KENDA BIG BLOCK on 1200GS

[1poser]

Purchased Kenda Big Blocks from Chapparral fronts 110/80-19 $80.88
rears 150/70-19 $105.88

free shipping from San Bernardino to Burbank came the next day



had them installed at New Century BMW a new motorcycle dealership in Alhambra, they've been a car dealership for a long time and decided to open a motorcycle dept. which is great for the Los Angeles area.
John the service mgr. gave me a great price to earn my business $73.71 total to install front & rear on the bike and he even plugged in the computer to turn off the service light (6K service I did myself) at NO extra charge. You get to watch the technicians work on your bike






OEM Metzeler Tourance with 6850 miles, I could have gotten another 1k from the rear & 2k from the front, so always been pleased with them.
I'm going to try Michelin Anakees 2 after the Kendas.






went on a weekend ride and the BB are great on the dirt




like previous reports, they are loud on road especially aired down. I run them at 30F 32R cold and after the first 200 miles they became more comfortable in the corners. Now having over 600 miles on them I have to remind myself that they are knoobies when going thru the twisties.
Can't go wrong with these Big Blocks, they say 3k miles is what to expect so we'll see

[SloDon]

May I ask how its going with the Kenda's?

Still liking them and how are they holding up?

Thanks Don

[Adventure Copan]

I'd like to know the same as the above question. I would like to go with something like this when our current tires wear out. Is the ride on the street rough or hard to control on paved corners? Thanks!

-Daniel Kent

[ajayhawkfan]

Here is a summary of my thoughts that I prepared for an upcoming article.

The Big Blocks are a slightly better tire for off road riding than the TKC80's but as they wear they are no better. On the black top the performance is similar although the BB are louder and have a vibration because of the knobbies.

The biggest difference is wear. The Big Blocks wear twice as fast as the TKC80. I get 3000 mile on the rear TKC80 and I only got 1500 miles on the Big Blocks. I will double that for the fronts.



The big blocks are less expensive so I did a quick comparison. I got prices from Motorcycle Superstore:

Big Block
Rear $132/1500 miles = 8.8 cents a mile
Front $98/3000 miles = 3.3 cents a mile
8.8+3.3=12.1 cents a mile to ride Big Block Tires

TKC80
Rear $191/3000 = 6.4 cents a mile
Front $144/6000 = 2.4 cents a mile
6.4+2.4 = 8.8 cents a mile to ride TKC80's

The above is the cost for just the tire. Mounting and balancing the Big Block would cost twice as much as the TKC80 because the tires having to be replaces twice as fast.

I'm sticking with the TKC80 for my main all around dual sport tire. The slightly better traction off road and the lower cost per unit for the Big Block tires does not warrant switching brands when you take into account the wear.