TKC 80's.... any good?

[Blues N Twos]

Hi gang,

I was wondering if anyone who is currantly running on Continental TKC80 could give me some feedback on how they rate them.

I must admit I mainly use the bike for road use and I do a lot of motorway riding. How is the grip in the wet and cornering and is there any change generally in the the bikes behaviour. Also is it a harsher ride what with the tyres being nobbly.

Thanks in advance

Jon

[TallJohn]

Jon, I have them and think they are excellent, both wet and dry and off-road (not wet grass though). They do wear quickly, can't think I will get more than 3000 on mine.

[gibbo]

TKC80's are a very good tyre. However, for mostly road riding including lots of motorways, get road tyres - Tourance, Scorpions, Anakees etc.
For off-road riding there are better tyres than TKC80's (Metzeler MCE Karoos, Deserts) but they are a good compromise.

[africatijn]

Anyone tried the Bridgestone BT45's?

Look pretty sh*te, but they should be very good road tires.

Cheers,
T.

[Blues N Twos]

Jon, I have them and think they are excellent, both wet and dry and off-road (not wet grass though). They do wear quickly, can't think I will get more than 3000 on mine.

Blimey .... I have got 5000 on my Bridgstone trailwings and there is a lot of meat left in them still. I could not afford tyres doing only 3k. That would be new tyres every couple of months.

TKC80's are a very good tyre. However, for mostly road riding including lots of motorways, get road tyres - Tourance, Scorpions, Anakees etc.
For off-road riding there are better tyres than TKC80's (Metzeler MCE Karoos, Deserts) but they are a good compromise.

I think you could be right there. My rear has squared off a bit know but thats motorways for you, can't get much of a lean at 90mph.

Jon

[DaveS]

THey are awesome on the road and off.
On they are not as good as Anakee's which I had before though.

I find they start to slip, slide and squirm when they get hot. So if you're really hammering it, then don't be suprised when that happens.

I have total confidence in them though and get my boot sliders scraping round a corner.

In the wet they are less inspiring but still fine.
You don't really notice that they're nobblies unless your coming to a standstill.

Highly recommend them anyway. I can't see myself going back to Anakee's.

[simplysie]

I have done about 2000 miles on mine, about a third of that being motorway, the rear is now looking decidely worn and is starting to square off, if most of your ride is motorway i would stay clear of these as they wear very fast on high speed and long runs.

As to grip, on road and off road they are great, as DaveS says you can regulary scrape your boots and i know i still aint cornered to their limit, but maybe mine, in the wet i haven't really pushed them but they are definately better than the bridgestones that were on before

Sie

[Blues N Twos]

I must admit I do like the look of them but don't think I could cope with the wear of them. For the sake of £140 I may try them out.

I have a bit of time before I need to bite the bullet.

They do look the dogs danglies though.

Jon

[iswoolley]

I put a set of TKC80s on for my trip to the Alps. I've now done 3000 miles on them in a fair variety of conditions, and I would say the overall verdict has to be positive.

When I first put them on the bike it really wanted to drop into corners much faster than the Anakees I had previously. I spent a lot of time holding the bike up going around corners. As they started to wear this feeling faded, but I'm not sure if I was getting used to them or the wear stopped it happening.

At slow speed you can hear them make a noise like old Landrover tyres. Also at walking pace you get vibes back through the handlebars, you can feel the blocks making contact with the road.

Road grip is for the most part pretty good. In the dry you can get the bike right over and the tyres will hang on. It takes a bit of getting used to, but I found that after a million French alpine hairpins I was chucking the bike around with free abandon. In the wet I found I could achieve the same angles of lean as in the dry, I just had to be smoother with the throttle. I didn't feel like I could crack the throttle open mid-corner, which I could do with the Anakees. In this respect their performance is fantastic for a knobblie tyre, but ultimately less than a pure road tyre.

Off-road I've been most impressed with the TKC80s. Considering that the block pattern isn't really that wide, they don't seem to get clogged easily. The front especially doesn't look like it should be all that good, but it is. I can get the front wheel to climb out of ruts much easier than with a proper trail bike. (This may have something to do with the extra weight!) On gravel roads the grip and feedback are very confidence inspiring.

So, with 3000 miles on them from a variety of low-speed, high-speed, with-luggage, without-luggage, on-road, and off-road use, I'd give them the thumbs up. The rear is noticeably worn, although it'll be another 1000 miles before the central blocks have gone completely. The front is looking pretty fresh, and would probably outlast 1 or 2 more rear tyres.

At £125 for the pair, I'd say TKC80s are a versatile tyre that lasts reasonably well, lets you go green laning one day and hairpin hooning the next.

[Blues N Twos]

At £125 for the pair, I'd say TKC80s are a versatile tyre that lasts reasonably well, lets you go green laning one day and hairpin hooning the next.

Thanks for the feedback mate. Was wondering where you got your tyres from. The best quote I have had so far is £143.

Regards

Jon