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Heidenau K60 Tire Review. TX to the Arctic

Joined
Sep 21, 2005
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Location
Wallis
First Name
Erik
Last Name
Wolf
I did a lot of tire research prior to heading for the Arctic Circle on my Wee. I mean a lot. What I found out is you really don't know till you try. You can read 10 different forums and get 10 different results. Here is what I found out and how it worked out for me.

A friend suggested I look into the Heidenaus . Someone else seconded the motion and after a bit of reading that is what I ordered. I set them in the sun for awhile and they went on fine with a No-mar and a little help from a friend.

The tire pressure recommendations were all over the place for these things. I went with about 40 on the rear and 38 on the front. I checked once again when I got to cooler weather, higher elevation, and cruddier roads and they were about 38 on rear and 36 on front. People run these things as low as 28 psi so I left them be.

The tires rode fine at highway speeds. My GPS said top speed of 92 (I must have been passing someone). Most of the time it was 70-80 MPH from Texas to Canada. I did notice if you let of the accelerator in a hurry they would remind you that it wasn't a street tire.

I tried the tires on every road condition but sand and Ice. I caught the Dempster, Top of the world, and the Alcon in the rain. It handled fine with the exception of tar snakes or painted stripes when wet. I even managed to drag a little peg at bear tooth pass. I felt fine on the tires.

Coming in to Dawson Creek there was a section of black top that had deep grooves in it running parallel to your direction of travel. It was sketchy and even at low speeds the tires didn't feel outstanding. I'm not sure any tire would have. The other unsettling surface were the metal grade bridges that can be found up that way. Again, not sure any tire would have performed better.

Both the tires below have 9200 miles on them. They slabbed it from TX to Canada, up the Ice Field Parkway, up the Alcon, up the wet Dempster, down the wet Dempster, across a muddy top of the world, back down a wet Alcon, through Bear tooth pass and slabbed it back to Texas. Not sure I could have picked a better tire for the trip. They are solid 50/50 tires that can go the distance. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again for a long trip that may see some off road.




Rear
IMG_0751_zpsjtjfy5la.jpg




Front
IMG_0752_zpst1pmynqq.jpg
 
Seriously? 9200 miles on the rear??? That's pretty amazing for any tire, much less a dirt-biased tire.
 
I have a Heidi K60 on the front 17" wheel of the DS'd 625SMC and a Mitas E07 on the rear - couldn't find a Heidi wide enough for that fat 5" wheel. Not enough miles on 'em yet to comment but I am not displeased in any way.

9200mi is almost unbelievably good!
Thanks for the review.
 
Seriously? 9200 miles on the rear??? That's pretty amazing for any tire, much less a dirt-biased tire.

Like the tire pressure the reported millage on these things were all over the place. I saw reports from 6000 to 14000 miles on the rear. I think if I wouldn't have been fully loaded and hadn't had done 4000 miles of full blown 70-80 MPH Highway that I would have gotten more out of them. If I would have needed to ride 1000 more miles to get home the rear probably has it left in it.
 
Last edited:
That's very impressive.
On essentially the same route, riding Heidenau K76 on my Super Tenere, I wore out the rear about 2000 miles from home. The only right-sized tire I could find in Smithers, B.C. was a brand new K60 -- bought it off a GS rider I met at Tim Horton's. My rear was seriously toasted at 6500 miles -- gravel ate it up.
 
The other unsettling surface were the metal grade bridges that can be found up that way. Again, not sure any tire would have performed better.

Strangely enough, the Shinko 705's i rode up on handled the metal grate bridges really well. Nothing off putting at all after getting the feeling on the first one.

... almost crapped my pants when i hit the first one on the way back down with the K60's :eek2:

But have to agree overall - They're pretty good for long hauls and some dirt.
I still like the TKC80 front better than the Heidi.
I think I want to try a Mitas rear for the next long trip.
 
Strangely enough, the Shinko 705's i rode up on handled the metal grate bridges really well. Nothing off putting at all after getting the feeling on the first one.

... almost crapped my pants when i hit the first one on the way back down with the K60's :eek2:

But have to agree overall - They're pretty good for long hauls and some dirt.
I still like the TKC80 front better than the Heidi.
I think I want to try a Mitas rear for the next long trip.

The first time I saw this sign I was already worried

motorcycle%20vibration_zps1vib5m6m.jpg


I like the TKC on the Wee I didn't think the one I had on would go the distance so I replaced both tires before the trip. The first metal bridge I crossed was dry. It was an eye opener. The remaining ones were wet. I never did feel comfortable on them.
 
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