They are pretty much the same tyre

Heidenau make them for MEFO (MEFO dont have a tyre factory) and they are not quite an exact copy ... the Mefos have the centre tread blocks rounded off on the centre line, while the K60s come to a point.

Since they come from the same factory and the tread designers made very minor changes so they could not be accused of selling the same tyre under a different name, yes, they are as good as identical tyres.


Dave, I have used the Mefo Super Explorers and the Heidenau K60s a lot ( 7 - 8 sets over the last few years) and have not had any problems with them. Both can be quite slippery on wet asphalt - you need to bear that in mind.


To be fair, I dont think you can call the TKC80 a true knobbly - they are what I would call a "semi-knobbly", or a "sorta-kinda knobbly". The knobs are spaced very close together, not unlike the block spacing on the K60s and the Super Explorers. I dont know of any other square block pattern tyres that have the blocks spacing so small. Most knobblies will have much bigger block spacing. I would put the TKCs with the MEFOs and the K60s as dual purpose adventure tyres - semi knobblies. To be honest, I prefer the Mefos and the K60s on gravel roads to the TKCs. TKC is better on wet asphalt, cause the rubber is softer, but they dont last as long. While TKCs can last a long time if you run them down to slicks, my experience with them is that you lose 60-70% of the tread depth within 3000 km. Whereas, as per Capo Sakke's picture, the K60 or Super Explorer will still have tread depth and gravel road grip after 10,000 km. With the TKC, you need to be on asphalt after 5000km, cause your tread depth will be pretty much non existent by then.

Compared to true knobblies, TKCs handle like street tyres.

TKC on the left, a true knobbly on the right:

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My totally non-scientific approach to categorising tyres is to try and estimate what percentage of potential contact area of the tyre is actual contact area ... i.e. a slick would be 100%, and a normal street tyre about 95%, with your Anakees and Tourances about 90%.

Using that approach, at the other end of the scale you see sand scoop tyres at say 10%, and most knobblies in the 20-35% range.

So the tyres that seem to suit the kind of multiple surface riding (mainly dirt roads and asphalt) that many of us seem to do, are probably the ones in the 50-70% range - the semi knobblies.

Apart from the Mefos, the K60s and the TKCs, other tyres you could put in there are the Karoos and KarooTs. My experience of the standard Karoos is of very poor tread life. Worse than the TKCs. Dont expect more than 5000 km from them on a single and 4000 km or less from a twin. Hard to recommend them.

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Can't add anything to the Mefo/Mitas/Heidenau discussion but they all appear to be very hard wearing. I'll certainly consider using them instead of the current TKCs the next time durability is important. I find the TKCs are just as good as Tourances or other similar trail tyres on tarmac but this may be because I'm not inclined to throw the bike around on a wet road whatever the tyre and with a skinny 21" front tyre braking is limited anyway. I fit TKCs just in case I get the urge to go off road but to be fair, recently the 100GS has been mainly a road bike and the TKCs have squared off after very few miles which is dissapointing (and expensive) but they do work well on dry tarmac with none of the unnerving quirming you get with a full knobbly tyre.

I'd be interested to know which tyre make a good front tyre (in terms of off road handling) to go with the Mefo Super Explorer. As far as I can see the Super Explorer is only available as a rear fitment and the Explorer seems to be more road biased

The TKC info sounds spot on. They do wear aggressively early on and people always complain that the tires are dead and that they feel ripped-off. It's surely no surprise that no other true knobbly lasts anywhere near as long and seeing as Continental don't practice Voodoo magic to create a compound that can achieve sharp knobbles are 10,000miles you can't "have your cake and eat it" but we get a compromise that works for overlanding

It's almost a shame the most trips don't start with 5,000miles of offroad and then finishes with 5000miles of tamac because then the TKC would be perfect (bit boring though).

Just purchased some K60s from Oponeo for my trip to Russia. Free delivery and only £89 a set delivered.

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Ok just do be aware that the Mitas / Mefo / Heidenau types mentioned are a harder compound than the TKCs ... and therefore will not be as grippy on wet asphalt.

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A couple of TKC80's. The rear has 22,000km and the front about 38,000km.

YMMV :-)

Pretty much tarmac from the UK to India :-(

I'm obviously not aggressive enough either.

Cheers,

Ian

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I am a big TKC 80 fan and for many of my trips I use them getting in average about 7000 miles for the back and 8500 for the front , they do go fast if you drive like a maniac but grip very well on wett road , I did 4000 miles in Central america under heavy rain (last Hurricane there) and they never gave me any problem , for me safethy has price and tires VS skin , I prefer my skin and change my tires way before they are bald . For my next trip I will certainly run TKC80 front and K60 rear , since we will be two up I beleive the "Knobbies" in rear will have run thier life way to fast . i think its also good for rider to understand that if they ride thier knobbies at 85 miles/H on hot asfalt for a long time they will not survive for long either.

Tires are not bad as till they aired correctly. Don’t try to make tires last 10,000 miles or more or squeek the last bit of tread to save money.I always feel I am safer on a tire that is not bald.

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