Note: This particular post is part of a series of posts related to the Modifications I have done to my bike.
In preparation for the forthcoming GS adventures of the summer, today I made a significant change to my motorcycle by going Continental – changing to the Continental TKC 80 Enduro motorcycle tires. I will come back to a more thorough review of the tires in a while – so far I have only ridden them for about an hour. All I can say is that it made a huge difference to the riding experience of the bike, and it will definitely take some time to get used to. Stay tuned for more!
Here are some snapshots from the the very simple process of getting the wheels on and off the bike (tire change was done by Dekkmann AS Stavanger).
Hi Edgar. Came across your website. Cool. About the TKC 80, what’s your experience so far? I have just got 2800km on my GSA 3B and am looking for “better” tyres! Spend 120*km on my 12’RT to learn more
Hi Svein, and thank you for you comments. First of all, I changed to the TKC 80 prior to my participation at Adventure Days in Sweden last summer (in 2011) where I was going to do a lot of off road riding. Immediately after putting the tires on, the bike felt quite unstable on normal roads and I also quite soon noticed a considerable increase in stopping distance when breaking hard due to the smaller surface in contact with the road. I have found that the instability was due to the “square” shape of the rubber making up the tire when it is new – after riding a while it became better.
I still have these tires on, and I am now used to riding them. I don’t notice the instability issue any longer as the tires are worn and “rounded” off from it’s new “square” shape. I don’t ride off road that much, but when I do, the TKC 80 is superb! Also, I don’t ride really hard. If you’re into speed, other tires would fit better. But I guess, another bike would also suit better for such use 🙂
If you are doing a bit of off road riding, and you can live with the breaking/stopping issue, I do recommend these tires. Honestly, I also think they make the bike look so much better! 🙂
My GSA was equipped with Tourance EXP tires, and I have so far only 2800km on them. My RT I can rund fast and on good roads, but as you know, not all roads in Norway is highways.
I agree that “studded tires” look better on a GSA than “street tires” and I asume the “unstable” experience is due to the flexing in the stud itself. The reason for me to invest in the GSA, is to go further than with the RT, on worse roads than I could with the RT, so maybe I’ll try the TKC as my next setup.