Yesterday decided to change my metzler tourance for KTC80s, today gave them a try out in the yorkshire dales. They REALLY change the handling of the bike and i found them really weird at first, the front tire seems to cling to the road and fights any attempt to turn it from straight ahead. You have to push firmly on the bars to get the bike to go round tight corners its as though the bike has over tight head bearings or a steering damper fitted. Once you get used to this its an advantage this self centring effect steadys the bike and gives a feeling of security particularly on loose gravel. I covered 205 miles today and really give the tires a work out and by the end of the day I feel confident in tight bends now and after trying out a serious green lane feel much safer offroad than i ever did on the tourances. The KTC 80s gave very good grip on dry tarmac and as long as you dont try to grind the footpegs you should have no problems. I have read on forums that people say they drop into corners, NO tourances drop a lot more! I took my bike up to 85mph and didnt feel any instability as reported on some forums. As for off road, I did the same green lane that terrified me on the tourances and even on the horrible slimymud/grass on the tops I found I actualy had traction and steering!! the bike also tracked MUCH better on loose gravel.

NOTE the wierd handling may have been caused by fork misalignment during the tyre fitting on my part, Bounce the forks and then tighten the pinch bolts when there is weight on the wheel.

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XTz 660 tenere, adventure spec bash plate, main stand, skid marks tall screen, Oxford tail pack 36 litre. Kobra hand guards, Bigger cast footpegs, Zen overland luggage plate, USB power point, iridium spark plug, TKC80 f k60 R tyres, o2 and fuel Kev mods, DNA stage 2 filter. bark buster bar wieghts, Touratec side stand base and GPS mount. Led spot lights

Here are a couple of pics near the top of the green lane it looks flat on the photos but its about 25% incline. If you look at the scenic shot you can see some of the first sections of the green lane in the far distance.






Here is the start of the route on my first attempt in January with the tourances Yes that is a snow drift near the top! similar to one of which i got stuck in.

Lovely place to ride

Hi kiethy2, good write up and photos. ...wish there were trails like that in West Sussex!! Steve

An update, my TKC 80s have now done 2300miles and the rear looks about half worn i think i might scrape 4500 miles if i am very lucky. The rear wears very fast at first but the wear slows down as the tyre starts to flatten. The down side is it now tends to wobble a bit now on high speed bends and the motor way if its windy, its not dangerouse but it didnt do it when the tyres were new. As i live next to the motorway i use it every trip out and highish speeds really wear these tires. The front tire has hardly worn and i may consider a different rear tire when a replacement is needed but which one? Any recommendations folks?

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XTz 660 tenere, adventure spec bash plate, main stand, skid marks tall screen, Oxford tail pack 36 litre. Kobra hand guards, Bigger cast footpegs, Zen overland luggage plate, USB power point, iridium spark plug, TKC80 f k60 R tyres, o2 and fuel Kev mods, DNA stage 2 filter. bark buster bar wieghts, Touratec side stand base and GPS mount. Led spot lights

The TKC80's seem to last pretty well on the front. I've been running them on a previous BMW800GS as well as on the Ten. They give fair mileage, cling to the road and do well off-road.
But at the back there are many choices. I used to run Mitas E07 on the back which lasted well on the 800GS, but gave me only 3400km on the 660.
Due to good feedback from a friend, I've just fitted a Pirelli MT90 and it clings to the road very well. It also does well off-road, but I'll be able to tell after the weekend when we're doing a long off-road trip with gravel, stones, mud and sand.

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2014 XT660Z - Barrett pipe, DNA stage1.5, Barkbuster hand guards and handlebars, Pivot pegs, Teknik suspension, Guard-it engine protector combo, B&B rear rack, Trax topbox.