My front wheel has suddenly started to slide around on corners in a more than exciting manner (on an R100GSPD with standard forks and wheels).

Looking at the TKC80 on the front I can see why. The knobs of tread have worn in a very uneven pattern, with some down to less than 1 mm and others barely worn. There is no common direction in which the wear is lying. Knobs that are right next to each other are worn in different ways and different directions.

It looks as if the contact patch of the tyre has been dangerously reduced.

The tyre has done about 2000 miles. I usually expect at least 3000.

Anyone else had this happen?

I'll be switching to Karoo 3 now. I think they have more rigidity, which might help.

I've never used the TKC due to the fast wear rate, but I had the exact same thing happen to a front Mitas E10 I used over the Summer. I had some VERY scary moments where the tyre steered itself! The worst time was on a motorway coming down a mountain!

Some pics would really help with this one. Hard to describe uneven tire wear. PICS !!

I've used TKC's on two of my bikes (not BMW's) ... never have had the radical uneven wear you describe. The rears do wear fast on pavement, the fronts last 3 times as long.

The one in pic below is from my DR650 (about 390 lbs. fully fueled and loaded) About 1500 miles on this tire. It's wearing quite well, about 800 miles tarmac, 700 miles dirt. Wearing perfectly! (PS: I never balance my wheels)


TKC80 front at 1500 miles. (90/90-21)

I've seen TKC fronts wear badly on a RTW R100GS (and other bikes) ... Some of the R100's were ridden on almost ALL paved roads ... so center wear was quite pronounced but wear was fairly even, save the unworn knobs on the side of the tire, which were still in fair shape.

Really the WRONG tire for paved roads ... and can be dangerous on wet, greasy roads, especially if over inflated. (I've seen a couple R1150GS riders GO DOWN running TKC's in wet. Not good)

Tire pressures are important and a wobbly wheel could also cause funny wear patterns. But you should feel this when riding if out of alignment or wobbling at various speeds.

Maybe try a nice 50/50 tire if riding at least 50% tarmac? (Heidenau, Shinko,
Kenda, Mefo et al)

Nothing new with these tyres... It comes from long stretches on tarmac. There is no need for TKC's unless you're going to hit the trails..

Hiendenau K60's are better... My front lasted 30,000 miles and was still legal... Crazy !!

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Imho tkc80s are sh!te. I've experienced quite a few. Weird wear patterns, short life, huge expense compared to better rubber like the Heidenau k60 that is as aggressive/ useful off road as the Conti but doesn't have the "rugged adventure look".

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TBS.com

CHRIS.... HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT.....

They're BMW approved fitment

And BMW knows best...

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

In the spirit of goodwill to all men on this auspicious 25th December, I am unable to comment further on the topic of BMW approved anything.

Drinking Efes pilsner at Olympos near Kemer in Turkey instead.

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I've been using TKC80s since 2008. They've been very good, although short-lived. On the R100GSPD they usually give excellent grip on the road. In deep sand or mud they are near to miraculous.

The reason I switched to TKC80 was that I had a Tourance front tyre disintegrate through to the carcass on a long trip, even though the rest of the tyre had plenty of tread depth. That was after using Tourance for many years. I noted at the time that Metzeler had switched production from Germany to Brazil.

Tyre quality does seem to vary considerably, even with the same type of tyre.

Back to the original issue: this pattern of wear is very odd, with tread knobs worn in a seemingly random pattern.

Can anyone suggest a cause other than stating that TKC80s are rubbish? (in my experience they are good).

Out of balance?

Excuse the pun... But it's just the way they roll. In a rotation, only certain parts of the tyre contacts the tarmac. Its the fronts that tend to go weird... I wouldn't worry about it too much..

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Greetings Roboyobo

I'm curious, are you able to post or put up a link to a photo of your worn tyre?

I have/had a pair of TKC80 on my R100GSPD and I didn't see any sign of the wear you describe , but then again I have just had to replace the front tyre down here in Ushuaia due to a split puncture that screwed the tyre.

What sort of roads were you riding and what tyre pressures were you running?

Regards

Ian J

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Most of the more dirt orientated tyres will do it on hard surfaces for long enough,recently took the Pirelli mt21 off front of my tenere that had every other block worn away,had ridden it back from Spain like it,just have to aware the steering can be a little odd..bit like the owner realy so not a major problem...

It's the normal wear pattern for this tyre. I went through several TKC 80 on my trip around the world with my AT750. I tried with different air pressure, sometimes even changed the tyre direction on the rim in order for the knobblies not to wear evenly. Nothing really helped. If you stay offroad it won't happen...
In my opinion the TKC 80 are too expensive. There are alternatives out there which cost less and do the job.
See: Reifen Statistik
here some other proplem I encounterd with this tyre and it happened more than once:
http://flic.kr/p/iCEYrd
and
http://flic.kr/p/iCEYCW


Greets

Claudio

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I agree that it is the normal wear pattern in my experience. I've had a couple of sets on my R100GS and they have both done this to some extent. I notice they are noisy on very hot tarmac (air temp >35C) and have put some of this excessive wear down to that.

I've used Pirelli MT21 on other bikes and have seen similar wear but then these bikes have very effective single disc brakes (unlike the R100GS).