Heidenau K60 Scout

It's probably my error, not Rolf's - he was, after all, somewhere in the Heidenau factory when he was speaking to me. So presumably knows a bit about the tires being made not too far from where he was sitting. His English as a second language is far superior to my Deutsch as a second language.

Jäger wrote:

SheWolf wrote:

Not sure if anyone has tired these...but this girl is going to take a HUGE jump into the unknown.



90/90/21 front and 120/80/18 on the back.

Well, talk about coincidences. I came here to post a similar decision; I'd been looking back and forth between the Mefo Explorer's and the Heidenau's. Figured that for a whole lot less money and a similar looking tire with a good reputation, I'd go Heidenau.

I'm about to complete a purchase on ALMOST the same thing, except I've been waiting for a few responses from sellers to make sure I'm crystal clear that I'm getting exactly what I want in the way of Heidenau's. The "Scout" and size thing is the outstanding questions.

First, where are you buying them, and how much?

Distributors are hard to find (but growing); the best pricing I could find was www.tires-easy.com
Heidenau K 60 120/90-18 TT 71T M/C $111.40
Heidenau K60 Scout 90/90-21 TL 54T M/C $80.80

And $40 shipping...

Heindl Engineering had about the same, for about $10 more after shipping was added.

I'm wondering where you got the K60 Scout in 120/80-18? The online dealers didn't have the Scout in that size, and Heidenau's website seems to confirm that:
Their K60 Scout series - closest is a 140/80 - 18 M/C 70S TT M+S
http://www.reifenwerk-heidenau.de/modules/reifenliste/view.php?point=2&rtyp=10&profil=162&pic=99&lang=en

The online dealers and the manufacturer website seem to indicate you have to go to the "ordinary" K60 to get 120/80 - 18:
http://www.reifenwerk-heidenau.de/modules/reifenliste/view.php?point=2&rtyp=10&profil=38&pic=104

Difference in tread pattern(first two: K60; last two: K60 Scout):



The siping and center rib on the Scout seems to be the difference between the K60 and K60 Scout. I thought about 140/80 - 18, but.... my spidey sense tells me "no" for my useage.

Neither Tires-Easy or Heindl showed a 120/80-18 in stock. I've been waiting for their response on that before completing the purchase, but if not I won't lose any sleep over getting a 120/90-18 instead.

Anyways, I was about five minutes away from slapping plastic down when I saw your post. So I think I'll give it a few hours and see if you've found some Scouts I can't see elsewhere, or a better deal.

That tire looks very intresting. Looking forward to some reports about it.

sturgeon wrote:

DualSport Plus in Stoney Creek (ON) has 'em. http://dualsportplus.com/tires.html

Yeah... I waited a few days. Didn't hear from them. Then they got back to me about three hours after I purchased and arranged drop shipping from Blackfoot. And priced them $30 cheaper, approximately - $191 for the tires; $35 shipping clear across the country. They were preoccupied preparing for some Beemer thing. Damn Beemer's always costing you money - even when you don't own one.

Damn... that's like... five tanks of gas... two new tire tubes... Two two-fours of Kokanee... Two Papa John's pizzas.

Anyways, K60 Scout front, K60 rear, $251 delivered from Blackfoot. The $10 diff from Lynn was I got the Scout front, she didn't (according to Nathan).

Blackfoot and DualSport look like two good places for Canadian riders to deal with.

It would be interesting to ride them side by side with new Trailwings, see if there's any noticeable difference in how they feel. Not much point with comparing them to a Trailwing rear worn down to nothing, and a front that's about three quarters done. For 50/50 dual sporting that's overwhelmingly dry conditions, no sand, no gnarly roots and rocks trails, the Trailwing has proven to be an excellent tire. I have strayed into mud with them just often enough to know why people fear them in the slop, however.

Jäger wrote:

sturgeon wrote:

DualSport Plus in Stoney Creek (ON) has 'em. http://dualsportplus.com/tires.html

Yeah... I waited a few days. Didn't hear from them. Then they got back to me about three hours after I purchased and arranged drop shipping from Blackfoot. And priced them $30 cheaper, approximately - $191 for the tires; $35 shipping clear across the country. They were preoccupied preparing for some Beemer thing. Damn Beemer's always costing you money - even when you don't own one.

Yeah, that's the annual BMW SummerFest at Mosport. They didn't really want to go, probably didn't sell much there, but it gets their name out there so they go. They're much better to deal with via phone than email, I find (time zone diffs notwithstanding). And they have a toll-free number.

"...the Trailwing has proven to be an excellent tire. I have strayed into mud with them just often enough to know why people fear them in the slop, however."

I concur but swerving sideways through the slop, trying to stay upright, is the most fun I've had on my WR. Absolutely NO traction in mud. The only time I really FEAR it is when the water on top of the mud is deeper than expected!

Tires are in, defintely the Scout's and not the old K60's style. Pics to come tomorrow when it's light. Sorry, sporadic posting due to forestry related stuffs...but I'm kinda pumped to give these things a rip!

Tires are ON!








Now to take them for a rip. Should be interesting to see how they respond to the shit and abuse.

SheWolf wrote:

Now to take them for a rip. Should be interesting to see how they respond to the shit and abuse.

Did you mount 'em yourself? The wider widths like 140 and 150 are pretty stiff.

These are the 120 profile, so no worse than any of those. As for the ride, I have to say that they ride incredibly well on pavement. They don't skitter in tar strips, uneven pavement, cracks, painted lines like the TW's did, or in fact, like a lot of tires I've run. Very stable, sticks like glue even in wet pavement (I got to run through a good stretch of country road where a good 3 miles were wet from irrigation lines overspraying the fence line, and some construction that had the roads watered down by a tender truck for another 2 or so miles). No vibrations, fairly quiet, and the lean angles reminded me of when I had my 600 sportbike. You can really hang it sideways a fair ways for a tire with this stature.

As for off road, they track well in loose gravel (I got up to 50 mph on one stretch that was nothing but marbles), hit some sandy spots and they were fine as long as I kept my ass over the back tire and throttled thru it. No mud; it's way too dry for that with the weather we've had. Single track I was pleasantly surprised by the mannerism; loose dirt and loam the back dug in and held. Front was a bit snotty but with a bit of throttle feather and weight distribution it went thru corners fairly well...just not as fast as I normally would with the 606's (but that goes without saying; the TW's wouldn't even do anything close to what these tires did ).

All in all, so far I'm quite taken with these skins. They've given me a new appreciation for the 'true' dual sport tire, where they actually do work on a variety of terrain, and feel well planted in doing so. For once I can actually give a tire of this breed a thumb's up, confidently. I wouldn't think twice about going out and dropping cash on another set once these spin off.

Too bad I can't do my fire patrols on this thing, that would be a really good test. 300km of all off road content....just don't have anywhere to store all my gear without it getting in the way. Oh well, I'll have to try to swing a 'Home Before dark' once I can ditch work for a weekend.

Good review, thanks

I'm no expert but it sure looks to me like your front tire is on backwards.

Actually it's not. The direction is facing that way, and it gets incredible bite with it. Less noise too from what others have told me.

SheWolf wrote:

Tires are in, defintely the Scout's and not the old K60's style. Pics to come tomorrow when it's light. Sorry, sporadic posting due to forestry related stuffs...but I'm kinda pumped to give these things a rip!

Does that front tire of yours say it's a Scout on the side? Because it definitely looks different than mine as far as the block pattern:





The reason I'm asking if yours says "Scout" on it isn't because of "my tire is newer and better than yours", but because I was told I was paying more for the same size Heidenau's as you purchased because mine were the Scouts and your front was just the regular K60. If they are in fact exactly the same, then my already pissed-off state of mind is going to get worse. Why you ask... well, read on.

But wait! You say... "I get that the tire on the right is your old worn front TrailWing, and the tire in the middle is your new Heidenau front tire to replace it... but what is that strange tire on the left?"

That, gentle readers, is the 100/90-19 Blackfoot and/or Fullbore screwed up in sending me as a 120/80-18 rear. Anyone got a tire shrinker/expander jig handy?

There ain't an emoticon in anyone's collection relevant to my mood at this particular moment... I am about ready to take a human life.

Arriving 20 days after I ordered and paid for them... I could have sworn delivery was four or five business days... can't recall right now. Could have drove to Ontario and back to pick them up, with time left for a bit of partying along the way. Twice...

Meaning, *&%@^!@~`&%!!, that my Idaho/Montana mountain ride, already delayed while waiting for these tires, that I came in to change tires and leave on this afternoon is probably dead and buried for this year. My bags are packed... and I don't have a rear tire that I would trust to head out into the mountains on.

I will hold my keyboard on further comments until we see what Fullbore and Blackfoot do tomorrow to remedy this. If a tire isn't here by Thursday, then it really doesn't matter much, and Thursday is probably too late anyways. A look in the bike shops tomorrow to see if something suitable is there for sale, I guess. Hasn't been so far.

I really am bummin' on this... when you're on the wrong side of 55 with more years behind you than you have in front of you, a missed opportunity for an adventure ride isn't something you can assume you'll be around and able to do next year. Very, very, very pissed off... and desperately trying to be fair with a "well, these things happen" attitude. Yes - but surely not two screwups on an order, each adding further delays. And to make matters worse, I couldn't have better weather forecast for the next little while if I was God and could order the weather up myself. Will it be that way next year?

I suppose the moral of this story is to never assume you can get a new tire with a week or so's notice... keep your next tire hanging on the wall next to your new chain slider, waiting...

Apropos of nothing whatsoever, it appears you mounted your tire oriented in the direction of travel as indicated by the manufacturer. My pic above is with the wheel oriented in the manufacturer's indicated direction of travel and appears to be the same as you i.e. "^" of blocks pointing back towards the rider. I was unsure whether you were going to try your Heidenau front mounted backwards to manufacturer suggestions as Greer said many do with the Mefo Explorers.

BTW, that 19" tire they sent me is an interesting duck. As pictured, it is oriented as the manufacturer says it should be mounted as a front tire. As a rear tire, it's to be reversed. Maybe of interest to the guys with 19" wheels... I don't care much right now. And it is a K60, not a Scout. Looks very similar to the block pattern your pic shows of your front, except it also has some siping on the the tread blocks.

Now I'm going to go have myself a little Midol Moment and cry my eyes out because my bike is stranded in the garage without shoes.

I know you are frustrated with your tire situation, can you find a Dunlop 606 locally and get on your ride?

Nope. Hit the local shops today. Nothing.

The replacement Heidenau is supposed to be arriving tomorrow. Too late; I'm done.

Bummer.

Definitely ordering from Dualsport.

Hope they fix it to your satisfaction.

Has anyone run these on 17" wheels yet? It looks like there is a 140 option that would work on the rear and a 130 option that would fit on the front (same setup as us folks running the shinko 705s).

I want to start doing more dualsport type rides and having the more aggressive design would help tons in the mud and sand. Can't quite afford a second set of wheels yet and my rear shinko will be toast by my next oil change (it's got 6K miles on it).

New for Revzilla heidenau

Wonder if a 150/70/17 will fit on the bike? I run that size in a distanzia but all tires are different.

mordicai wrote:

Wonder if a 150/70/17 will fit on the bike? I run that size in a distanzia but all tires are different.

I kinda doubt it. I haven't got a lot of room for the chain with a 140 shinko and these have more edge knob. Might get lucky, but at the cost for these I wouldn't push my luck.

I might be able to get you actual mounted width of the 150/17 as we have it on the wife's Versys, not much more then 1000kms on the tire but liked it so far in the roads I have ridden, much better then the Shinko ever thought of being.

Now any mileage reports on these tires? I am looking for something to put on mid summer to last my daily commute and still be acceptable on the weekends with the boys. I am fortunate enough to have a tire machine in my shop so complete swap outs are less then an hour for me, but I don't want to do that every weekend, only on the sloppy ones

In reality I am looking for the longest lasting tire for the least amount of $$$ kinda like a MPG thing

Just ordered a 140/80/17 to replace my Distanzia 150/70 rear. Anyone running this size on their x?

Any news on how these tires work for our WR?

And I am seeing varying sizes including 120-90-18, and 140-80-18.

Which size works best?

PYG RYDR wrote:

Any news on how these tires work for our WR?

And I am seeing varying sizes including 120-90-18, and 140-80-18.

Which size works best?

I would thinkit would depend on how much road riding you do. I haven't mounted my 140/80 yet, but boy it's a great looking tire. I think I'm going to love it for 50/50 riding.

Like dirt forest service roads and straightforward mountain single track.