Karoo 3

[Dirt_Dad]

Kenda Big Block. Review here: http://www.touratech-usa.com/Adventure/Blog/SKEMKI/Product-Review-Kenda-Big-Block-Tires-on-BMW-R1200GS

Thank you. I appreciated that guy's review. Does not sound like a tire I'll be trying next.

 

[snakebitten]

Kenda Big Block. Review here: http://www.touratech-usa.com/Adventure/Blog/SKEMKI/Product-Review-Kenda-Big-Block-Tires-on-BMW-R1200GS

That's the old BB. Great tire though. But very short life. The Tenere can eat the rear in 1000 miles. Maybe 1500. But Kenda released a new version and a magazine review implied it was good for more than twice that. I'll see if I can dig it up.

 

[Buckeye56]

::015::

That's the old BB. Great tire though. But very short life. The Tenere can eat the rear in 1000 miles. Maybe 1500. But Kenda released a new version and a magazine review implied it was good for more than twice that. I'll see if I can dig it up.

Could be, that review is two years old. I liked that it was written by someone not worried about losing ad revenue and probably closer to the truth than the average magazine test. I will be interested in reading the review you mentioned.

 

[snakebitten]

From a couple of months ago:

2800 miles and still going strong? That would be something if you got 4000 miles at those prices.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Update from the rainy Mid-Atlantic Region.

Last few days here have been gloomy, and very wet. Gave me a chance to go out and do a little wet condition evaluation of the K3. It's been raining for days, so all of the oils have long since been washed out of the roads. However, to take their place the leaves have been falling so there are still some hazards on the pavement. During the ride today it was at most drizzling and misty. No active significant rain falling, but all roads were wet.

Pavement - Nothing exciting to report here. They stuck to the road very nicely and did not give me any cause for concern at anytime except for when I crossed a wooden deck bridge and nailed the throttle (I gotta be me >). TCS1 did blink on me, but what what else would you expect? Nothing short of metal studs would stick to that surface. In normal riding on wet pavement they held very well. Overall, in wet conditions I'm very conservative with my riding. I use TCS1, Touring mode, clutch switch off, gentle throttle, non-aggressive with the curves. Today I did make some attempts to get it to spin in a straight line with some good throttle jabs, but I only saw the TCS light flicker once in all my attempts. Seems like a pretty good wet road tire.

Gravel/Dirt roads - The roads today were not what anyone would call muddy. They looked more like this:





There were a few sections of small amounts of mud, and some other sections where there was a light sheen of mud over the surface, which can often be slippery. Overall, I doubt anyone would consider it a challenging environment. That said it's usually pretty easy to get most tires to spin in these conditions. Not the Karoo 3. If anything, the tire hooked up better today than I have ever experienced with it previously on these roads. I repeatedly put in in the locations that appeared to have the least traction and nailed the throttle (TCS off, Sport). That sucker just moved. It loved the stuff.

Funny how a tire that zapped my confidence in a dry power slide, turns around and inflates my confidence in wet slipperier conditions. Interesting tire. I have to say on wet off pavement roads this tire really shines. Can't say for certain how it would do in true mud, but based on the experience today, it's a tire I'd want to have on when heading into those conditions.

 

[cosmic]

Installing new rubbers today. I changed my mind on the last moment. When I saw them live close to Tkc, I choose the latter one. I hope they'll last at least 2k miles.

©

 

[snakebitten]

I'm almost out of jail.

(Inside joke with Dirt Dad)

I'm at about 3300 miles on the Karoos. I am racking up miles slower since June-July than anytime since the PDP delivery of this bike. Riding daily, but no trips.

Anyways, I have now simply adapted to this tire on this bike. It's the way I think this bike should behave for me. AND, they will last 4000 miles! Albeit with the last 1000 miles being much less of a knobby in the center portion of the tire.

The front looks almost unused.

 

[Mzee]

I am I doing something wrong that my tyres last 25,000kms?

 

[Dirt_Dad]

I am I doing something wrong that my tyres last 25,000kms?

Not if you are enjoying the ride.

 

[Yamaguy55]

I've been following this as I'm considering what I want for the next tire. I can see why the K3 slides sideways: the gaps between the knobs in the rows are small enough that there is little lateral bite. With knobbies, but not road ties, the performance can be seen if you have spent enough years on pure off road bikes. The K60s have that center ridge on the rear that would give great traction under side load, but would tend to ride up onto things and limit straight line grip. A tire knife could help some of that with a few careful cross cuts. How that would affect durability is something I couldn't say; perhaps it would allow the tire to chunk off tread pieces.

As an example of this: DD, look at how your WR was with the DWs installed, and consider the tread design. Off road, compound has little effect except for adobe/hard pack and rock. With mud, sand and loose slop, tread design does. Now look at the D606s. The front D606 will slide sideways if pushed really hard, but the rear really grips under almost any condition. Look at the knob shape and spacing. Plenty of nice edges to dig in from any angle, with enough exposure to do the job. The small longitudinal spaces on the K3s aren't enough to get great side grip in the areas where you ride. Ok for road, hard gravel, etc, but not loose on top of hard,m as it can't dig in and grip.

Maybe Dunlop will make a toned down "Maxi-Me" version of the D606 for the ADV crowd?!

 

[Dirt_Dad]

All the center nubs were gone, which means at 60 miles it was not holding up as well as Snake's tire at 1,300 miles. That was a concern, so I decided I'm going to track this one to see how it does.

Update: Took a measurement today after patching my flat tire. At 1,100 miles I'm down to 4.8mm. I don't think I'll reach Snake's magic number of 4K...may not even make it to 3K. I expect my wear rate to slow down some now that we are approaching winter. I am much more conservative with my riding on cold roads.

 

[EricV]

Just read the last 6 pages. Waiting with baited breath to see if SB can squeeze 4k out of the K3s. Hell, he almost has me wanting to try a set! I keep riding on the K60s that are worn, but am having a hard time wearing them out this set. Wear slows down at the end, and usually I need a fresh set of tires to do some ride or event. Not this time. Did a ride over to CA to do a one day rally and figured the rear would be toast when I got back, but spent the rally day all on the sides, and only 200 miles, but twisty roads all. Even the 800 slab miles there and back didn't do much damage to the 10k+ K60.

I do like the tread pattern on the Karoo 3s. Looks like it should dig well in loose stuff, if not bite as well in the corners as the K60.

A sincere thank you to the tire sluts for keeping the testing going! ::012::

 

[snakebitten]

3800 miles. Sadly, 95% tarmac.

But very happy with tarmac performance. (Wet and dry)
And for the specific off-road riding that I have been lucky enough to experience, I like them as much as any tire short of a full on knobby.
(Colorado and Texas hard pack)

Not sure the side bite is any better than the K60. But I think they are noticeably better upright. They would be even better if the came with deeper-thicker lugs when new.

I'm now moving the bar. I've finally found my 4000 mile dirt tire.
Now I want a knobby that can do it.


Picture today:

 

[jasonc32amg]

3800 miles. Sadly, 95% tarmac.

But very happy with tarmac performance. (Wet and dry)
And for the specific off-road riding that I have been lucky enough to experience, I like them as much as any tire short of a full on knobby.
(Colorado and Texas hard pack)

Not sure the side bite is any better than the K60. But I think they are noticeably better upright. They would be even better if the came with deeper-thicker lugs when new.

I'm now moving the bar. I've finally found my 4000 mile dirt tire.
Now I want a knobby that can do it.


Picture today:

Nice! I've got about 1700 on mine and it looks like I'll get about 3500 to 4000 out of the rear.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

3800 miles. Sadly, 95% tarmac.

Yours at 3800 doesn't look significantly more worn than mine at 1,100.



Tires hate me.

 

[snakebitten]

Dirtdad, you definitely are a superior tire murderer.

I bow.

 

[EricV]

Tires hate me.

I think you hate tires. You must, you abuse them, beat on them and flog them to death with that right wrist. But you have a lot of fun doing it! ::26::

 

[Don in Lodi]

From a couple of months ago:

2800 miles and still going strong? That would be something if you got 4000 miles at those prices.

Competition is great for us, isn't it.

 

[snakebitten]

Competition is great for us, isn't it.

Yep!
I got an older model Big Block to kill before I try the new model out.
Or, I might save the old one for a dirt-only mission and just go ahead and order a new model.
I know what the article says. But I'm just having a hard time believing it will last that long for me.
I do know that my favorite 1000 miles (of 33,000) on this beast was done with a Big Block mounted.
But I was in Colorado in ADV Meca. So a little unfair to compare.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

I think you hate tires. You must, you abuse them, beat on them and flog them to death with that right wrist. But you have a lot of fun doing it! ::26::

Touché

Although if you look at it another way, I must love tires. I sure buy a lot of them.

Truth is, I blame the Tenere for my tire consumption issues. I rode a DL1000 for 4 years, and my burn rate was similar to what others reported. I was probably right in the middle of expected mileage. Then Yamaha goes and puts out the Tenere and I find myself riding it like some kind of big dirt bike. Power sliding here, breaking the tire loose there, fruitless attempts to wheeling the big beast just resulting in a spinning back tire...it's not my fault, Yamaha is to blame here.

At the current burn rate I would not expect this tire to make it much beyond 2,500 miles. I'm hopeful my burn rate will decrease with the approach of winter and a more relaxed riding style I adopt in the cold weather.

However long this tire does eventually make it, I'm pretty certain this is not the tire for me. I'm seriously thinking of going back to an 80/20 tire. A few reasons. I almost never get into situations where these 50/50 tires provide any benefit. If I'm honest, in the last 20K+ miles of using 50/50 tires, I doubt they've provided any useful additional utility for more than 10 miles total. I'm just not in that kind of ugly stuff very often...almost never. So I'm spending a lot of money and changing a lot of tire for little reason. My wife's Anakee II always hooked up better than my K60s in most every situation I encountered. I'm sorry to see they stopped making them.

I'm not sure what I'll be getting next. I seriously doubt it will be another sub-3K mile Karoo 3.