Heidenau K60 tires

if it's for a DR650 sized bike, much much lighter than the behemoth Stelvio that's now at 9500 miles and still looking good....you should get some pretty stupendous mileage.

Thanks

9000 miles on a still good tire. Blake that is unheard of.

The road was a chip sealed road from several years prior, and there were "tracks" worn into the car tracks, but other than that it was nothing special. It had been raining fairly hard for about 2 hours at that point so the muck should have been washed off for the most part.
And lastly, it wasn't just that corner, I could break the rear loose anytime, anywhere in that wet. (R1200GSA)

I slowed waaaay down after that corner and didn't have anymore front slides, but I had to really be mellow with the throttle as it was just skating everywhere the rest of that day. That was the last time I used them in the wet, so I don't know if they would get better with miles - I was at just over 700 miles on them at that point by the way.

Good to hear a few folks appreciate the feedback - for a minute there I was starting to feel like "why'd I bother?" :huh
On the dry, and offroad, you could sure do worse, and they are LOUD at certain speeds, so there ya go.

YMMV

yep DR650.
i guess on the 1st go around with this size in the US the mileage wasn't very good at all, 4-5k mi, for the cost. then compare to a mefo explorer costing the same but getting 2x the mileage (i got 8k on my last mefo explorer). when the k60 was redone, the 130-17" is still the original design (no center rubber) but the rubber compound was said to produce a longer life. i've read a few reports of guys mounting up the new 130-17" but haven't seen an end of life final mileage report.

We're probably not too different in experience and at 2 hours into a rain storm I don't expect all of the oil to be washed away, especially if there are tread grooves to hold it in place. That said, over the years I've gotten pretty conservative about cornering in the rain.

But I will offer an edumacated guess about another reason the K60 tires may be working so well for the Tenere folks. btw - I am in NO way trying to provoke a brand debate with the following statement and consider the GS to be a tried, proven, and great bike.

The Tenere is a generation newer in both ABS and traction control (TC) and both work amazingly smoother when compared to the systems on a GS. With the clutch switch mod allowing it to deliver more power at mid and low rpm, it doesn't take lots of throttle to get the Tenere TC light to illuminate on dry pavement and on gravel or wet roads it's easier. The K60s definitely illuminate the light sooner than the stock Battlewings did. The Yamaha ABS doesn't need to be turned off on steep downhills where I would kill ABS on a GS - it just stops the bike within the limits of traction available and no drama. Obviously, neither system on either bike will save you in a limit-of-traction cornering situation, but few people actually get all the way to that limit.

The point is that you usually wouldn't know the traction is low enough to activate the Tenere TC or ABS if you are not looking at the instrument cluster to see a little light come on. So it could be that one reason the Tenere owners like the K60 so much is because the electronics are allowing more traction, without most people being aware when the TC or ABS prevent a slide from developing. It'd also be a reason that we are getting such good life out of tires, which includes non-Heidenaus.

And yes, the K60s are loud, especially when worn square and in a turn.

Didn't offend me as I haven't even run them but I have run all manner of crap tires on all manner of bikes and if I'm on a full on non-DOT hard as heck desert type knobbie, I slow down in the rain and the twisties. If I'm running Tourances or 705s,,,,, I slow down when in muddy conditions. I'm a cheapskate and as often as not, I'm running some sorta freebie take-off and often, it ain't the right tire for the job at hand. Hell,,,,, I'm a darksider at times so you know I'm crazy as hell and and have no regard for my or any other's safety.:eek1

Thanks for your input. It is different than most folks in this thread but it is a data point and maybe some others will chime in with much the same experience as yours and then your's my not look like much of an outlier anymore. Thanks again for your input, ride safe and have fun.

Y'all go back and look at the rear tire pics some people are posting. Just look at the wear patterns. Notice anything interesting compared to uhhh... hell, any other tire? Make your own diagnosis and draw your own conclusions.

Gotta admit,,, I can be a bit slow on the uptake. Not enough RAM apparently.

In any event, can you elaborate and help RAM challenged feller out? What you noticing?

I have RAM, yet no clue what he's talking about.

My Texan is a little rusty too, can you please translate

Here is my rear after 6,500 miles. It's done. Had it out yesterday on it's final ride. It was slippery
going into the corners and loose coming out. Had a gas with feet up power slides.





I may replace the front too. Cupping pretty good. Lot of high speed slab
going through Baja and a couple other long rides.

Am I on drugs or is that front tyre on backwards?

Yer on drugs.

All you Aussies think our stuff is backwards.

Lets move on, Nothing to see here

Here's TXjames' victim

3600 miles. lol

OK, THAT is THE most chewed K60 I've seen in so few miles. It's hard to beat Pluric, too.
So what did you do to the poor thing?

That would be TXjames' tire. (Mine came off before 1000 miles. Me no likey that profile. I gave it to multisurfacerider. ) TXjames' came off , too (after it stepped out and throwed him off and damn near killed him on some melted chip and seal :eek1) but he put it back on for a run from Centex to Silverton for RMAR where he ran Engineer to 550- the roughest section more than once, Ophir, Hurricane, Cinnamon, and a couple others. He pulled it off in Chama,NM coming back because he was carrying an Anakee2 spare. He keeps pretty good records and says 3648 till Chama. Didn't think it would make it home to Centex without seriously limping it and that wouldn't be a whole lotta fun.

Lots of high speeds. Lots of hard dirt and sharp rocks. Lots of wheelspin. Basically.... riding like an idiot.

We were both running TKC80 fronts with the K60 rear.

And yeah. There is no perfect rear tire for a 650 lb rode hard pigbike. Gonna give up something somewhere.

As far as a front, we both think the TKC80 is the choice.

BTW, 2007 BMW GS Adv. No traction control.

Heidenau Tires are available in Butte Montana at TwoWheelz

www.twowheelz.com

Side Note .... I put a set of K60's on my personal 950 Adv. It run 5900 miles to Alaska & back ... Way Overloaded because one of the other bikes broke a luggage rack and the 950 packed all of it. After 5900 miles we took it off and put it on the front of a Honda CRF450R that Keith Sayer used for a 17 day "Free-Style" show in Vancouver BC. It worked awesome and looks to have at least another 4000 on it. It is going back on the 950 soon.

Thanks
Matt

www.keithsayers.com