Dual Sport tire-Pre-ride report

[outpost22]

After trying several dual sport tires on the GS, I decided to go to more of an off road friendly beast. I've been running a front Mefo Explorer and it has been excellent. It's performance has been great on and off road. Unfortunately, the Mefo rear tire has much more of a closed tread pattern and looks like it would pack up with dirt/mud quite quickly.

 

My problem is that this time of year when it's wet on the dirt/gravel, the rear tires I've used have been lacking (i.e. Tourance, Distanzia, Shinko, etc.)

 

The new rear tire is a German Heidenau K60. It is a fairly stiff carcass, much like the Avon Distanzia. Mounting was "fair" in regards to ease. It took a lot more effort to mount than a Tourance, or Shinko but about the same as the Avon Distanzia.

 

The tire had no reference mark for valve stem alignment and balancing.

 

I haven't even scrubbed it in yet, but will report my findings.

 

I was hoping to hear if anyone else has run this tire and give some feedback on it. I found almost all positive reports on the tire on other forums.

We shall see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Firefight911]

I'm currently running them on my Yamaha Super Tenere and I ran them on my F800GS. They are a fantastic 50/50 tire. I had 9200 miles on my F800GS and they had another 1500 miles in them easy. My Yammie has 1600 miles on them so far and I am equally confident and inspired by them.

 

They start ever so slightly vibbie but once you knock off the edges some they are great. You wait until you tackle some asphalt twisties, too. They work great on and off road. The mud stuff not so much but they do better than any Tourance, etc.

 

Fantastic wearing tire that gives great added off road capability. I'm about to embark on an 8000 mile trip and they will be what carries me throughout.

 

I see that you either have the older version or are running a 140 size. The new version K60 Scout has a center rib that is smooth all the way around.

 

Your mounting experience is due to their very stiff carcass.

 

 

Note that they are max psi of 36.

 

You're gonna love them!

[outpost22]

Thanks for your feedback.

These are a 130/80/17 K60 for the F650, so I'm not sure about a center rib in this size(?)

Max pressure listed on the sidewall reads 41 psi. I plan to run 34-35.

 

Your report seems to mirror what I've read about this tire, and yes the sidewall is about the same stiffness as the Distanzia which makes fixing a flat tire trailside not so much fun with tubes...

[OoPEZoO]

Wow...thats good mileage for a tire that meaty looking. That might be a possibility to toss on for coming out to CO for the UN. I have a good front TKC80 sitting in the garage. That in the front matched with the K60 in the back might be a hell of a lot of fun.

[Firefight911]

Thanks for your feedback.

These are a 130/80/17 K60 for the F650, so I'm not sure about a center rib in this size(?)

Max pressure listed on the sidewall reads 41 psi. I plan to run 34-35.

 

Your report seems to mirror what I've read about this tire, and yes the sidewall is about the same stiffness as the Distanzia which makes fixing a flat tire trailside not so much fun with tubes...

 

Yup, the 130 did not go through the redesign of the 150 size so you retain the original design and look. This also accounts for the difference in marked max. psi per the sidewall.

 

Keith, that is a very common pairing, TKC and K60. The added capability of the front TKC would be good in a lot of the more technical and/or sloppy conditions that the front K60 does not excel at as a 50/50 tire.

[johnlt]

Yep, thats the combo I'll be running on my ride to Inuvik next month. TKC80 up front and K60 on the rear.

[Geoffster]

Thanks for your feedback.

These are a 130/80/17 K60 for the F650, so I'm not sure about a center rib in this size(?)

Max pressure listed on the sidewall reads 41 psi. I plan to run 34-35.

 

Your report seems to mirror what I've read about this tire, and yes the sidewall is about the same stiffness as the Distanzia which makes fixing a flat tire trailside not so much fun with tubes...

I was very unhappy with my 130/80-17 K60 on pavement until I raised its pressure to the mid-30s.

[outpost22]

Update:

Finally got to put about 60 miles on dirt and gravel today, along with 30 miles of pavement. On pavement (at 35 psi) the tire had virtually no vibration, at least none noticeable over the normal thumper vibration Turn in showed no "dive" or "fall over", just a nice easy transition. On dirt and gravel, the tire exhibited no bad manners. Usually I air down to about 22-24 for a better ride and traction. Today, I just left it at 35 psi. I could get a nice easy controlled step out under power. Just felt very confident. There was no mud today on the areas ridden, so no report on that surface.

 

We'll see how it goes as the miles accumulate.

[outpost22]

Well, she got the full test yesterday. Put about 130 miles of dirt and gravel on the tire. Got up to 5000' elevation and ran into this stuff:

 

 

 

This snow was the kind if you walked on it (or rode) you would sink down 1'. It had the 1" crust and the "break through" when I put weight on it. The only option was to ride the wheel tracks. Unfortunately they were ice packed rails with zero traction. This picture is looking back at what I just rode up.

 

I can safely say that the new tire found enough traction to push me through uphill (barely) and if I had my old tire on, it would have been stuck and pushing the bike.

 

The tire worked very well in all the trail conditions. I can now recommend it for those looking for a dual sport tire.

[OoPEZoO]

Great.....now where are you ordering them from. I've looked around my normal tire suppliers and they don't seem to be available. Only other option I've found so far is Ebay, and I'm not overly thrilled about that unless its the only option.

[Firefight911]

Go to

 

AdvDesigns

 

LINKY

 

or

 

RideonAdv

 

LINKY

 

They'll take care of you. I actually get mine through A&S BMW so they are also an option.

[johnlt]

emototires also has the K60. That's the online tire dealer associated with Iron Horse BMW in Tucson. Same folks.

[OoPEZoO]

Damn......I guess my days of getting a good set of tires for under $250 are gone.

 

I suppose my RT had me spoiled.

[outpost22]

Great.....now where are you ordering them from. I've looked around my normal tire suppliers and they don't seem to be available. Only other option I've found so far is Ebay, and I'm not overly thrilled about that unless its the only option.

 

This was ordered through Clicky Here

Great fast service and free shipping

(no affiliation)

[OoPEZoO]

I ended up ordering a rear K60 and a new front TKC80 from emototires. Now I just have to figure out if I have enough rubber on my rear Tourance to get me through the RCR.

 

I got so used to my RT and running the same tires over and over that I knew almost exactly how much life I had left in them. This new bike/new tire learning curve is a PITA

[Firefight911]

Damn......I guess my days of getting a good set of tires for under $250 are gone.

 

I suppose my RT had me spoiled.

 

Ah, grasshopper, but wait, there is more!!!!!

 

You won't be replacing these K60s very often!!! My first set had 9200 miles on them when BMW bought the bike back. They had another 1500 mile sin them easy.

 

My current set have 1800 on them and they show no appreciable wear yet.

 

You may pay a little more but your overall cost will be less!!

[OoPEZoO]

eh....not so much. I was getting 10K miles a set from running PR2's on my RT and I rode it hard. I don't know exactly what I'm getting from the Tourances on my GS yet because this is the first set I've worn out (they were on the bike when I bought it last summer), but I'm guessing I'm in the 8-10k mile range on them as well.

 

Of course those PR2's didn't do so well in the woods

Or the knee deep creek crossing that followed this pic

[Firefight911]

Nice!!!! Eh, you'll still love 'em!

[OoPEZoO]

Wow......got my new tires today. I knew what to expect from the TKC80, but that Heidenau K60 has some impressive looking tread. I can't wait to get it on and find some dirt

 

[OoPEZoO]

That beast has one hell of a stiff side wall. It was almost as difficult to mount as the Dunlop's my old man runs on his Goldwing.

[outpost22]

That beast has one hell of a stiff side wall. It was almost as difficult to mount as the Dunlop's my old man runs on his Goldwing.

 

Yep. I would rate it right along with the Distanzia for sidewall stiffness. I use three tire irons while mounting these stiff ones, one of them I call the BFTI. I'm sure you can figure out what that stands for.

[OoPEZoO]

Hit about 150 miles of dirt and gravel this weekend with the K60/TKC80 combo on the GS. Wow, what a great setup. I expected them to be good in the dirt and I wasn't disappointed, but I can't believe how well they behave on the pavement. I could get them to squirm a little bit if I pushed it, but it was very easy to control. Love the profile and fall in. Only time it got a little squirrly was during some extra spirited bursts on the highway to speeds that I shouldn't have been at anyway.

 

I haven't run them in the rain yet, but as of right now.....this is my tire combo of choice in the foreseeable future.

[outpost22]

I've never run the TKC 80 front tire. Might try it for fun next. I will say that the Mefo Explorer front is one exceptional tire. Good wearing, especially if you reverse the tread about 1/2 way through it's life.

[OoPEZoO]

The thing that blows me away about the TKC80 front tire is that on pavement, from 25mph-80mph, you don't know its there. Below that you can feel the knobs. Above that it starts getting a little funny. On dirt and gravel it is awesome.

 

I've heard reversing the TKC80 midlife works as well. Going to keep an eye on it and give it a try if it starts wearing funky.

[outpost22]

Update:

After living with this tire since May (now October) and several thousand miles, my opinion is still the same. This is STILL the best dual sport rear tire I have ever run. It is a 50/50 tire and this one spends more than half it's life on gravel and dirt. If I had to nit-pick, it would be that it's a little noisier than a Tourance or Distanzia.

 

Also curious how Keith has faired with it on the larger GS?

 

I highly recommend this tire.

[OoPEZoO]

LOVE IT!!!!!

 

Rode it to WV for a couple of days, rode it to work a couple of times, and then topped it off with a my trip out to Colorado for the UNrally. It survived triple digit heat on US highways for 3 days in a row, followed by flogging it up every mountain pass I could physically handle for 4 days, and finished it up with 2 days and 1800 miles of high speed US interstate to make it home a day earlier than I had planned. I have no desire to ever run a different rear tire. It did everything I asked and never complained once. Plus, I still have a good bit of tread left to play with. I have between 6-7k miles on it and expect it to last another 3-4k.

 

Only thing that made me question it was changing lanes at highway speed in the rain. I got a little squirrley over the painted lines a couple of times. The highway beat my front TKC80 pretty bad on the way out, so I talked Killer into dragging along one of Whip's old Anakee's that was sitting around in his garage. Long story short......the squirrley feeling seemed to be coming from the TKC80 front, not the K60 rear. With the Anakee on the front, everything is great regardless of the conditions. BUT, if I was heading out into the woods I would put that TKC80 back on in a second.

[kmac]

Man do I love seeing the bigger GS bikes with real off hiway tires on them and hear of them actually being riden off the tarmac. Good on every one of you...I hope be in that party after my next surgery again.

[OoPEZoO]

Yeah......we had some fun out there.