knobbies suck on the street

[dougahole]

Well, I got a great deal on some Metzeler Karoo's and decided to mount them the other night even though I had no plans to go off roading any time soon. They look awsome on the tiger but that's about the only positive thing I can say about them. The tiger drop's in a turn as though someone is pushing me over and it never plants itself in the front. It catch's grooves and wobbles like crazy and howls down the highway like a 4x4 truck. Wheel spin is also a problem in first and second. I've scrubed them in a little and 200 miles later they still suck on the street which I expected. My biggest surprize was how the handled off road. Sure, they hooked up better but as far as anything else go's the tourance's got me there just as well for the limit's the tiger and me are capible of. Look's aren't worth the terrible handling these tire's cause on the street. I've had aggressive knobbies on my KTM adventure 640 and on my BMW f650 dakar and it was not near as squirrely. I guess the extra 150 lb. and 50hp don't help either so it's back to the tourances untill I'm ready for serious off roading which probably will never happen with this big beast. Hell, I might just leave the Karoo's on untill I wear them out or go down, which ever comes first. Either way it shouldn't take long :roll:

[jp4evr]

to be expected I guess.  Most of the good reviews i've read about knobbies on big trailies is good compared to other knobbies or good considering what you have.  



they are not designed for road travel although they meet the limits of DOT.  that's about it.  



were you expecting something different?

[apache]

Couldent have said it better myself regarding the TKC`s I put on my Elefant a while back. "Feels like someone was trying to push you over in turns". I will say though as they wore down some 1500 miles or so they got much better,and was surprised at how well they did in the twisties. Im still tossing them around on the tiger for winter use.

[dougahole]

to be expected I guess.  Most of the good reviews i've read about knobbies on big trailies is good compared to other knobbies or good considering what you have.  



they are not designed for road travel although they meet the limits of DOT.  that's about it.  



were you expecting something different?

They were exactly what I expected. I just thought I would post my opinion on how they work on pavement for those that might  not know. For those of you that have tried them, you already know. As for giving them 1500 miles or so to settle down, I figure the front might be scrubbed in fine but the rear will be worn out and I'll have to start over. I only got 4k out of my rear tourance so I figure I'll be lucky to get half that from the rear karoo. I only gave $100 for the pair "new" so I have nothing to loose but rubber :lol:

[Mudhen]

Karoo's are a lot more aggressive than TKCs.  If you haven't tried them (TKCs), don't count them out for how well they do on the street.  Unfortunately, they aren't all that incredible off road (search for Sasquatch's write up about when he and his father used them vs Tourances) because of the big tread blocks - which is the same thing that makes them better on the street....such a compromise.



I got 9500 miles out of my last rear TKC on my GS...16k out of the front.  Only had them on my Tiger for 3k miles so far but I'd think I'd get at least that much since the bike is so much lighter.



Normally they're the only tire I ever use ...but now I've switched to an MT21 rear/Karoo front for much more aggressive off road traction.  Made a HUGE difference...way better in the dirt, way worse on the street...

[jp4evr]

They were exactly what I expected. I just thought I would post my opinion on how they work on pavement for those that might  not know. For those of you that have tried them, you already know. As for giving them 1500 miles or so to settle down, I figure the front might be scrubbed in fine but the rear will be worn out and I'll have to start over. I only got 4k out of my rear tourance so I figure I'll be lucky to get half that from the rear karoo. I only gave $100 for the pair "new" so I have nothing to loose but rubber :lol:

gotcha... not a bad price for a pair.  i've heard the same as Mudhen that the Karoos are much more aggressive than a TKC.  Didn't someone on this board run a Karoo or MT21 rear and TKC front for a better front hookup on the street?

[dougahole]

I agree 100% on the TKC's being a little better on the street because I ran them on my BMW F650 Dakar and they worked great  as long as I didn't  get too far on the edge. Yeh! I had to push them once and found the limit pulling out of a parking lot when I went into a aggressive lean and with one pulse of the thumpers piston and no sidewall rubber left she went down and I did a perfect 360 on my knee cap and my foot never left the peg. Damn, that was quick! The bike was uninjured and a few band aids fixed the knee, but my pride was permanently damaged  due to the fact that the parking lot I turned out of was at work and all my co workers witnessed my foolish act. Knoobies have there place, but not on sport bikes or dual sports that think the're sportbikes :roll:

[jp4evr]

Nice!  Those displays of riding prowess really keep your street cred.  



I had my Tiger fully loaded for a 5-day trip to Lake Havasu and I loaded it up while on the center stand... thinking I would just rock it off the stand no problem.  Dropped it off the stand and right over on the side because it was just too heavy much to the enjoyment of everyone outside the hotel.  Had to remove all the bags just to get it upright while my friends rolled on the ground laughing at me.

[MikeBenzon]

I had some TKC's mounted to my Tiger and after two short test rides I took them off. It felt like the bike was riding on flat tires. Nope, I'll take Anakees any day. The Anakees felt more solid on dirt roads than the TKC's. The Anakees will go where I want to go on dirt roads and they handle like a sportbike on the paved roads.

[Patrick]

I used to have TKCs on my Tigger and loved them. Onroad they were good tempered and gave lots of feedback and warnings before loosing grip. Ofroad they were quite OK. Only things were: The whole bike started oscilating at speeds near or above 100 mph and the tires didn't last so long.







Now I switched to Karoos. Offroad they behave way better and onroad a lot worse than TKCs. If I hadn't an onroad set of wheels, I would switch back to TKCs. But so...







Besides... Knobbies look way cool!





Have fun!



Patrick

[Mudhen]

That picture freakin' RAWKS!!  Love those Karoos...be interesting to see how many miles you get out of them.



Here's my MT21:







Right now I've only put 500 miles on it, but it's doing ok.  It's certainly soft - there are some big chunks out of it after a couple days off road...never saw anything like that with the TKCs.  And my wheels are supposed to be here today!!  Excel rims - 21"/18".  Sent them the hubs in March...maybe I'll even get ONE ride on them this year... :roll:

[Patrick]

That picture freakin' RAWKS!!  Love those Karoos...be interesting to see how many miles you get out of them.

Thanks. Regretably I don't think I will be able to answer that question although•I'm courios, too. But one of the major disadvantages of having two sets of wheels is: you have to log the odometer's value every time you changed the wheels. If you don't, you will never be able to say how long tires or brake disks last.



Guess what: I didn't log it. But it's OK. This way my knobbies will see more than 90% of their time unpaved roads. I will get maximum fun out of them.  :D



Those MT21 look good.  Changing wheel dimensions legally ain't  easy here in Germany. I wonder how they can handle the weight and power of a tiger.





Have fun!



Patrick

[jp4evr]

I'm curious to hear about your 21/18 combo because I'm looking at the exact same thing to made my Tiger off-road time more efficient.  Changing tires each time is laborious and running knobbies all the time really gets expensive... Especially when your riding season is nearly 10 mos.

[Mudhen]

I'm curious to hear about your 21/18 combo because I'm looking at the exact same thing to made my Tiger off-road time more efficient.  Changing tires each time is laborious and running knobbies all the time really gets expensive... Especially when your riding season is nearly 10 mos.

What I wanted to do was drop to a 17 tooth front sprocket (which I just did), then on the rear use a 49 for the dirt wheel and a 45 for the street wheel.  That way I'd go from a stock gear ratio of 2.67 to 2.88 off road and 2.65 on road.



But I forgot about that whole chain thing...maybe I could use a dedicated chain for off roading, too...or just buy another black Steamer and have one for off road - that may be cheaper...

[jp4evr]

by the time you're done with everything, it just might be.  maybe just pick up a 650 dual-sport.  then you can ride your dirt stuff with a lighter set-up for off-road.

although... the shots I've seen of you throwing the tiger around in the dirt are quite impressive.