all, plus it's a differing view on how long a trip is too... 2K on TKC's?... no problem for most riders, by the end of the trip they will be pretty square and not so knobby though.
For the most part when I'm traveling I do my best to get the most out of my tires and ride much less aggressively but 2k could be a short 4 days ride for me on the R, or even 2 days on the extreme side of things. When I'm thinking long trip it usually means 5-10K miles, for me with TKC's that would be something like $1000 in rear tires alone and not an option these days.

Will be interesting to see how it works out for you on the R, maybe with it's large size and bigger knobs it will wear better, looking forward to the photos.

[scooterme]

My TKC 80s arrive tomorrow. So, with a bit of luck, I should get them mounted up before the snow starts to fly around here.

I'll be sure to post pics.

[MTBeemer]

I have a friend who often runs TKC80s on her R12R. She lives in Alaska and has taken her R to Deadhorse and Inuvik on multiple occasions. She reports no issues while running on pavement, wet or dry. I've never run them on my R, but I did live in Alaska for 16 years and ran them on my GSPD and my wife's F650GS for many miles. I never found them scary on pavement in wet or dry conditions, but I never pushed them in the wet and was prudent on dry pavement.

As far as wet, loose snow goes, I don't think there is a great option but the TKC80s would be as good as any. The picture is of Doris Wiedermann's 800GS sitting in my garage in Fairbanks as she prepared to ride to Prudhoe in February; she had just ridden up from Key West. She ran TKC80s most of the way and added studs when she got to regular packed snow.



She added screws at our place because the studs were worn. The only fall she ever took was in a Florida parking lot the day she took delivery of the bike.



Then off she went.....

[scooterme]

Great stuff. Glad to hear I'm not the first, and I sounds like fit should not be an issue. Don't suppose you have any pictures of the R do you?

We'll see how they handle in the snow and ice. I plan to pick up some Aerostich tire studs when th budget allows.

[SDMAX2]

I went all through this last spring when planning my Alaska trip on my 07 R1200R/ eventually wound up on Continental Trail Attack 2's

These were more aggressive looking than the old Trail Attacks. I have Scorpions on my 800 ABS Triumph and realized too late that they
look even more agressive than the TA's. Made if from San Diego to Anchorage, thence to Dawson YT, then south all of YT then Cassiar south through all of BC to just above Seattle where the bike is in a friend's garage; when I pick it up in the spring, I wll put a new TA on the rear and head for San Diego. TA's did fine on Top of the World hwy which is all loose gravel...I think way better that my usual tire, Mich PR3....

All of these tires will fit the R12
all in all I'd go with Scorpion....TKC 80's are really favored in AK, but Lost knows what he's talking about.....John

[scooterme]

I got some time to fit the tires today. It all went smoothly. I took a quick test ride and they run well. IMHO, they look pretty bad ass. Time will tell how well they work for me throughout the winter.

[AncientMariner]

Bad ass, indeed!

[scooterme]

So far the TKC's are working out great. They have kept me riding through a very snowy December in Maine. Tomorrow I should be receiving screw-in tire studs from Aerostich. Hopefully these will up my traction on the ice a little bit

[MTBeemer]

I've ridden my R to Alaska and the Yukon every year since we moved down to MT, and plan to do so again this spring. I've searched for a tire that will last the entire 6000 mile round trip and be effective when riding on dirt roads once we get up there. The roads to and in Alaska are largely chip-seal surfaces and are tough on tires. This year we plan on riding about 400 miles on dirt roads visiting friends. I tried Pirelli Scorpions and they were okay on pavement and so-so in dirt, but the biggest problem was that I was well into the cords on the rear tire when I got home. Last year I ran PR2s. We kept the dirt riding to a minimum and they had plenty of rubber when we got home. I would love to run TKC80s but know they would be very unlikely to last the entire trip. So this year I'm going to try Dunlop 616s. They are not advertised as[/img] Dual Sport tires but are supposedly derived from racing rain tire patterns. They look at least as aggressive as a Tourance or Anakee and perhaps even a bit more capable on dirt. We'll see how they do. The other tire I wanted to try was the Avon Distenza but apparently they no longer make them in sizes to fit the RR. If anyone runs across a set of Distenzas that will fit, then please let me know.

Here are the 616s mounted:

[hardytm]

So far the TKC's are working out great. They have kept me riding through a very snowy December in Maine. Tomorrow I should be receiving screw-in tire studs from Aerostich. Hopefully these will up my traction on the ice a little bit

Just curious how many miles the TKC's lasted?

And did the Dunlop 616's make it the 6,000 miles?

Thanks!

[scooterme]

I'm still running the tires every winter. Not sure how many mile they have on them. I really don't put on many miles in the winter, I just use the bike primarily for my in-town commute in the colder months... days around zero F don't make me inclined to go for a long ride!

I have the tires studded up with screw-in studs from Aerostich. They provide the much needed bite on the ice, and also slow the tire wear.

I'd guess that I have maybe 1000-1500 miles on the tires with no real signs of wear.

The one issue I have had is the studs working their way into the tire causing slow leaks. Tire slime as addressed that more-or-less successfully.