KTM 950 Adventure - Continental TKC 80
 

Hi All,

After looking through various different threads on this and other sites I have decided to shoe my beast with a pair of Continental TKC 80's. I am currently running standard Scorps', but I'll be switching to the TKC's for times when I'll be doing more off-road biased stuff. My reasons for this choice are that the Scorps are great on the road and green lanes in the dry, and great on the roads in the wet. But they could be better when used off-road [my experience and echoe'd by others on this and other forums].

So, my questions:
- What size tyres to go for if fitted to standard 950 Adv rims? [same size as the scorps I've got fitted, or is there a better option?]
- Is there a good pressure to use as a start point? [obviously subjective given the rider size, riding style, surface, etc. Maybe a guide to say 3 bar less than a road tyre, for example]
- Can anyone recommend a good, cheap supplier for the UK? [Cambridgeshire would be ideal].

If anyone has a part worn pair to match the above specs then I may be interested depending on how worn and how much].

Thanks,
Rich

Hi, there are always TCK80's on ebay at a good price. Excellent tyre! Andy

can't believe I never thought of ebay
thanks Andy

Pressures are a matter of personal preference. On road, I'd start off running them the same as you're used to running the scorpions. Off road pressures is a trickier subject. Ideally, you'd run much lower pressures in soft going, but then again ideally you'd have rim locks to stop the wheel spinning in the tyre and tearing the valve out. And I don't know how wide the rear rim of the 950 is, but if it's like an africa twin you won't find a rim lock off the shelf to fit.

So, we ended up running road pressures everywhere and just accepting that the AT was a bit of a handful on the rough stuff... :cool4:

HTH,
dan.

Hi Rich - first of all I'd say if you use your bike off road, then you may as well stick to the TKCs the whole time - I find they are very surefooted on the tarmac too, even in the wet (although with your 100bhp, could be entertaining)... the only downside is they may not last as long as something like the Scorpions.

You have a 21 inch front wheel right? I think the Conti's only come in one size 21 inch front (90/90 as I recall). As for the rear, I'd go for the 140 version in 18 inch (ie. the widest 18 inch version) - the 150 version is only available in 17 inch tubeless (o/e option on the 1200GSA).

Pressures wise, I find around 5psi less than the road pressure works well on my Tenere, which means around 25psi. Yours is a pretty heavy machine, so much less and you might risk damaging a wheel rim. Obviously if you are in gloopy mud or sand, you might want to drop them further, but as djadams says, there is a danger of spinning up a rear tyre without a rim lock (especially with 100bhp!) on anything dry and grippy.

Micheldelver tyres (Wilts) are a good place to get a good price if you want mail order, likewise Watling Tyres often advertise good prices. I actually find my local tyre shop will do a pretty good deal if you haggle with them.

Hope that helps...

xxx

Thanks everyone for all the advice.
this is perfect and exactly what I was looking for.

I've just ordered the tyres, just before I saw the last post.
I got them from Tyre Tech
eBay.co.uk Shop: Search results for thetyreguys.

I spoke to a guy called Peter, who was very helpful.
The sizes I got are 90/90-21 front and 150/70-18 rear. The fronts are an S rating, but the rear only goes up to a Q rating, which is around 100mph. Fast enough I think on these tyres!

I checked after seeing the post are both are for tubed tyres, but he did say there is no problem running tubes in tubeless tyres. Is this correct?

Price is £128 for both including p&p. I guess that could change depending on where you are. Its worth calling them as he said he could beat the ebay price. I called a few places and this was by far the best quote I could find.

If you can find better then please let us know for next time.

Thanks all,
Rich

tubes
 

The AT takes the 17" rear and runs tubes in them. The BMW GS12 takes a 17" and runs it tubeless, I believe.

Just so's you know, the TKC80's will be destroyed by the torque of the ktm really really quickly, so either learn to ride steady or get the wallet out sharpish.

KTM's thrive really well on a mixture of tyres, although manufacturers wont recommend this.

Dunlop lead the way by having by far the best tyres for the 990 and 950.

D206 (if you can find them) for fronts. Failing that MT21.
D208RR for the rears.

As for pressures, whoever told you to run them at standard road pressures needs to be taken outside and beaten with his own brains. Doing this will almost certainly cause you to slip and slide to your death.

On average, start around a psi of 25 front/rear and work from there.

I think thats a great price for those sizes Rick, especially inc p&p - thanks for letting us know the details...

I didn't realise they did a 150/70 in 18 inch too - I guess that is for the bigger bikes with wider rims?, as I've only used the 140 width on my XR650...

Nomadic1's suggestion about the Dunlop 908RR on the rear is another good one - currently only one rear size (140/80 18), but it's big and meaty, and I'd agree typically lasts a bit longer than a TKC on the back...

As for using tubes in tubeless tyres - no problem there, just try to get the closest size tube to the actual tyre - a 150 rear is going to need a big tube!

I'd recommend the Michelin UHD (ultra heavy duty) tubes - especially in the front (to help stop pinch flats) very strong - 4mm thick! - and last pretty much forever...

xxx

Thanks all for the advice.
Got the tyres this morning, so looking forward to fitting them.
Most of my riding is roads, so only gonna fit them when I know they'll be used properly, but my riding is pretty steady. I'll let you know how i get on.

out of interest, did you mean D208RR?
These appear to be sportsbike tyres:eek3:

Yes, the Dunlop D208 Rally Raid. Definately NOT road bike tyres.

Fantastic for Katooms though :-)

No No I think you'll find its a D908RR Rally Raid not a D208.

The rear's are great but i hate the front 908 on the road, vague at speed, wobbles and horrid in the wet.

D908RR rear matched with either TKC80 front, Metzler Karoo front or Pirelli MT21 front (with the MT21 being the best off road and TKC still ok off road but better on road than the MT21)

By way of an update, finally got the TKC80's fitted the 950 Adv and done a 200 mile round trip on tarmac for mothers day. Was mainly motorways there and twisty back roads coming back. The weather was warm ish for this time of year, and completely dry.

You can feel the knobbles at low speed a lot (up to about 15 mph), but after that they are barely there. They are more apparant at all speeds for the first 50 miles or so, I guess until you round off the edges a bit.

Initially the difference between these are the standard scorpians is huge - you feel a bit like your tyres are made of jelly, but, again, after the first 50 miles or so you don't notice. Once scrubbed they offer good grip considering how much less contact you have with the road. Haven't got rid of the chicken strips (yet), but I was surprised how well they kept hold on tight twisty country lanes.

If I remember I let you know how they feel after the Touratech event in Wales this coming weekend.

Tubeless with Tubes
 

Just a general one, hope it helps.
You can run all tubeless tyres with tubes, on any bike with any rim (provided to can match the tube size to the tyre) the only difference is the bead on the tyre which has the ability to seal when used as tubeless.
This will in fact help a little if you have no rim locks (a la tubeless rim). If you have rim locks, there's no advantage with either tube type or tubeless tyres.
Cheers
Tim:mchappy: