Heidenau k60 Scouts

[Dirt_Dad]

I guess now's a good time to update you all on my K60 experience...

Dang Trevor, those were some scary looking roads on a fully loaded bike. I could swallow hard and maybe get through that muddy one, but that sand...ooooh, I can already feel myself taking a sand bath every few feet. I'm sure you're getting more and more comfortable with that nasty stuff.

I've managed to get about 14K out of the front K60 and it still has a ton of life left in it. Never had a front of any brand go much more than 10K on any other bike. My K60 front is amazing. It's never lost any air. I tend to run it at 33lbs. I trashed my first K60 rear at around 8,400 miles. It was not quite to the wear bars, but it started to get a bit squirmy on me on the pavement. Still the longest lasting rear tire I've ever had.

 

[Don in Lodi]

I'll be passing through the 12,000 mile mark on my K60s tomorrow.

 

[Twisties]

. 42R/36F on the pavement has given me good results. I tried airing down to 26/26 but worried about denting the rims,

The K60's max psi rating is 36. I was inadvertently (ignorantly) running at 42R psi and saw a lot of cracks in the carcass. My next set did not develop the cracks at 36 psi.

I have also run aired down on the dirt at 28 psi. IMHO that is too low for this bike with this tire for street riding. I would think at 26 psi you'd get excessive wear, if nothing else. Personally, i thought they felt loose at 28 psi when I got back on pavement. YMMV.

I run K60's at 36R/33F on street these days.

 

[redneckK20]

Definitely do not recommend mixing a rear K60 with a stock battlewing front.

 

[Obrianmcc]

Definitely do not recommend mixing a rear K60 with a stock battlewing front.

I sense a story here?

 

[RED CAT]

Never ever mix a rear knobby with a smooth front tire. You are asking for trouble. Its fine to go the other way though. That is a knobby front with a smooth rear. About to put on my new front K60 with my Anakee 2 rear. Should be a great combo for my kind of riding 70/30% bumpy pavement/gravel and easy dirt roads. Question, do the rear K60s howl when slightly worn? ::001::

 

[BaldKnob]

Never ever mix a rear knobby with a smooth front tire. You are asking for trouble. Its fine to go the other way though. That is a knobby front with a smooth rear. About to put on my new front K60 with my Anakee 2 rear. Should be a great combo for my kind of riding 70/30% bumpy pavement/gravel and easy dirt roads. Question, do the rear K60s howl when slightly worn? ::001::

RED CAT, K60's howl when they're slightly new, too! You look at 'em wrong and they'll howl. Great tire though. Only tire I would trust to go cross Country or RTW. Just over 3500 miles on my K60s and the rear looks great while the front looks new. Thank you, Jaxon!

 

[tomatocity]

My concern with mixing the mentioned tires is the K60 is a bias ply and the other is a radial. Heck we can make anything work but that would just make it... interesting.

 

[nwryder12]

I just ordered my set of K60's from Jaxon today. Hope they are all their cracked up to be.

 

[RED CAT]

Mixing Radials and Bias is OK too. You won't be able to tell the difference. ::001::

 

[HoebSTer]

Yeah, for us mere peon's the difference between the two bias and radial tires used at once is minimal. If one is on the track running hard hard then maybe something, but not under what we throw at the tires.

 

[snakebitten]

I just ordered my set of K60's from Jaxon today. Hope they are all their cracked up to be.

If not, you have to be mad at a LOT of us.

Don't freak out at the funny vibrations at 15 miles per hour. They tickle at first.
They go away too. I miss them.

 

[~TABASCO~]

If not, you have to be mad at a LOT of us.

Don't freak out at the funny vibrations at 15 miles per hour. They tickle at first.
They go away too. I miss them.

Yep, after a few hundred miles... I honestly never even feel the "K60's"... I just ride the darn thing..... ::26::

 

[Karson]

I'll be mounting up the K60's before the Colorado Rally for sure - You better not run out, Jaxon. If you're on short stock, let me know and I'll order them now. ::008::

 

[snakebitten]

If Jaxon ever ran out, I know where some are in a pinch. But it will only be revealed if Jaxon runs out and HE tells me to help.

And if you are wondering, Jaxon has them priced right.

 

[avc8130]

Never ever mix a rear knobby with a smooth front tire. You are asking for trouble. Its fine to go the other way though. That is a knobby front with a smooth rear.

What type of trouble? In the sport bike world the standing opinion is that if you don't match tires, the front should always be SOFTER than the rear. The thought is that you don't want to run out of front traction before you run out of rear as this might cause you to tuck the front.

I guess the same thought applies to your advice off road? Too much rear traction will have the front pushing all over in the dirt.

ac

 

[dave6]

What type of trouble? In the sport bike world the standing opinion is that if you don't match tires, the front should always be SOFTER than the rear. The thought is that you don't want to run out of front traction before you run out of rear as this might cause you to tuck the front.

I guess the same thought applies to your advice off road? Too much rear traction will have the front pushing all over in the dirt.

ac

That is exactly what happens, its easier to handle the back end sliding out than the front, so you are indeed correct. What ever you can do to keep that front end where you want it, the back end will take care of its self.

 

[thfraser]

I've been very impressed with how well the K60 front does on gravel and loose surfaces (this excludes sand, haven't done any of that yet). For me, it grips pretty well. It also does well on the tarmac, and I haven't had any problem with it in the rain. However, the rear has spun out a little or slipped a little on very smooth wet surfaces (think tar and chip road that is in need of new chips).

 

[redneckK20]

After a thorough ride today, I must say I'm very impressed with all aspects of the K60. I hit the twisties at at least 80% of the speed I was capable of on the stock battlewings, then thrashed them in some sloppy mud, gravel, and snow. At one point the rear tire was in mud up to the rim, it just crawled right out.

 

[thfraser]

At the NOVA/MD/DC RTE yesterday, several of us had the K60's including the GSA rider.

The comparison summary:

How you ride, definitely impacts how long the tires last. Tire life ranged from about 8k, to just under 30k per a set. If you are weekend rider who rides hard, then you may only get 8k to 10k out of the tires. If you use your bike as a daily commuter and have smooth throttle control you can easily get 20k out of them. The front tires seem to wear a lot longer.

I have about 7.5k on mine, and they still have a ton of wear left.