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642 miles - is that good for a rear tire?

ScottRNelson

ScottRNelson

Mr. Dual Sport Rider
Joined
Aug 3, 2002
Location
Meridian, ID
Moto(s)
Honda XR650L, KTM 790 Adv R
Name
=Username
Okay, rhetorical question.

I thought I had the toughest tire I've ever seen, a Heidenau K60 Scout in size 150/70-18. But I ran over something today that sliced right through one of those big knobs and into the tube. Once the tire was opened up, there was a piece of some sort of razor blade in there that was nearly an inch long and almost half an inch wide, with the sharp part along the long edge. Apparently that's what broke off of whatever I hit. And I didn't even do any off-road riding today.

The slice was almost an inch at the outside and half an inch on the inside, cutting through the cords and making the tire unsafe.

And I have to give props to Folsom Cycle. :thumbup When I called them and said I would either push it a mile or just ride it there on the flat tire, they came and picked me up in the shop pickup truck. Then when they didn't have the big tube in stock that goes in there, they made a six mile round trip to my place to go get a used tube that I had that was the right size. The only thing they didn't do is give me a big discount on fixing it - two hundred bucks - Ouch!

I had noticed that some models of the Heidenau K60 have a solid center where my old one had a gap. That made it really rough riding. Apparently they changed the tread pattern on all of them, because the old one had a date code of about 3412 and the new one is 2713 (first week of July). The new one has the solid tread pattern in the middle. It's way smoother on the street. I just hope it's as good in the dirt.

Just hoping for a little bit of sympathy or BARF love or something. :cool

The one on the right is now history...
NewK60s_zps5aa3d8b6.jpg
 
Bummer dude. Post on ADVrider for some true sympathy and opinions on the differences in the tire. Those guys love the Heidenau tires :).
 
fuk man, those tires shredded hauling your little moto bike around

ive got a 5 ton unimog with tires from 1964 continentals that have similar treadpattern, i hope taht shit doesnt shred on me
 
Damn that blows! :thumbdown Good luck with your new one! :thumbup
 
I don't approve of such short tire life. :x

I've noticed the Heidenaus on a lot of ADV bikes this weekend. Are you going to buy another set or try something else? I had someone recommend the TKC80's once I start doing more dirt and less street. I'm currently on Shinko 705 and I like them.

Where's the mototireguy to share his wisdom?
 
sfcootz said:
I've noticed the Heidenaus on a lot of ADV bikes this weekend. Are you going to buy another set or try something else? I had someone recommend the TKC80's once I start doing more dirt and less street. I'm currently on Shinko 705 and I like them.
Click to expand...
I have TCK-80's on my spare rims for the XR650L. They're great in the dirt, but squirm a bit too much on the street. The Heidenau tires feel much better to me when riding on a twisty road at a spirited pace.

Right now, the next set of tires I intend to buy for my second XR650L will be Shinko 705's. I don't know what to expect from those in the dirt, but expect great things on the street.

I would be buying a new set of those now, but after having to buy this other tire AND a new battery for the KTM (last week) I need to get a little more wear out of the MT21's before replacing them (and spending more money on motorcycles).

I can't quite figure out why sometimes I can go months not buying more than gas for my bikes and other times they ALL need something and I'm stopping in at the local motorcycle shop twice a week. Those guys all know me by name there now.
 
ScottRNelson said:
[edited].....I can't quite figure out why sometimes I can go months not buying more than gas for my bikes and other times they ALL need something and I'm stopping in at the local motorcycle shop twice a week. Those guys all know me by name there now.....
Click to expand...

you've described a convergence - a building-to-a-peak of sine waves, for example

sorry about the tire, yet happy that:

- you're OK
- the local shop stepped up [twice!]
 
ScottRNelson said:
I have TCK-80's on my spare rims for the XR650L. They're great in the dirt, but squirm a bit too much on the street. The Heidenau tires feel much better to me when riding on a twisty road at a spirited pace.

Right now, the next set of tires I intend to buy for my second XR650L will be Shinko 705's. I don't know what to expect from those in the dirt, but expect great things on the street.

I would be buying a new set of those now, but after having to buy this other tire AND a new battery for the KTM (last week) I need to get a little more wear out of the MT21's before replacing them (and spending more money on motorcycles).

I can't quite figure out why sometimes I can go months not buying more than gas for my bikes and other times they ALL need something and I'm stopping in at the local motorcycle shop twice a week. Those guys all know me by name there now.
Click to expand...

I can tell you that I did about 120 miles of gravel/dirt riding this weekend at Hawthorne (Lukcy Boy Pass) and that my tires were totally up to the job even when the road became sandier. I didn't enjoy the break in process much (they felt weird :x) but now that they ARE broken in they are a nice tire on the street.

That said, I'm a three year rider with only 21K under my belt. You've been riding much longer and push your machines harder than I do. I don't know if you will like them as much as I do but at about $170 for a full set they're worth a try. :)
 
sfcootz said:
That said, I'm a three year rider with only 21K under my belt. You've been riding much longer and push your machines harder than I do. I don't know if you will like them as much as I do but at about $170 for a full set they're worth a try. :)
Click to expand...
You're talking about the Shinko 705?

(I think those are the only ones on the list in that price range.)

---Edit---

Nevermind. I just needed to ready your previous comment.
 
ScottRNelson said:
I thought I had the toughest tire I've ever seen, a Heidenau K60 Scout...

Just hoping for a little bit of sympathy or BARF love or something. :cool
Click to expand...

My bike wears these. I got two nails in the rear, but it went almost 11k miles with no other issues (90% road, 10% dirt). The thick sidewalls are a bitch to unmount/mount for field repairs, so hopefully yours are tubeless.
 
palada said:
My bike wears these. I got two nails in the rear, but it went almost 11k miles with no other issues (90% road, 10% dirt). The thick sidewalls are a bitch to unmount/mount for field repairs, so hopefully yours are tubeless.
Click to expand...
There is a reason why I didn't attempt to repair the tire myself. That tire is difficult even with a good tire machine. There is no way I would try to deal with it using hand tools.

And I mentioned something about the guy from Folsom Cycle taking me back to my place to get a tube, so no, they aren't tubeless.
 
Scott, Scott, Scott...
You just need to sell that 'ol raggedy arsed model and get you one of the new Adventures 'cause they run tubeless tires now! :teeth
 
ScottRNelson said:
Once the tire was opened up, there was a piece of some sort of razor blade in there that was nearly an inch long and almost half an inch wide, with the sharp part along the long edge. Apparently that's what broke off of whatever I hit. And I didn't even do any off-road riding today.

The slice was almost an inch at the outside and half an inch on the inside, cutting through the cords and making the tire unsafe.
Click to expand...

Wow - that sucks! Maybe a blade from a craft knife ? Don't think it would make much difference what tire you had on, not that that would help much


ScottRNelson said:
I had noticed that some models of the Heidenau K60 have a solid center where my old one had a gap. That made it really rough riding. Apparently they changed the tread pattern on all of them, because the old one had a date code of about 3412 and the new one is 2713 (first week of July). The new one has the solid tread pattern in the middle. It's way smoother on the street. I just hope it's as good in the dirt.
Click to expand...

I recall seeing the same thing posted on Advrider - saying they were concerned that the newer version with the solid center line may not be as good in dirt than the older version as it was 'less knobby' :)

Searched on there, and found the thread. And while searching, saw your name - ha! :laughing

YW: Heidenau Scout K60
 
Here's the razor piece found inside the tire:
RazorBlade_zps3511a062.jpg

Here's the new tire (notice the change in tread pattern):
NewK60-2_zps71629480.jpg


I'm going to go update the AdvRider thread. :cool
 
I feel your pain, brother ;)

Last week, on my commute from Fairfield to MV, after several miles of "overtaking" on 37 between Vallejo and Sears Point as many moto commuters do, and suddenly the back end of my VStrom got all wobbly. I pulled over and my Pilot Road 2 150/70 with ~3000 miles on it had a 3/4" slice straight through the tread block - it was toast.

Notes of interest:
-It took AMA 2.5 hours to get a tow truck to me (seemed a little on the slow side, but maybe I'm just a whiner)
-I'm rethinking my 37 "overtaking" approach.
 
In 2011, my buddy and I had K60s put on the rear of our bikes in Fairbanks. The 150 going on the rear of my Wee had a center tread stripe like the one in the right of your *first* pic. Yes, there IS a center stripe there, just not all the way to the tread blocks.

He had a 140 put on the rear of his F650GS twin, and it had NO center tread at all. It looked like your front tire.

Looks like they totally redesigned it now though.
 
ScottRNelson said:
I have TCK-80's on my spare rims for the XR650L. They're great in the dirt, but squirm a bit too much on the street. The Heidenau tires feel much better to me when riding on a twisty road at a spirited pace.
Click to expand...

+1 on the TKCs. I never got comfortable with the squirming on riding on the road. I use Conti escapes as a more road going alternative, and have no complaints. I have ridden them in mud and gravel.

The only issue I had was being unable to slow the bike as much as I would like on a downhill descent on dirt with full bags, and that was primarily rider error not getting my weight far enough back. Still with knobbies I think it would have masked this error.

My riding is 90%+ road, and I would not get another set of TKCs for that proportion of riding. Maybe 60/40 road/dirt they are a great tire.
 
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