Heidenau K76's

[CDMartin884]

Anyone have any experience with the K76's, iI am thinking about trying as set, but am torn between them and the K60's.

 

[~TABASCO~]

They work great. More of a street tire and great wear. They are becoming popular.

 

[CDMartin884]

How do they handle gravel and light off-road, I probably do 80-20%, and the 20% is more gravel and dirt roads. I was considering getting K60's, but I am wondering if the K76's my be more appropriate for my riding.

 

[OkState]

If you're like me and your gravel / dirt roads are mostly hard packed and grated, these look like they'd be fine. Mud or loose dirt/sand i think is where you'd be lacking a bit. I don't have these, but they look similar to the stock Metzler pattern I have which runs up and down the local dirt roads just fine but pack up on the mud.

 

[~TABASCO~]

X 2 It looks about like the Metzler but wears better... It will get you down a gravel road... Much more than that and its basically a slick...

 

[greg the pole]

K60's or mitas dakar might be overkill for you.
The 76's would work well, they look like a more agressive bridgestone battleaxe, which worked very well for me.
brief review of the mitas here: http://thetenerist.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/mitas-dakar-4-ply-tires/

 

[CDMartin884]

Thanks for the responses, I like the K60's, but I am trying to be more practical to my actual riding. I just hate to put a 50/50 on and ruin them on pavement. Especially with the Ouray trip coming up, I have a 3,600 miles round trip just to get there and back.

 

[~TABASCO~]

Thanks for the responses, I like the K60's, but I am trying to be more practical to my actual riding. I just hate to put a 50/50 on and ruin them on pavement. Especially with the Ouray trip coming up, I have a 3,600 miles round trip just to get there and back.

Depending on how 'hard' you are on tires, you should get 10-15K out of a set of K60's.... Im going to get 12 out of my rear, and I can get 20 out of my front... The 3600 is just breaking them in

 

[terrysig]

Jaxon, did not catch if you said you carried the K76 tires?

 

[~TABASCO~]

Yes, we do

 

[klunsford]

Anyone know how the K76's compare to the Shinko 705's?

 

[Don in Lodi]

You know, this whole percentage thing bugs me. 50/50, 80/20, on and on, trade off here, trade off there. When I'm on pavement, I want the tire to give me no surprises. If a slower entry speed is what it takes, so be it. But that 10% off road? I want that tire to give me 100%. A slightly more open patterned street tire isn't going to give me what I need off road, even if my off road is 'only 10%'. To my mind, the percentage of time/miles spent off road has no bearing on tread patterns. To bad we can't come up with a different rating method for these tires. A 50/50 K60 shouldn't out preform a Metzeler 90/10 on all fronts, but it does. It brings the fiction of the percentages right into your face. Sure, we can picture in our minds what a 50/50 should look like, but it sure isn't the whole story.
Sorry, I'm done. ::009::
12,700 on K60 pair, still going with measurable depth at the center rib.
LOL, that being said, I have a pair of M40s waiting in the wings... gotta try 'em.

 

[greg the pole]

Anyone know how the K76's compare to the Shinko 705's?

no idea how the shinko's compare to the k76's.
the shinko's are more aggressive, my rear lasted about 8500km, front is still on with about 9000km, but starting to feather from knob to knob. Good tire off road, pretty decent on road, not squirly on the wet stuff, and you can ride pretty agressively with them on. I'm guessing the front will sign off at about 14xxxkm.

Rear has a mitas on it, front mitas will go on when the shinko is finished

 

[CDMartin884]

Depending on how 'hard' you are on tires, you should get 10-15K out of a set of K60's.... Im going to get 12 out of my rear, and I can get 20 out of my front... The 3600 is just breaking them in

Thanks Jaxon, sounds K60's it is

 

[snakebitten]

You know, this whole percentage thing bugs me. 50/50, 80/20, on and on, trade off here, trade off there. When I'm on pavement, I want the tire to give me no surprises. If a slower entry speed is what it takes, so be it. But that 10% off road? I want that tire to give me 100%. A slightly more open patterned street tire isn't going to give me what I need off road, even if my off road is 'only 10%'. To my mind, the percentage of time/miles spent off road has no bearing on tread patterns. To bad we can't come up with a different rating method for these tires. A 50/50 K60 shouldn't out preform a Metzeler 90/10 on all fronts, but it does. It brings the fiction of the percentages right into your face. Sure, we can picture in our minds what a 50/50 should look like, but it sure isn't the whole story.
Sorry, I'm done. ::009::
12,700 on K60 pair, still going with measurable depth at the center rib.
LOL, that being said, I have a pair of M40s waiting in the wings... gotta try 'em.

Thanks for saying it better than I could. 50/50 might be the right description of a K60, but it in no way means it is only 50% as good on tarmac as a proper street tire. In fact, with the excellent electronics onboard the Tenere, you can run very aggressive on the street with them. Harder than most ever ride.

Switch to dirt, however, and the K60 completely outclasses the 80/20 & 90/10 tires. Completely.

Add to that the amazing life span of the K60 on or off road, and the classic way of judging tires goes out the window.

I admit that if I wasn't looking for excuses to leave the tarmac, I would go full street tire on the Tenere. But as you said, even if it is only 10% of the time that I am off road, that time requires (or deserves) a proper performing tire. Why go hard on tarmac and then be forced to be careful off road?

Heck, I just did 1000 miles on tarmac with a full knobby. It was awesome. This bike is simply amazing. If I could get 4-5000 miles out of a Karoo, I would run em full time. >

Wish there were more tires out there that could match the Heidenaus. I said it before.........The Tenere should come with them OEM. The dang (inferior) GSA comes with knobby!

 

[greg the pole]

Wish there were more tires out there that could match the Heidenaus. I said it before.........The Tenere should come with them OEM. The dang (inferior) GSA comes with knobby!

Mitas Dakar
http://thetenerist.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/mitas-dakar-4-ply-tires/

I would test them for you all next month on my trip through California, but i'm taking my vfr instead.

 

[Don in Lodi]

Mitas Dakar
http://thetenerist.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/mitas-dakar-4-ply-tires/

I would test them for you all next month on my trip through California, but i'm taking my vfr instead.

Has anybody run these long enough for a life expectancy number yet? Good looking tire.

 

[greg the pole]

Has anybody run these long enough for a life expectancy number yet? Good looking tire.

yep one of the inmates on adv rider linky:
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=845789