1st impression on my Hedenau K60s

[sati8d]

Made the bike feel lumbersome. I did have to add 6lbs to the front tire, which lightened it up a bit - 36 fr/42back. Definitely not as nimble as the Tourances, which I layed over with impunity. my back tire was so shot, I'm amazed I didn't get a flat.
K60's whine at +70 and feel vibration in traffic coming to a stop, have to get used to semi-knobbies when braking.
Looked for some dirt to rip off the first layer today....
Wx's looking good for some off-road fun soon...but they're warning winter for late Feb/early Mar here in MD. That's ok too...still got my ski blood racing through the veins.

[gastone]

I put K60s on this past summer for my 'dirtier' exploits. Here's my take (reposted from adv)

I've got a few k miles on my K60s now. On trails they are tons better than the tourances I was running before. I'm running 36/36 for pressure. I haven't done too much in the way of mud yet, though I was on some slippery surfaces this weekend. Wear so far is impressive for a aggressive tread.

The problem for me is riding in the rain. The tourances are very grippy, the k60s not so much. As mentioned previously, they get loose in hot tar snakes (which I'm okay with). What I'm not okay with is that the rear has broken loose mid lean more than a few times in the past few weeks. Enough so that I won't put them on again.
__________________

I've probably got 7k miles on them now and I can't eat through them. They wear like ceramic. I'm not in a position where I can afford to replace TKCs every 3 months so I'm not sure what my next tire will be. I like the idea of a more aggressive tread while still providing longevity, but I'm not sure that it exists other than the heidi.

[stevebmw]

Just to let y'all know, we now stock the Heidenau K60s in our parts department. If you've got questions on pricing or sizes, please either call (540-891-9844) or e-mail (parts@mortonsbmw.com) our parts folks and they can fill in the details.

[sati8d]

Those were some good comments on riding after several k-miles.
I've now got about 350 on them and they're fine on dry road. It's still early, so I've been pretty ginger on wet roads. Your concern/comment about letting go even after several thousand miles is great info - I'll take that into consideration. I believe if we were on TKC's we'd have the same issue - it's still a knobby which from my experience sucks on wet road....
So the compromise continues - I believe overall, for a 60/40 tire (road-mud), time, miles and experience of all the riders will tell. Maybe this will be a good experience.

The initial vibration seems to be fading except on braking. The tires still whine at 70+, but that's to be expected.

The heaviness feeling is gone and the bike's back to the nimble feeling. The front tire still seems "fatter" and not as "edgy" as the Tourance. I'm riding 36/40.

{{UPDATE Sun 11 Mar - I found the tire pressures low as we're getting really cold mornings and really warm days - the air pressure is fluctuating - I put again - 36 / 40 today and the ride was much better. The tire pressure might be finicky - I think 36 on the back would get squirrelly.))

[m1dntlukgud]

Do they make these in the GS sizes? How heavy is a GS?
http://www.bikebandit.com/shinko-700-motorcycle-tire

Had a set on the DR, loved 'em on the street.....wimpy in the woods, but they'd get you home unlike the tourances
studded them once to ride in the blizzard (2010)
I told her "groceries" to legitamize my venture

[STATMATT]

I'm looking to switch from Michelin Anakee's to this tire. Both my wife and son's bike need new rubber.

My concern are the numbers on the bike...
100/90-19 M/C 57H ... 150-2.5x19" front
130/80 R17 M/C 65H ... 3.00x17" rear

I'm guessing the 2.5 x 19 and 3.0 x 17 is the innertube size.

One of the webboards was suggesting ordering a 140/80 17" for the rear, I don't quite know if this makes sense but don't understand the numbers. One retailer is advertising a 130/80-17 65T TL and another retailer is advertising a 130/80-17 65H TL .
I'm not sure is the 65T vs the 65H means anything different or if it is a typeo on one of the two websites. I'd consider purchasing them locally if they are competitive.

The two bikes I'm looking to replace tires on are F650GS 2005 and 2007.


I added these to my GS ADV while traveling through Colorado 4,000 miles ago and love them.

Any input would be appreciated.

[sati8d]

On my second back tire and still on the same front!! The newer back tire has been much better than the first - why? I over-inflated. I've been instructed to run 1-2lbs light and I've actually been running sometimes 5lbs light - the grip is far superior. I'm still cautious in rain, but it's much better there too. So I have about 14k on the nose and 6500 on the back right now, with plenty of tread to spare. The front has feathered on the quarters....ie 1" from center and 1 from the edge of the side.

['05Train]

I wore out the factory Tourance after 5,000 miles back in June. I was out in Arizona at the time, so I took what I could get, which was a K60. While it did well off road, it was a miserable on-pavement tire. The bike shook like it was having an attack, it was noisy, and it did a terrible job holding the road during spirited riding. Going through fast corners it felt like the swingarm was loose.

I was very happy replacing it with a PR3.

[STATMATT]

To add to this. I think those that really like these tires don't speak up enough. So lets see. I put these on at 27,000 miles, they were my third set of tires on my 2011 GSA. Prior to that I think the original tires were Pirelli's and then my second set were the Anakee's. The Anakees I replaced early because the back wore out and the front ended up with a big bulge in the side that the dealer in Colorado noticed during my cross country trip last fall. I am amazed at the durability of the K60s. let me restate that AMAZED. I now have 47,500 miles on the bike and am ordering a new set.

I did put a dose of dynabeads in each tire so I don't know how much that contributed to the fantastic mileage.

I still have enough tread to pass a state inspection, but I'm starting to see some small cracks around the unworn blocks on both tires. I'm ordering new tires today. I've done mostly road miles 85% and about 15% on forest and dirt roads. Most of my long trips the bike has been fully loaded with luggage, and about 15% of the miles have been done 2-up with my wife. I feel confident in wet, dry and with tar-snakes.

I've slipped the front tire out twice, but considering the, speed, cornering and breaking during those two times, I think I was at the patch limits of any tire on that bike (I didn't go down, I just slipped). Note: ABS doesn't work sideways! I have had some squirly-ness with tar snakes, but once again I think that is normal and would happen with any tire. I do notice that the tar snakes when cold <40 degrees and wet are just as slick if not more-so than the white painted lines on the road.

I completed the Military Sport Bike Course on these tires (@ 19K miles) and had full confidence in their traction and was fully able to keep up with the sport bikes during the exercises. I also chose not to replace them prior to the Void rally and had full confidence in their performance during 10 hours of wet weather riding. I don't recall the noise or vibration being too much of an issue after the first 500 miles. I did get two screws in the back tire over time, but the tread lug was thick enough it didn't puncture the tire and George (BUA) unscrewed one of them right out of the tread. It went in over an inch and a half at an angle.

The fastest speed I have gone on these tires according to the GPS is 113 mph. It was on a back Kansas Road where I felt confident I would neither be seen nor radared. Temperatures were as low as 17 deg and as high as 107 deg. One snow storm, but the only place the snow was sticking was on my helmet faceshield. I did my BunBurner 1500 on these tires in massive downpours for over three-quarters of the trip

I am not comfortable on any tire changing lanes when they are doing the resurfacing; however I did change lanes from the resurfaced up to the smooth road at 50mph+ on 66 and the tire handled the transition beautifully with little more than a thunk thunk. I was afraid it would edge trap me, but it didn't.

I liked them so much in the beginning that I also have a set on my wife's and son's bikes both F650 GS singles. My wife especially likes how they handle resurfaced roads.

In the end I am researching the K76s as far as increasing the tread life, but with more than 20K miles on a set of tires I think the K60's is what I will order again.

If you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to share. The only time I get nervous on these is after reading someone else's post on how they are sub par on wet roads; however, I have not experienced the same contrasts with other users.

[PhilAger]

I'd like to say I/we have no significant complaints with our previous K60 Scouts on our F800 & F650 models.

We rode on them all around the US in 2012 and another set for 2013 (while waiting for new Karoo 3s to become available).

I think they were a little "harsh" when new, but they handled very well in all sorts of weather!

Tony's a rather large and enthusiastic rider on his substantial 1200 ADVenture model...
He can be a "little rough" on his tires, like when he rode one leg in the Michaux Forest on a flat front tire.

Here's my rear K60 with 17.5K vs a new Metzeler Karoo 3!

My well-worn Scout grew flattened after so many miles, so it did affect the F8's handling characteristics just a bit.

We give this 50/50 tire 2 thumbs up for their varied and long-lived service!
Don't hesitate to give them a chance when weighing your next Dual-Sport tire purchase!

Sláinte! (Gaelic)
Phil & Karen
2010 F800GS,
2009 F650GS,
2009 Kawasaki KLX250S,
2008 Honda CRF230L, and
1975 R90S.
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