Motorbike Tyres - Talk about tyres you've owned

[Bozo]

Nev

I was surprised how long it took a new rear Heidenau to settle down when travelling through NSW in the wet. I waited to leave on my recent Goldfields trip until mid Thursday morning to get drier roads and a chance to wear the new tyres in without losing the front or the back when cornering. A bit of dirt and a dose of Ahab throttle may sort the issue out faster.

Bozo

[Raider]

Greetings,

My BMW R1200 GS Adventure Rallye X is due for its 30,000 km service. This bike is, in every way, better than my old R1150 GS Adventure. That said, the new bike has a lot of kilometres to accumulate to demonstrate that it is as BOMBPROOF as the old girl!

As for tyres on the R1200 GS Adventure Rallye X , I am using the Continental TKC 80’s. Brilliant tyres for the job. These tyres are also much better, in every way, than the TKC 80’s fitted to my R1150 GSA. Changes to the tyre carcass, including profile, the compounds used and other changes may account for the improvements? I suspect the suspension on the R1200 may also have something to do with the overall improvement to the tyre performance.

I ran TKC 80’s on my R1150 GSA for much of its accumulated 425,000 km - and the count continues. I ran the Heidenau K60 Scout tyres for the most recent few thousand kilometres - largely for the better wear performance.

For whatever reasons, the TKC 80’s fitted to the BMW R1200 GS Adventure Rallye X perform much better that those fitted to my BMW R1150 GS Adventure. OK, so the new TKC 80’s only last about 8,000km (give or take a thousand km’s) with my riding. It was 4,000 to 5,000 km’s on the R1150. For that I get bombproof handling on the black-top and pretty damn good handling on the dirt. In the dry or in the wet. All bets are off in mud!

Here is a video clip showing the state of the tyres after about 8,000 kilometres of black top and dirt riding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAIv96SUwg0



Your thoughts on the tyres and the differences observed would be appreciated. As would views on alternate choices. Yes, I know the Dunlop D606 is bombproof but I am interested in tubeless tyres for the big bikes on this occasion, bikes with plenty of horsepower and torque. And yes, I know there are the riders out there who get 20,000 km, or 30,000 km or more, from their tyres. Let’s here about the virtues of these remarkable tyres too…

Regards,

Raider

[Digger]

I tend to get better mileage from tyres then most but probably cause i don't get caught up in all the hype about tyres. Tyres are expensive, bloody expensive. For that reason you want to try and extend tyre life as much as possible. I don't get attached (sentimentally) to tyres. I fit them, they wear out, i replace them.

Firstly, you may experience better mileage on the newer R1200 cause the tyre is wider...same weight spread over wider width. The lower profile (i believe) was to improve the road handling and aimed at the European market...jockeys who think that fitting hard boxes on their Adventure bike and doing some twisties at speed is their idea of a good weekend.

I am a big fan of lower tyre pressures then recommended even on the blacktop (within the range of the RDC warning light). This allows more tread (wider) to be in contact with the road and therefore spreads the load across the tyre (both front and rear). I've never experienced tyre failure (yet) as a result of heat build up from tyre flexing whether it be loaded or not.

The lower profile tyres are a handicap when riding off road. The rims now are reportedly softer then previously and the lower profile means the rim is closer to the ground then before. If you hit something solid at speed you are going to dent the rim. Here's the clanger (watch the purists cringe)....I fit the older size tyres on occasion (110/90/19 and 150/70/17) to the newer model even though they specify 120/70/19 and 170/60/17. The older tyre sizes can and do fit the newer rim size and give me an extra bit of height when off road in the hope that it decreases the chance of rim damage if i am not riding according to conditions or get caught 'in the zone'.

Tyre and rim chart link below.

https://ridewrightwheels.com/pages/moto ... ment-chart

As far as tyre choice is concerned, I usually settle for a big block knobby unless I know I have a lot of highway riding ahead of me (ie, riding across this wide brown land). There were limited choices initially in the correct tyre size but the market is slowly catching up. I don't care about road performance cause I have never pushed any boundaries when riding the bike on the blacktop. I like to consider myself reasonably conservative when riding regardless whether on the blacktop or not.

There is a lot more choice now and where I use to settle for a tyre that I learned to like (a Mitas E10 for the rear in this case) I will continue to look at other manufacturers.

On a side issue, i used to run old D606's on my 2007 R1200 (tubed) just to get me from A to B...in this case Perth to Alice thru the middle.

[Raider]

Greetings,

Thought I would squeeze a few kilometres out of my current Continental TKC 80’s before the bike goes into Auto Classic for its 30,000km service and another set of tyres.

From home, I headed east to the York-Williams Road and meandered south to Ballingup, Nannup, and back to Ballingup, because you can… Then a meander back home. The farmers were very busy cutting hay whilst the sun shone! A great day on the bike - clocked up 760 kilometres.

Once home I did my usual once-over the bike. Something I do at every stop whilst on a ride.

At first glance something looked odd about the front tyre. On closer inspection I realised the damn thing had blistered. This has occurred once before with the TKC 80’s on my R1200 GSA. Now twice with the five sets of tyres I have burned-through on the bike since new.

I never encountered this problem with the TKC 80’s on my R1150 GSA.

Check out the video clip I have put together on the matter.

Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm2WfJSnF30



Any one else experienced this issue with the front TKC 80? Any thoughts on the matter?

Regards,

Raider

[Raider]

Greetings again,

Crickey. Go back and have a look at the first of the video clips showing the front TKC 80 of the R1200 GSA. You can actually see the "blistering" already underway? You will see a couple of the centrally located knobs appear to be more “rounded” in section that the others. Note also the "cracking" on the side of the knobs? Due to incipient blistering? I initially thought it was just tyre wear...

The two video clips are taken at each end of approximately 800km of use. North Ledge, Mundaring to home and then the Sunday ride.

Regards,

Raider

[spacey1]

Continental TKC 70

Replaced my rear Continental TKC 70 at 178,566 km on my R1200 GSA 2008, fitted at 157,503 km.

Continental TKC 70 rear tyre @ 21,063 km

Similar wear and durability to the previous items.

http://forum.bmwmccwa.asn.au/viewtopic. ... =15#p15784

Summing up:

• I have never had this many kilometres on a motorcycle tyre 'EVER'. Typically 6,000 to 8,000 km from a rear.
• These are Western Australian kilometres - ie. Flat straight bitumen roads; commuting on freeways 18 km (x2) every day, rain or shine. Club bush rides on dirt roads (eg. Farm ride to Albany).
• The TKC70 tyres have never let me down on-road or off-road, wet or dry (still haven't experienced mud - hardly a surprise in WA).
• No pucker moments, they just let you know what's going to happen next.
• They still stick like the proverbial on the sides when pushed to the lean limit.
• Not as quiet as when originally fitted, but still quiet. But never Heidenau LOUD (Where you want 'em to wear out to stop the noise).
• Perform admirably on dirt roads at sustained higher speeds wheelie-ing over cattle grids and power-sliding controllably in 4th.
• Initially concerned about sidewalls, but have encountered no problems thus far.

The front still has plenty of tread. Scalloped a lot. Getting noisier...

Would I fit them again > Already have

3rd rear tyre fitted now...

[spacey1]

Tyre and rim chart link below.
https://ridewrightwheels.com/pages/moto ... ment-chart

Nice chart that... shows what one can safely do with a given rim size to achieve different outcomes

[Raider]

Greetings,

I have posted an update regarding the Twinduro TKC80's on my R1200 GSA. Here: https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=Czeu19aGU3I

Addresses a few matters pertaining to tyres on the R1150 and HP2 as well.

Regards,

Raider

[Bozo]

For Raiders Tyre Video try

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czeu19aGU3I

Bozo

[Raider]

Thanks Bozo.

[spacey1]

Or more precisely



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czeu19aGU3I

Good to see more interesting and useful contributions to our forum

[Raider]

Greetings,

On the 2nd December I put together a video clip featuring a set of worn Continental Twinduro’s fitted to my R1200 GSA Rallye X. See above. I have today had a new set fitted at Auto Classic.

That set of tyres in the video clip gave me 6,430 km of pleasure at a cost of 9.5 cents per kilometre - based on the replacement AC invoice. Smile.

The plan was to change the tyres out next week. Thought I might squeeze another 1,000km out of them this weekend. No problem with the front but a little dodgy with the rear. Gave the bike a once-over earlier this week in preparation. To my surprise I found that a small section of the rear tyre tread had torn / delaminated. Bugger! Maybe photos in a follow-up video clip?

I really like the Twinduro and find it works extremely well for me. However, all is not well with these tyres. In 37,000 km’s on the BMW R1200GSA Rallye X I have had two front tyres delaminate quite badly. Some others were suspect. Now this issue with the rear.

Let’s see how the next set hold-up.

I never had problems of this sort with the Twinduro’s fitted to my R1150GSA.

Regards,

Raider

PS: Thanks to computer guru "spacey1" for somehow getting the video clips to present properly.

[spacey1]

Hi Raider,

Glad to help out

Maybe the difference was that the ol' 1150 only had 80 hp or so... big difference to 125 hp on yer 1200 LC

The other problem is that there are just not that many options for dual purpose tyres that cope with this amount of hp.

spacey... out

[Raider]

Spacey1,

Maybe the difference was that the ol' 1150 only had 80 hp or so... big difference to 125 hp on yer 1200 LC

Then how to explain the better milage from the rear TKC80's on the R1200 GSA?

Raider

[spacey1]

Maybe, just maybe, now that you're getting on in years, you're just a little less exuberant on the gas