Hi,

The first question was for a 20/80 tyre in which case I think you better take something like a metzeler enduro 4 or a michelin T66.
Fred, about the TKC80 and T63: I used both on different trips traveling through the Sahara and West Africa on XT500 and XT600Z. Those trips were to short (in distance) to say something defintive about how long they last. Also used the Michelin Desert which is, on the rear at least, a heavy duty T63.
My experience is that on the rear the TKC80 rides much better and comfortable on tarred roads compared to the T63/Desert. They both do fine off-road but in the sand the T63 is way better. The front Desert is shit on the road but great in the sand. The front T63 on the other hand didnt give me the right feeling in the sand but was great on any other surface.

Just my experience.... :-)

On the other hand I travelled 20.000 km in Southern Africa on a XT500 with a Conti Tour (!) rear and TKC 60 front. Even on the pistes in Namibia those tyres did very wel. The Conti Tour lastet over 30.000 km! and the TKC60 front over 50.000 km! (Has something to do with the front break of a XT500 as wel :-)
What I want to say is that really nobbly tyres are only usefull when you are going to do real offroading. Otherwise I would choose a more (all)road-tyre that will last much longer and are more comfortable on long distances.

Peter

(May be this thread should be on a different forum?)

[This message has been edited by peterkik (edited 13 March 2003).]

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Peter Kik
Zaandam, Holland
peter.kik@tip.nl