whoops...where did those wear bars come from?

[Dirt_Dad]

Doing a quick once-over this evening before heading out to meet spklbuk out in God's Country this weekend. Was a little surprised to see the wear bars peeking back at me on from front K60. It shouldn't surprise me, it has 17K miles on it, which is 70% longer than any other front has lasted me. I installed my 3rd rear K60 just 2K miles ago, so it should have another good 4K+ to go before I need to replace that. Based on how the front had been doing I really thought it was going to make it.

So my delema... what do I put on the front for the next 4K+ miles? In some ways I feel like a man adrift on the ocean, tires, tires everywhere, but not a one to use.

I have my original Battlewing front with only 2.3K worn off. And I have a spare Anakee II with only 4K worn off. Mileage wise, both of these would work perfectly to get me to the end of my K60 rear. But I'm listening to the warning of Checkswrecks and not going to put on a superior grip front to my K60 rear. I don't want to buy anther K60 front because in 4K+ miles I plan to checkout some of the new offings on the market to see how I like them. So....?

Any suggestions for what would be a good match to a rear K60 that will last me just about 3 or 4K miles? I'll probably add anther 1,300 to the rear this weekend so I'll be down to around 3K remaining on that one.

 

[snakebitten]

You get no sympathy from me. Your fellow tire slut.

Your dilemma is simply a perception of an ideal. The ideal that at times we should be changing both tires simultaneously. Or at least at some perfect factor of x2, or even in this case, x3.

But alas, you end up with tires you have taken off, but not thrown away. You even mention several used tires you have to choose from. But none that excite you.

You know why? Cuz you want new rubber! You know it and I know it. Lol

Get a new K60 front. It just makes sense and it fits, at the moment.

Then when you are ready to pull the rear off, pull the front too. Add it to your "can't throw away tires". Then go get a matching set of those tires you wanna try next.

Tires. For you, it's a messy proposition. You can't think in "sets", like most folks.

Oh, and come clean with me. Just which secret tires are you thinking of trying next? 8)

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Oh, and come clean with me. Just which secret tires are you thinking of trying next? 8)

To be honest I haven't done enough research yet. But I know there are so many new adventure tires hitting the market that I want to keep my options open. That Anakee Wild is something that has me curious.

I am less than enthused with another K60 front. No doubt it has been one hell of a great tire. Much better than the K60 rear for me. But damn-it, I do want to start with a fresh "set" at the end of this K60.

All I know is that when I get home from this weekend the front is going to be shot...really shot. Lord knows I'm pretty good at pulling off half used tires and keeping them for the future. Maybe I'll end up with a new "set" earlier than planned and I'll store my current K60 for future use. Don't know. Just glad it's supposed to be a dry weekend with the current front.

 

[EricV]

Just suck it up and toss the Anakee 3 on the front. It will probably be gone by the time the K60 rear is, all good.

If you could stop the wheel spin, you'd have a lot better life on those rear tires.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

If you could stop the wheel spin, you'd have a lot better life on those rear tires.

As xail2xxs told me, I'm getting just as many tire rotations as everyone else, just not all of them are registering on the odometer. ;D

After reading Dallara's review I'm a little nervous of the Anakee 3. That letting loose stuff may produce more pucker than I want.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Hi Jon -
I'll be out of town for the next 10 days. C'mon over and use the el cheapo Harbor Freight tire changer to put my new front Anakee 3 on and you can have the take-off K60.
I may not give you the shirt off my back, but I'll give you the tire off my bike!
::003::

 

[snakebitten]

Karoo 3's ?

They are available.
The Wilds aren't.

I'm gonna yank a fairly new set of K60's off if the Karoos get here before next Thursday.
Or, might ship them to the dealer north of Ouray and swap out the K60's after I get to Colorado.
Depends on if the passes are open.

If the are open, I'm leaving Texas on K60's.
Swapping to rear Big Block for the Ouray week.
Then switching to Karoo 3's to run up to Calgary.
If the Karoos last until I am back on the way to Texas, I might switch back to the K60's to get home to Texas coast.

See, your dilemma is all in your head. Changing tires is just gotta be considered a MINOR thing.

I have to haul or stage tires all over the place.

 

[dcstrom]

Jon - 17,000 miles from the font K60? but you only get what, 8000 from the rear? I'm getting the reverse, 6000 from my last K60 front, 11,000 from the one before that, and 11,000 from the rear. 15-20,000 was kind of what I was hoping for out of the front, that's not working for me and so I'm a bit in the same boat - What do I fit next? (assuming I have a choice). Granted, I just put on a set of Conti Trail Attacks, and they are OK but not my ideal tire if I'm going to be doing much dirt. Watching the Anakee III Wild with interest...

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Karoo 3's ?

Maybe. I know you're really dying for someone to try those out.

Hi Jon -
I'll be out of town for the next 10 days. C'mon over and use the el cheapo Harbor Freight tire changer to put my new front Anakee 3 on and you can have the take-off K60.
I may not give you the shirt off my back, but I'll give you the tire off my bike!
::003::

Thanks, Bob. I really appreciate the offer. It seems there are several members here who have spare K60 fronts laying around. Ten minutes after posting this thread I was sent a PM and another member is going to send me his old one. So I'll have one in a couple of days to install via my very special modified el cheapo Harbor Freight tire changer. So I don't think I need to take the tire off your bike, but would still like to get with you and your new Anakee 3s for a ride sometime soon. What do you say, wanna ride?

Jon - 17,000 miles from the font K60? but you only get what, 8000 from the rear? I'm getting the reverse, 6000 from my last K60 front, 11,000 from the one before that, and 11,000 from the rear.

Trevor, I was thinking of you and your recent similar dilemma when I posted this thread. Hard to explain why you and I get such drastically different results from the front. I've never had any front last as long as the K60. I only got 8K on the K60 rear that I used going to Newfoundland, which means that one had well over 6K of pavement and a lot of that was on smooth highways. The more recent rear had significantly more dirt time and it was done around 6.5K. I guess that makes sense, I keep traction control off when not on pavement and I do tend to spin the rear tire...a lot. As far as this current K60, I've already worn through most all of the notches I cut in it when new, so I'm not sure it's going to make it 6.5K.


Well, I'm off to go kill the last of my K60 down in southern West Virginia with spklbuk and his fellow tire munchers. Have a good weekend all.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Glad you found something.
Karen and I still need to meet up with you in Harpers Ferry. We're both starting to travel a lot this summer, so I think our next opportunity will be after 6/24.

 

[dcstrom]

Hard to explain why you and I get such drastically different results from the front. I've never had any front last as long as the K60.

I guess the front K60 gets an easier time the more dirt you do, and I´m sure you´re doing more than me. Also I´m riding more curves than you (unless you´re riding WV Rt42 full time), fully loaded, and I tend to ride the front brakes all the way to the apex. That´s got to be tough on a knobby front tire. Do you ride the same way?

Trevor

 

[HoebSTer]

i am really waiting to hear how the Karoo 3 last as they look really good. Like a more aggressive version of the Distanza. Keep us posted Snake. Oh, on the note of front K60's. Mine isn't looking all that good at just over 9k. I did have some issues with pressure lowering on me unknowingly, but try to keep ontop of pressure pretty good.

Jeff

 

[EricV]

I guess the front K60 gets an easier time the more dirt you do, and I´m sure you´re doing more than me. Also I´m riding more curves than you (unless you´re riding WV Rt42 full time), fully loaded, and I tend to ride the front brakes all the way to the apex. That´s got to be tough on a knobby front tire. Do you ride the same way?

Trevor

Yeah, that part. That will cause more front tire wear and would explain your mileage figures.

If you're game, you might try a slightly different style for the corners. Ease up on the throttle while coming at the corner to adjust your speed to what you want to take the corner at, then run steady throttle to the apex or all thru the corner before accelerating. It will have a dramatic impact on your front tire wear. You might even find it rather fun to see how smooth you can be thru the corners as you link them together during your ride.

Typically I don't brake for corners. I don't generally slow down from 65-75 unless the corner is yellow posted below 35 either. I got 22k from the last front K60 and it would have done a bit more.

 

[snakebitten]

i am really waiting to hear how the Karoo 3 last as they look really good. Like a more aggressive version of the Distanza. Keep us posted Snake.

Jeff

Just before leaving Ouray, I will be mounting a full set at Davis Service Center. I am heading home by airplane for a week. Then returning to the bike for ~16 day run that should require 4000 miles out of them just to get back to Ouray and remount the K60's to get home on.
I know that 4000 wouldn't be impressive to most of you, but it would be a record for a Karoo! Right? Especially loaded 2-up and lots of tarmac. (I will be looking for dirt alternative routes the whole time)

If I don't get 4000 out of them, I will be stuck buying yet another tire(s) somewhere on the continent.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

... and I tend to ride the front brakes all the way to the apex. That´s got to be tough on a knobby front tire. Do you ride the same way?

I'm a bit different. I rarely brake going into a corner. When I need to slow approaching a corner I downshift in the approach, get the bike up to high RPMs and control my need to decrease speed by just releasing the throttle some.

I realized I was probably a little too rigid with my never brake for a corner technique when I rode with JonnyCinco last fall. He's been to a couple of race schools and spent a lot of time on the track. He was following me up a mountain and I was going at a pretty good clip (for me), then I looked over in my mirror and saw him lollygagging along side of me, clearly not putting out much effort. Talked to him at dinner that night and he gave me permission to use my brakes approaching a corner and keeping the speed up longer. I'm doing that a little more this year, but still at high RPM for speed control inside the corner.

 

[snakebitten]

I brake. I torture the poor rotors. I try to be smooth as far as weight transfer goes. Avoiding the on\off abruptness. But I'm less "linear" than what you guys describe.

 

[Dallara]

Yeah, that part. That will cause more front tire wear and would explain your mileage figures.

If you're game, you might try a slightly different style for the corners. Ease up on the throttle while coming at the corner to adjust your speed to what you want to take the corner at, then run steady throttle to the apex or all thru the corner before accelerating. It will have a dramatic impact on your front tire wear. You might even find it rather fun to see how smooth you can be thru the corners as you link them together during your ride.

Typically I don't brake for corners. I don't generally slow down from 65-75 unless the corner is yellow posted below 35 either. I got 22k from the last front K60 and it would have done a bit more.

But if you don't brake for corners, how would you know, from firsthand experience, if braking to the apex causes more front tire wear?

As for the "I don't brake for corners" and "don't generally slow down from 65-75 unless the corner is yellow posted below 35"... Man, oh man, do I have some roads marked 35 I'll show ya' where I wanna' see that!!! ::025::

Especially if you're on those Heidenau K60's!!! ::017::

Dallara




~

 

[EricV]

Corner markings do vary over the country. Some 35s no doubt mean 35. Other places you find 25 marked corners that most of us would be left thinking "what corner?".

Keeping the speed up, braking hard as you enter the turn, then rolling on throttle as you apex is excellent track procedure. I just don't ride that way on the street. It's a different world and I'm not trying to take the corner at the max possible speed or keeping track of lap times, etc. Besides, those DOT folks just won't put up braking markers and corner workers on the back roads! Never mind that nuisance of two way traffic, gravel in the corners from the farm trucks cutting the inside edge, etc. ::001::

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Thanks to True Grip I made the switch today. Officially my front had 17,833 miles and it was on the bike for about 14 months. That's a record shattering performance for a front tire for me. Nothing has ever come close.

Looking at the tire it was really done. Although down the center it still had a lot of tread left, but on the sides it was finished for any serious riding.









Probably would have been fine in a straight line in the rain, but would not have liked to turn any corners with it.

Thanks True Grip. Much appreciated.