Best tyres for a Transalp

[sean]

What do you think of the TKC80's I believe they are good off road but what about on the road , which is what I'll be using the bike for the majority of the time. Else it BT45's.

I dont like them! hence after 1800 miles and my trip to the elephant rally I've taken the TKC's off and put them up for sale. alot of guys like them but not me I'm afraid.....

[T ALP]

Hav'nt read through these three pages but what I can say is ANYTHING is better than trailwings!!

I replaced mine with tourances got the 130/80 on the back and I cannot fault them

[Nessmuk]

I've only had my TA just over a week so I've not much experience to call upon but, I replaced the squared off rear Tourance this weekend with another one. So far I've found it to be a great tyre, seems to offer good grip in the wet.

My Serow has a Distanzia on the rear and I've never had any trouble with it, it is a much lighter bike though. It's been on there 1 1/2 years and it's only half worn, despite being my daily transport for most of that time.

[Tracey F]

Just had Tourances fitted, they have transformed the bike, the old trailwings had worn out on the rear and gone out of shape on the front. Just had new chain and sprockets as well so its all ready for my maiden Trip to Spain and Portugal. Thanks again guys for the advice on tyres. I also bought a low seat from David Silver spares so i can touch the floor with both feet, a bargain at £45 plus vat.
Tracey

[Ronnie]

Hi Tracey. I'm a bit late I know, but next time you're tyre shopping consider Michelin Anakees too. I find them excellent on the road whatever the weather. Have a great trip!

[Mototrell]

I think the same that Ronnie.
I had Anakee during 50.000 aprox. (not the same pair, hahaha) and I think they are between the best for Transalp.
I never had any problem with them (I only ride on road), no problem at summer, no problem at winter.
It is possible to do 15.000 km with the rear tyre, and around 20.000/25.000 with the front tyre.
With Anakee you can ride really fast on road.
Now, on my Transalp 650 I have Bridgestone BT45 25 km ago.
I am waiting to know his comportment.

[awsi4u]

I got Avon Distanzia (spell?) for rear, and it's too hard. Very scary on wet. probably will last forever but I dont recommend it, I think I would go for the Conti Escape next time.

[Paladin]

In NZ we get to do alot of backcountry gravel roads and tracks. I've been running Mitas E-09's on my '01 650 which have been great for that BUT they're a bit skittish on wet tarmac AND freekin noisy at anything over 100kph on the motorway! That's the trade-off when you go further towards the offroad end of the tyre spectrum I guess. I might try the Mitas E-07's next; a bit more "roady" but offroad good on anything except mud! Have quite a few mates who have, or are, using them and they also say they get pretty good life too - 10-11000 kms on the rear.

BTW when I first got the T/A in December, it had an Avon Distanzia rear which was great on the road, very manageable on gravel particularly when standing up the pegs, but rubbish on anything resembling wet offroad!

I love the fact that the T/A is so well balanced/set up that with more road orientated tyres it is awesome fun on the twisties on the tarmac, but throw some dual sport knobblies(like the E-09) on it and it will take you offroad for different kind of grin factor!

Great bikes! I'd certainly have another one (if I still couldn't afford a KTM 950/990!)

[rogerm]

Hi Tracy,

I use Tourances (think that's how you spell it) in all sorts of conditions and have had about 6,000 miles so far...they still have quite a bit of tread left too. They are very grippy indeed, even in the wet they have never let go. Being an ex sports bike rider they get leaned over pretty far too. Excellent tyres.

Regards
Roger

[steveR]

Slight tangent...

I run a TA 650 and have been running Tourances for all this time. However, the front is showing the usual Tourance instability on less than perfect road surfaces or with a load on the back (sorry Janice!) even when there is plenty of meat left. The problem seems to be the block pattern leaves very big steps as the tyre gets worn and leads to pattering! I am reluctant to replace with the same again, so I wondered if anyone has mixed a Tourance rear with a pukka road tyre front? The intent would be to move to match the rear to the front in 3-4K miles when the rear is worn out.