Heidenau K60 tires

This is VERY interesting !!
NEW Shinko E805

Yep, can't wait to try em. My bad luck that I recently bought two front TKCs that were on clearance at a good price and have two good used 705 rears and a used TKC rear to burn through first. Least I won't have to be an unlucky early tester like I was with the Kenda Big Blocks. Dang,,,, didn't know you could kill a rear so fast!:eek1

Definitely looks interesting. - http://www.motozone.co.nz/products/tyres/adventure-tyres/shinko-tyres/shinko-e805804.aspx

The front 804 doesn't look to bad either

I was a early " tester " of the 705 several years ago. !!.Didn't work out so well...

I'm running E-07's front and rear at the moment. Previously the Vee was wearing K60's. I got 9,000kms out of the rear and the front had 11,000 on it when I removed it (maybe had a bit more left in it).

The E-07 Rear has been on for about 7,000km and it probably has at least 2k left in it. The front hasn't been on as long but is looking ok. Very impressed with them on tar and gravel (particularly gravel), even on wet tar the grip is pretty good until you start doing really silly stuff. A mate gets around 12,000km on his XC Tiger and it's all he'll run...

As they're cheaper than the Hienies and appear to last at least as long then I'll probably be sticking with 'em.

I agree and that is what I did also, while I liked the K60 on my 690...I recall a couple of times where I struggled to get up a slippery grass hill. I lost momentum and really really needed more traction, I let all the tire pressure out and after a few goes, I finally got out of the shit. That experience bothered me, so I changed to E07. During another event, but now shod with e07 rear... I again was crossing a farm land, that required travel up hill with wet grass, and intermittent mud/clay but this time the E07 showed far more ability to tractor up the hill. I rode passed lighter bikes with knobblies which was awesome. the E07 is my general purpose tire for most adv ride conditions. I'm planning on riding E07 rear and MT21 front, for my TAT ride next year.

Why not using both E07 rear and front? I once had the TKC set on my previous Africa RD07, found especially the front extremely dangerous on wet tarmac, I mean much worse than MT21, or the Mitas E09 that I have now on my Africa 650, will never try them again in my life!

It's DONE !!.
Over. 15,000 miles and it is time to say bye bye !!.




I know a lot about a few things,a little about a lot of things but I don't know everything about anything !!.

15K might be a record for a K60, most I've heard of on a beast anyway. And still a bit of meat left on the bone at that.

Yeah I as going to say, I think that still looks better than my K60 currently on my bike, but I'm only at like 7k. Half of what you got

My bike only has 48hp and I ride like a grandpa ,wait a minute I am a grandpa ..



I know a lot about a few things,a little about a lot of things but I don't know everything about anything !!.

One comment on the 'heavier' dirt tires like K60's.

I put Scorpion Trails back on last change - no real dirt in the last year so why put K60's back on - next day a friend emails me - how about some dirt roads ?.

On the dry roads we hit, the ST was significantly better than the K60 in some areas - basically anywhere suspension compliance was a winner - potholes, ruts, washboards. It's a far lighter tire than the K60.

I'm not dissing the K60's, I liked them, but for some roads that style of tire isn't always a win.

Peter

Well I didn't get 15000 miles but this is 10000 miles of interstate commuting and the occasional off road track or dry lake bed. I just put another on today.
VXC

I just picked up a new-to-me 800XC tonight, ended up riding home in the rain. It has the new-style K60 with the center rib. It seemed to break loose awfully easily on gravel (granted it was wet, but coarse, firm gravel). Is this typical with the slick strip running right down the center of the tire? I also noticed "thumping" from the rear tire between about 25 and 35. Thought it might have been either mis-balanced or the beads didn't seat evenly. It was the beads-spinning the tire against a fixed object showed about 1/4" out of round in one area, quick look showed the beads weren't even on each side. I worked on it for a little while and improved it, really need to break the bead all the way around and reseat it.

These tires suck in the wet. The price you pay for longevity I guess. Not sure about the bead problem, weird!

It took quite a bit to seat the bead on my KTM990. The beads are quite tough and require a bit of overpressure to seat properly.

The tires are very long lasting which usually translates to 'hard' compound. That is the compromise for longevity. Not too many complaints in the dry, but you have to give up grip somewhere...seems you found it.

The beads and sidewalls are incredibly tough. It makes :hanging by hand a real challenge. I use the 150/70-17 it is the only one with that solid strip. In general I find that it feels a bit loose in the damp but if you get the bike over a little bit they grab right up.

But that tough side wall can be a real memory maker when you change them with hand tools.

Does anyone still use MEFO tires? I had a rear chunk apart on me and have been a little leery of using the warranty replacement on my 990ADV...sooner or later the K60 is going to wear out.

I've got MEFOs on my 990. They've got ~10000 or so miles on them? (Previous owner put 12,000km on the and I've put an additional 5) and I've had no issue with the tire. They are starting to get down to the wear bars and soon need to be replaced.