Tyre Advice

[btbloke]

I've been thinking of changing my tyres ready for the national and after the recent chiltern off road excursion.
Read through many of the threads about different tyres and narrowed it down to a few,the tourances for one and the TKC's for another as well as the escapes.Really fancy the TKC's after being behind marcin and seeing the grip he got.
Now comes the question bit, I have been scouring the old ebay and found round and black are doing a deal on some TKC80's front and rear but the rear tyre is a slightly different size. The standard alp rear is 120/90-17 (64S) round and black have a 130/80-17(65s) is this a viable size. I understand it's a wider tyre and this will obviously give better offroad traction but is it safe?will it fit?will it affect the gearing on the motorway etc?
Anyone tried this before or can give some advice on whats safe and what fits etc will be greatly appreciated.

[ChrisH]

As far as I'm aware 130/80 - 17 65s is standard fitment, so you'd be fine with that. Where did you get 120/90 from?

[btbloke]

It's whats on at the moment,and quoted by tech transalp.

[ChrisH]

130/80 is standard on the 600, but seems lots of people use that on the 650 too from previous posts... I'm sure someone will confirm that!

[Mudwiz]

BT, the 130 is fine, and don't change the bike at all!

If you really want off road grip, run a T63 on the back and a Comp 4 front, still OK on roads up to about 95mph, don't wobble etc.
Still scratch well in the dry too.

Have fun choosing!!

[Dave O]

Hi BT Bloke

Yep, 130's on the back, 90-90-21's on the front. I used tkc 80's on my trip to morocco, there and back. Great tyres on road and dirt, handled the mud quite respectably too. If you were going to do rallies in this country, I'd use something with a more aggressive tread, michelin's comp range, if you need FIM approved for the race. If no FIM needed, use Mitas co2's(cheap and tough)

[wheeliebin]

Both the 600's and 650's are on a 2.5 x 17 rim, standard fitment is a 130 for the 600 and 120 for the 650.

A 130 looks better

[FatFergie]

Both the 600's and 650's are on a 2.5 x 17 rim, standard fitment is a 130 for the 600 and 120 for the 650.

A 130 looks better

I concur.
The gearing is the same for both because the profile for the 130 is lower than the 120.

[btbloke]

thanks for that lads,deffo going for the 130 tkc,the backwheels always got the piss taken out of it by some mates for being a bit thin.spose it'll only be a bit thicker but it's like the wife says every bit helps,
I'm going for the tkc's as they seem to have a good rep on and off road so ebay here we come.......................cheers all