Conti TKC80's yes or no
 

no one seems to agree on these tyres some say good some say bad can you please help, i like the look of these but im no expert.
i do about 70% on road 30% off whats the best tyres to buy on my xt660r.

Yes! =)

Been a thread about them in the 10 section: http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=7205

For an off-road bias tyre, they are good. However,,,,

once they start to wear, you get a slow speed wobble on the front, nothing to worry about (goes away once you clear 20mph) but you will notice it when you first move to these tyres,

They don't last anything like as long as say the Tourances (best I managed with these was 9000 miles!)

Handling, on the road is very different and you have much reduced lean angles available. I've not been pushing mine hard but there's no chicken left on the strips..

for a 70/30 split, they are probably worth a try, especialy with the winter coming on.

Not too bad if you flip them once in a while.

Go for it.

They get different reviews because so many people expect them to be like a proper off road tyre, but thats not what they are designed to be, they are a compromise between off roading and road riding. I put a pair on for a 2 day off roading trip to wales and they worked fine, they dont really like the mud but do great in rocking/stoney conditions.

on the road i had no problems, they do feel weird as the tread pattern allows the rubber to move a good bit but didnt slow me down on the twisties of wales. Mine lasted around 3.5k -4k miles (rear) and im keeping the front when i want to do some more off roading.

I've had TKC80s on for the last 150,000 miles. Excellent road-legal tyre for offroading, very grippy on dry tarmac, take it easy when wet. They are directional, so make sure they're fitted the right way round. One pair lasted Senegal and back (9000 miles). They tend to drop into corners more readily which is great when you are used to it.

yes drop into the corner is right:042:, just watch out for the first few rides as this near got me a few times but once youve mastered it its full sideways ahead.

I was thinking of fitting the TKC 80, but I have decided to get the Trellborg Swiss army tyres I had them on a DRZ400 before and the grip great in the wet muddy conditions has well rocky climbs and are speed rated.

I am use to riding with full on enduro tyres on the road with my KTM300 so I know that it will be easy to spin up on the road and cornering well that is another story, you just ride accordingly and with a little less speed on the road.

I fitted TKC80s to my mainly off road Tenere. I didn't like them. No feedback on wet tar. Rubbish in mud because they don't self clean but they are ok on graded tracks. Not worth the money I think. I still have the front on but fitted a Mitas C02 to the rear. Now that's a scary tyre. lol. :thumbsup:

They handle great, even when they're squared off after 5000 miles...

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...x/Jmojeans.jpg

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...x/img_0084.jpg

J x

I agree, had 'em on my Africa Twin and they were absolute Jack of all trades and pretty damn good at all. And I did some serious mileage on 'em too.:smilies0944:

I'm running T-63 Michelins, and admitly mostly tarmac use but they dont look like they'll get past 2000 miles.
Apart from the wear rate they are well behaved on tar but a little compromised on gloopy stuff and probably not much better (if at all)than TKCs so the wear rate counts against them as an option IMO. Though the carcases are super stiff so could probably stand running lower pressures than the TKCs with less fear of rim pinch punctures (small dubious benifit in reality on the Ten due to its wieght). They growl like tractor tyres at speed.

Not bad if you have to do your shopping in the snow either-

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...DSC00306-1.jpg

My E-09's are coming up to 6000 miles now. They've gone beyond being much use for dirt now (although they are prob still better than the ****ing Tourances :D), but still work on the road.

The Tourances didn't last me any longer. So the conclusion is...run the knobblies all the time.

I expect TKCs would last about the same, but since they are more expensive I don't really see any point in trying :D

As a guideline - when I took the Tenere to the US in 80/09, I covered 23,000 miles...

Initially I fitted a set of MT21's as the TKCs were on back order everywhere, and they were shot by about 3000 miles...

After that I used TKCs exclusively, and got through 4 rear and 3 front for the rest of the trip - so I'd say around 5000 miles on the rear and about 7000 from a front - that's over mixed terrain, a lot of desert and trails, plus a LOT of highway too...

I agree they are quite pricey for a 'knobbly' and compared to the alternatives, however, as Midlife says, they are a very good all-rounder tyre, particularly so on the Tenere.

For info, the MT21's were ghastly at 30psi, running them at 25psi improved things whereas the TKC was not so sensitive, although on the whole I ran them softer than the handbook suggests (although the handbook figure really only relates to OEM fitments anyway).

What I would suggest, and has been mentioned above, is not running the tyres on the Tenere much lower than 20psi - it's a big heavy bike, and you do don't want to ding a rim.

That said, on Heroes I was running mousses the whole time which are the equivalent of 15-18psi, and it didn't seem unduly affected - however, you can't pinch a tube with a mousse of course...

Toot toot!

J x