| Author | Message | ||
     Mattmcc00 |
For those of you who may not be aware our prayers/virgin sacrifices have been answered! Continental is releasing their TKC80 tires in Uly sizes in July in NA. The US distributer says he is expecting the first deliveries to him on July 7th, and that widespread NA availability should be ready by end of July. I saw a press releas from COntinental siting requests from the Triumph, and ducati to make the TKC80 for their wheel sizes... also happens that they are the exact same size as a Uly. | ||
| Froggy |
Are they out yet? | ||
| Buelldualsport |
Are they here yet? | ||
| Reepicheep |
I looked a few places last week and couldn't find any. | ||
| Thumpthump |
I like the look of those tire, reminds me of bicycle knobbies when I was a kid. | ||
| Uly_man |
Are they out yet? Are they here yet? Who is Bobba Fett? | ||
| Buelldualsport |
Still not here? WTF | ||
| Fung |
Do they mean June 7th? | ||
| Bikelit |
What year? | ||
| Billy_bee |
I really don't see what all the fuss is about. I ran TKCs on a GS. Unless you do a LOT of Jeep trail or dirt riding, you will be disappointed. They last as long as chewing gum, handle poorly on the street, and cost a lot. That poor handling will disappoint a lot of Uly riders. no more carving up the canyons... The upside is that the are great in the mud; but, otherwise, they are not all the are cracked up to be. Oh, they look cool... bb | ||
| Froggy |
BB, there are riders who want to take their ulys into the nasty stuff, so this will appeal to those guys. No longer will they need to shoehorn on wrong tires to get the tread they need. | ||
| Tankhead |
I hear Conti is putting out a full knobby set in our size, Anyone hear anything about this? Will they be coming out this year? | ||
| Buelldualsport |
Real Dirt Tires for an Uly Surely you jest | ||
| Mikef5000 |
No $370 <3000 mile tires for me thanks! I'm all for options though, someone somewhere will want these! | ||
| Buelldualsport |
Mike You think? LOL | ||
| Billy_bee |
Hey all, I get that some guys are just gonna have to try them or are planning a long dirt-road trip. I want people to know what they are really getting into. It's not going to be a great tire for the Uly; I may be wrong--have not tried them on a Uly--but in 20 years of adventure touring, I have tried just about everything and just cannot imagine that the tire is a good complement to the Uly's strengths. Yes, it's the only knobby option, but there will be some disappointment in the Uly/TKC80 combo. Maybe the '08 and newer owners, who have that additional steering lock, and who have replaced the primary gears to the XB9 set-up, will find riding in the dirt really fun. But my stock '06 is never going to see anything more dirty than a fire road; not because I don't enjoy that stuff. I do. But because as adventure bikes go, the Uly is about the least dirt worthy machine available, meaning there are better tire choices than the TKC...or better bike choices for the dirt. Sorry to be raining on everybody's parade, but I have run them on adventure touring bikes and the bike quickly becomes the worst of both worlds. You have the grip in the dirt, but the bike is exhausting to ride on any slow terrain because of the poor gearing and weight. Then you get on the pavement with them and it's like riding on oily marbles all the time, all while amassing 2500 miles on a rear. Fronts are probably good for three times that much. Whereas with Scorpions on the bike it does the fast fire roads fairly well, can still carve up the canyons, and deliver 5k or more on a rear. When you add up an adventure bike plus TKCs plus a fast fire road, does it equal fun? Sure. But only a little less fun than you would have had on Scorps. But is a few hundred miles worth of fire roads worth the on-road trade-off? Well, that is up to the individual. I just want you to know my experience with them. YMMV, as usual. I encourage anybody to try them, but do so thoughtfully. In my mind it is a bad combo. Peace, Billy Bee | ||
| Hughesatron |
Billy Bee, Is your solution to run a rear knobby tire (which has been a band-aid for a while on the Uly) instead of the new TKC80 combo? I'm talking about roads that do not do well with Scorpions. | ||
| Billy_bee |
[quote]Billy Bee, Is your solution to run a rear knobby tire (which has been a band-aid for a while on the Uly) instead of the new TKC80 combo? I'm talking about roads that do not do well with Scorpions.[/quote] I did not make one distinction clear: the speed at which one might be riding in the dirt makes all the difference. The faster fires roads are fine with Scorpions. I was on one yesterday, sliding the Uly around. Slow stuff is tough because of the gearing, steering lock, and weight no matter what tire you run. So, if you are planning a long dirt-road trip, slap on a set of TKCs. You will have fun. But the fun will end when the dirt does or when in some slow going. To your point, the slow-going is made worse by bad grip and what does one do about that? You may not like what I have to say; but, honestly, my solution would be to spend the $320 you would plunk down on TKCs and go do a dirt-bike riding school. There are a couple of good ones here in CA. I've been to two. Money well spent. Improved my riding considerably. If, after doing some fun dirt riding, you feel you must attempt the same tricks with your Uly as you did the school's CRF230, then I wish you luck. You will be better prepared as a rider to do that. Or, take the $320 that you will spend four times over on TKCs in a year (assuming you put about 10k miles/year on your bike--that's my annual average) and buy a $1200 Honda XL250 and go have fun on the dirt. Again, I am not trying to discourage anybody from experimenting or having fun with grippier tires on their Uly. Just do so advisedly and with a clear understanding of the Uly's many strengths. Chugging along in first, slipping the clutch to keep your speed down with lots of grip may not be the Uly's ideal milieux. If you must put knobbies on your Uly, obviously the TKC is a good choice. The only choice. On other dual sports, I have had much better luck with D606's that TKCs. But obviously, that's not an option here. There is one other thing that's worth mentioning here. With more grip you may take more risks. Good grip is not a substitute for mad riding skilz... Anxious to hear what you guys have to say once you've tried them. bb (Message edited by billy bee on June 10, 2012) | ||
| Hughesatron |
"If you must put knobbies on your Uly, obviously the TKC is a good choice" Thank you. I'm irritated by your lecture, but I'm not going to get pissy about it. I too am interested to hear how these tires fare on some real trails. | ||
| Buelldualsport |
Gee A "mr know it all" Who would have thunk it! | ||
| Billy_bee |
Cannot have too thin skin when voicing thoughts about motorcycles, tires, politics, religion, I guess. But, Buelldualsport, the sarcasm is not necessary and betrays the good intentions of everybody I've met on this board...until now. Did not intend to annoy, Hugesatron. And I certainly don't feel like I'm lecturing. Just sharing my experience with the tire in similar applications in the hopes that somebody may find it helpful. It's just my experience...nothing more/less. And I, too, am anxious to hear how the tire performs on the Uly. Now, about my religion... Bill | ||
| Mattmcc00 |
Hi All, The TKC80 will be arriving at distributor in Canada and USA on JULY 7th. From there they need to be shipped to the retailers and dealers. So... expect to be able to purchase a set of TKC80 for your Uly around the END of JULY 2012. Also I completed the GS challenge... going to start a new post for this though. | ||
| Buelldualsport |
As Court so aptly pointed out in another post, this forum is indeed very willing to help the new and not so new Buell rider. You input is appreciated I am certain by all, however, a simple "in my opinion" might have sufficed. Now about religion ....... | ||
| Kenm123t |
LOL a TIRE thread that runs like an oil thread! Wait while I get the popcorn! | ||
| Mikef5000 |
You input is appreciated I am certain by all, however, a simple "in my opinion" might have sufficed.  Did you take it as a fact? It was a guy sharing his personal experiences. Jeesh. Anyway... are they out yet? | ||
| Buewulf |
You input is appreciated I am certain by all, however, a simple "in my opinion" might have sufficed. Oh, Come on, guys. BB wrote "in my mind" in his first post. To me that translates into "in my opinion". Even if he didn't add that, there was still nothing about his posts that implied I was reading anything but his opinion. You can address his opinion with your own if you like (which I am about to do  ), but let's not get personal. So, to Billy_Bee's post, I must say: People buy their Ulys for all sorts of reasons. I, and likely some of the others interested in this tire, enjoy the challenge of taking the bike places it really should not be able to go. Are there better tools for the job? Sure, but this is the bike I have, and it will be the bike I am on when I ride past a meandering dirt trail cutting through the woods begging to be explored. Mad skills are great (I don't have them), but my personal experience is that physics will trump skill 100% of the time. There is no replacement for traction when you need it, and these tires will provide more traction on any unpaved surface than any other tire option we have. A rider with mad dirt skills will get more out of the Uly with these tires on it, and a rider with mediocre dirt skills like myself will get more out of the Uly as well. The added grip doesn't discriminate. Most of these guys are probably beyond the dirt riding intro class, and I don't think anyone considering this tire option is even entertaining the fantasy that it will make a good street-sport or sport-touring tire. Just my opinion, of course!  | ||
| Buelldualsport |
Are these tires available yet? | ||
| Mattmcc00 |
Guys... End of July. As per my other posts: distributors are receiving them at the earliest on July 7th, seeing as we are still in June... they are not available yet.  Expect dealers to have them at the end of July. |
