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Continental TKC80 Tires

medic_moto

New member
It's tire time again. Anyone have any experience with the longevity of TKC80's. I commute during the week, and do off-road camping on the weekends. I was looking at the heidenau scouts because I've heard of people getting insane mileage out of them, but I got a line on a great deal on some TKC80's.

My question is.... how do they hold up to street mileage with daily use? Any info about your experience with these tires is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
 
Tire wear is dependent upon many factors (weight, speed, surface, etc.), but how hard you twist the throttle is often the biggest factor. One rider will claim getting only 1,500 out of a TKC80 rear while another will say 4,000. I keep TKC80s on my ‘16 R1200GSA at all times unless I’m going on a long road trip. I’m gentle on the throttle and get good wear (maybe around 3,500 miles). I’m on my 2nd TKC80 rear, but that’s because I put a nice hole in the 1st one.


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What bike?

I rode an F650 from Kansas to Anchorage with TKC80s. The rear was gone. Front had some life left but I replaced it anyway. Then rode back to Kansas on the new set of TKC80s.

You probably won't do this on a bigger GS.
 
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It's tire time again. Anyone have any experience with the longevity of TKC80's. ...
The Heidenau Scouts are reported very good but sizes weren't available for our 2014 GS at the time so we went with TKC80s for a mix of moderate Colorado passes and pavement. The TKC80s were remarkable when things got yucky and stuck amazingly well on pavement but were gone by 2500 miles. The Anakee Wild and Karoo 3s are out now and reportedly provide better mileage. If you are just on fire roads have you considered the TKC70s?
 
Tire wear is dependent upon many factors (weight, speed, surface, etc.), but how hard you twist the throttle is often the biggest factor. One rider will claim getting only 1,500 out of a TKC80 rear while another will say 4,000. I keep TKC80s on my ‘16 R1200GSA at all times unless I’m going on a long road trip. I’m gentle on the throttle and get good wear (maybe around 3,500 miles). I’m on my 2nd TKC80 rear, but that’s because I put a nice hole in the 1st one.


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I'm pretty easy on the throttle on the street, and I expect a 50/50 to wear more from road driving. I'm more of a minimalist camper offroad. I have side cases, and a top case, and usually a drybag across the back seat, but all of my gear is ultralight stuff from backpacking, so I don't tend to bring the kitchen sink. Getting a puncture in a newer tire is so depressing. HAHA.


What bike?

I rode an F650 from Kansas to Anchorage with TKC80s. The rear was gone. Front had some life left but I replaced it anyway. Then rode back to Kansas on the new set of TKC80s.

You probably won't do this on a bigger GS.[/QUOTE

I have a G 650 GS. About how many miles do you think it was one way for you?

The Heidenau Scouts are reported very good but sizes weren't available for our 2014 GS at the time so we went with TKC80s for a mix of moderate Colorado passes and pavement. The TKC80s were remarkable when things got yucky and stuck amazingly well on pavement but were gone by 2500 miles. The Anakee Wild and Karoo 3s are out now and reportedly provide better mileage. If you are just on fire roads have you considered the TKC70s?

I have looked at the TKC70's, but those are similar to the battlewings that came on my bike when I first got it, and I wasnt pleased with the wear on those really. I just don't want to purchase the tkc80's and burn through them by mid summer. I'd like to have some decent tires for the national rally trip. Not too worried about Iowa, but after the rally I'm headed to Colorado to visit some friends, and do some off-roading/camping for a few days before I head back to Illinois, so I need a decent 50/50. Mayne the Scouts will be my best bet. I'm not familiar with the Karoo 3's, perhaps I should research those as well.
 
TKC80 are great tires. Good grip off and on road grip as well. But they don’t last long. On a week long off road trip I can go through 2 rear and 1 front easily. But they are easy to change. Takes me 20 minutes to put on a new rear with just two short tire irons. (Portugal and lots of rocks)

Heidenau will last much longer but the tire sides are SOO HARD it’s almost impossible to change out in a parking lot with just a couple of tire irons.
 
... I commute during the week, and do off-road camping on the weekends...

My feeling is, with that much street riding you are throwing the a ton of money away with the TKC80 on the pavement.

I'd consider two alternatives:
a) A 50/50 tire with better longevity such as the Motoz Tractionator GPS, Metzeler Karoo 3, etc.
b) Buy a second set of rims (mags would be fine for the street) and mount 90/10 for commuting and run the TKC80s on your existing rims for the weekends.

While Plan-B sounds expensive, a used set of rims with rotors can be found for as low as $500-$750.

Suppose you run your G650GS medium-hard for say 12,500 miles with the two sets of rims and put 2,500 miles on the rims with the TKC80s mounted (averaging front & rear longevity for hard usage) and 10,000 miles on say Conti's Trail Attack 2 (averaging front & rear longevity for hard usage). Milder usage would extend those figures for both, but not likely change the ratios.

You would have spent around $750 for the rims w/rotors and $750 for the set of TKC80s and TA-2s = $1,500 up-front. After 25,000 miles it would be $2,250. Plus you've got an extra set of rims!

Compare that to running TKC80s all the time. at roughly $300/pair/2,500 miles. After 12,500 miles the spend is spot on the other scenario, $1,500, but no second set of rims. After 25,000 miles it is $3,000 not $2,250! So you're now $750 behind and still no second set of rims. The longer you keep the bike and the more miles you ride (the more fun you have) the greater that difference becomes.

You can see where how much you ride in each environment and how comfortable you are with changing wheels come into play (a very quick job after the first couple of times).
 
My experience with TKC80s on a R1200GSA is the front lasts twice as long as the rear.


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TKC80's are more fun off pavement than the Heidenau's on my '06 F650 Dakar. I made the decision a while ago that I would choose tires that were better off pavement than on regardless of what mileage I got out of them. I preferred the Michelin T63 tires to the TKC80's but they are no longer available.

I get around 4500 miles out of the rear TKC80 in mixed use, and has been said "the front lasts twice as long as the rear". I rode to the Sedalia National (Saddlesore on the way) then on to Colorado and New Mexico (where I spent two weeks riding Jeep trails and mountain passes) then back to New York (bunburner on the way) on one set of TKC80's.

Sometimes you get in a little deeper than expected and it pays to have the right tires.

i-ZKHZ3kp-L.jpg
 
TKC80's are more fun off pavement than the Heidenau's on my '06 F650 Dakar. I made the decision a while ago that I would choose tires that were better off pavement than on regardless of what mileage I got out of them. I preferred the Michelin T63 tires to the TKC80's but they are no longer available.[/IMG]

Reid - If they haven't done so already, Michelin is getting close to releasing Anakee Wild tires sized for your bike. My experience with these is on my HP2e, but I can assure you that there is no compromise on mileage or traction with these tires... they work great on and off pavement. I think they should do especially well on a lighter bike. I'm going to put a set on my Xchallenge as soon as they are available.

Ian

ps => as to the OP question about Conti TKC80s... the average life of a rear tire that I've seen in hundreds of different riders' bikes is 3500 miles. The fronts go as far as 8-9k miles. If the majority of your riding is on-pavement, I would suggest a set of Mitas E-07 tires, assuming there's a size to fit your bike. Heidenau's are a good choice also, but they're harder compound means they deliver less pavement performance, especially in the wet.
 
Reid - If they haven't done so already, Michelin is getting close to releasing Anakee Wild tires sized for your bike. My experience with these is on my HP2e, but I can assure you that there is no compromise on mileage or traction with these tires... they work great on and off pavement. I think they should do especially well on a lighter bike. I'm going to put a set on my Xchallenge as soon as they are available.

Ian

Ian - I have been checking in with Revzilla to see if /when they have the correct size. I'm looking forward to another great Michelin tire! Remember the Hidenau's I reviewed for the ON? They are sitting on a shelf in my shop w/1k or so miles on them, hated them for my bike.
 
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