Hiedenau k60 scout

MIMSEY

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Guys can I get some feedback on the k60. I'm looking for a good 50/50 tire that will last me more than 5000kms. I've heard it not a good road tire from some but my days of knee dragging is over I'm more interested in distance. I have to travel long distances to get to the fire and dirt roads.
What has been your experience with the k60 Scout?
 

AVGeek

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The K60 was THE tire of choice here before Mitas made the E7 (original and Dakar, not the newer + version) more readily available. They are a bias ply tire, and wear like iron. For the desert southwest, they were an amazing 50/50 tire, and the only place I found their performance lacking was on wet roads (admittedly, not much of an issue in the deserts of Phoenix and Vegas!).
 

HeliMark

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When I ran the K60, they lasted close to 15K miles, but I did not like them in the rain, and they squared off earlier then some others I have ran. I loved the Mitas E-07's, they lasted 15K+ miles, were good on road, and in the rain. They changed the tire to a newer version, and the change has not been very popular.

I switched to the MotoZ GPS tires, along with a lot of E-07 people. Not sure on how long it will go yet. I like the rear tire, but not so much the front for me. Buzy, and likes to slide out easier than the E-07 did in turns in the dirt. But there is a lot of people that like the front.
 

EricV

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I've run 10+ sets of K60s. Mostly road use with gravel/dirt two track and logging/fire roads. No serious off road use. I liked them, got a consistent 12k miles from the rears on my use. I preferred the Mitas E07 Dakar, which was better in the wet. Keep in mind that for a long life tire, the K60 is great for a traveler. I rode them to Alaska and in the Iron Butt Rally. 11 days, 10k miles for me and then a trip up around the Great Lakes before I got home to Utah. I swapped rear tires during the rally to be on the safe side, but ran both of those rears past 12k in the end. Any weather it will do fine. Alaska was every other day rain and I had torrential rain during some days during the IBR. Yes, brand spanking new tire on wet paint lines, it will spin. Any other conditions, if you've got any restraint at all for your wrist, you might not even notice with the brilliant traction control on the Super Ten.

HeliMark is spot on with the MotoZ GPS Tractionator too. Easy 10k miles tire for the rears. Better in the wet than the K60. The rear tires can be mounted in either direction, one way for 50/50, the other for pure dirt use. Fronts only one way. I have not noticed any negative issues on gravel, but haven't run hard off pavement with them. The wife's BMW GSA has them on now and I am starting to notice some buzzyness at 12k+, but mostly in leans from some minor scalloping wear. She's mostly a pavement rider, but prefers the MotoZ over the K60 greatly for it's better wet traction and smoother ride. The Anakee 3s wore much like they do on the Super Ten for her, rears fine, long life, fronts suck with tri-band wear patterns. She's not a brake in, throttle out rider either.
 
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ballisticexchris

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The K60 was THE tire of choice here before Mitas made the E7 (original and Dakar, not the newer + version) more readily available. They are a bias ply tire, and wear like iron. For the desert southwest, they were an amazing 50/50 tire, and the only place I found their performance lacking was on wet roads (admittedly, not much of an issue in the deserts of Phoenix and Vegas!).
How do the K60's do in the deep sand and rocks/shallow ruts? Such as the roads and washes going from BC to say Nelson Hills or Jean/Stateline? My biggest reason going with the lower life "Big Block" style tire is because the chevron style treads just don't seem provide enough traction in any kind of loose soil.

I'm really trying to understand how a long life tire without big knob's can do so well in harsh off road conditions. I'm sure some of it has to do with the rider. OTOH seeing a really good off road riders front end wash out without warning with the E07 Dakars was a big turn off for me.
 

EricV

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If I want deep sand traction or loose dirt, I'll be going with Kenda Big Blocks and accept that they will be toast in 2500-3k miles depending on how much pavement and corse sharp rock I ride. I equate desert SW with a lot of rocky/sandy/loose conditions and some deep sugar/powder sand. Deep sand is as much technique as tires, (I suck at technique in sand), but momentum and keeping loose control of the bars are your friends. Part of the equation is also speed. I ride slow and poke along a lot on desert two track. On 'good' gravel I might be doing 60 mph though. I haven't ridden Jean/Stateline so can't qualify based on that terrain.

In regards to the 'good rider'. Who knows everything going on there? I think you said it was an AT, so 21" wheel, tube tires, pressure unknown, etc. On the Super Ten, if you don't keep the power up and the front end light in the soft stuff, you're screwed. That can lead to some uncomfortable speed in technical conditions. Chop the throttle at the wrong time and I can see the front end acting like a submarine.

For your stated riding preferences from past posts, I don't think you'd like the K60 Chris. As a long distance rider and touring guy that sometimes takes the less traveled way over the mountain, they worked very well for me. I'll probably try a set of the MotoZ GPS Tractionators next, but have tires to wear out first.
 
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ballisticexchris

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After another ride or two I'll be reviewing the tires I'm rolling on. All it took was one injury (on smooth tires) to convince me I have to be concerned about the very small percentage of off pavement travel this bike will be on (less than 10%). I'm amazed at how many miles you can peel off on this machine in a day. 500 mile days on my Beta were downright brutal and I would be sore. Not so with this bike. I fully understand that guys want to get the most miles as possible out of the rubber. I'm looking for traction first. Life of the tire is a secondary consideration.

OTOH, if I could get 10,000 miles and great traction that would be pretty cool!
 

Madhatter

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mimsey, the k60 is a very good tire , it will last 10,000 miles plus, it does well in the rain ( you have to adjust your riding to the weather ) you will be OK..... I also tried the mitas eo-7 , great tire , handles faster than the k-60s , but the front never felt stable at higher speeds , like when I passed a slower vehicle the paint stripe would cause the front to wobble . never did that with a k-60. or any other tire I have tried …. I am on shinko 705 now as I wanted a street biased tire for how I was riding this past year , another less expensive tire choice and I have no complaints . and as the 705 comes to the end of its life I am thinking of going back to a k-60 , it is solid and stable just take it easy in the rain and you will be ok. and its great on 2 track .
 

AVGeek

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How do the K60's do in the deep sand and rocks/shallow ruts? Such as the roads and washes going from BC to say Nelson Hills or Jean/Stateline? My biggest reason going with the lower life "Big Block" style tire is because the chevron style treads just don't seem provide enough traction in any kind of loose soil.

I'm really trying to understand how a long life tire without big knob's can do so well in harsh off road conditions. I'm sure some of it has to do with the rider. OTOH seeing a really good off road riders front end wash out without warning with the E07 Dakars was a big turn off for me.
I no longer have the bike, and didn't ride much after moving to BC. The one time I did try riding the power access road to cut the corner from the Nelson road into BC, I found a long stretch of deep sand that eventually forced me to turn around.
 
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ballisticexchris

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I no longer have the bike, and didn't ride much after moving to BC. The one time I did try riding the power access road to cut the corner from the Nelson road into BC, I found a long stretch of deep sand that eventually forced me to turn around.
I know exactly where you are talking about!! Thanks for the info. There is a ton of hard core dirt riding right out of any driveway in that town.
 

MIMSEY

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My biggest problem is the roads I like to ride are over 300kms away from me. I'm not a hard core off roader, fire roads gravel, service roads, some two track, I'm usually by myself so I don't dare get my s10 stuck. I had Shino 705 on my vstrom 1000abs, but I was only getting 4000-5000kms out of them, for the price no biggy,
I wish the good roads I like were closer to me, ill look at the tractionator too. Thanks for the feedback guys.
 
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MIMSEY

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After another ride or two I'll be reviewing the tires I'm rolling on. All it took was one injury (on smooth tires) to convince me I have to be concerned about the very small percentage of off pavement travel this bike will be on (less than 10%). I'm amazed at how many miles you can peel off on this machine in a day. 500 mile days on my Beta were downright brutal and I would be sore. Not so with this bike. I fully understand that guys want to get the most miles as possible out of the rubber. I'm looking for traction first. Life of the tire is a secondary consideration.

OTOH, if I could get 10,000 miles and great traction that would be pretty cool!
So you Are using the Kenda Big Blocks? Looked at them, also the Shinko 804/805, but allot of guys were saying the 804 was prone to punctures.
The Big Block to me looked like a better tire. I'm trying to burn off the Battle wings early in the spring, its to wet here to explore anything either than gravel hard pack right now, but when summer comes I do enjoys having a good look at the ATV trails, for that the battle wings are completely out of the question, that's why I'm trying to find something with some life, but with a little grip on the two track. Couple of my friends swear on TKC80's but they are spooning on tires every 2500-3000 km. That's a season for them I do 5 times that in a season so that it a lot of spooning for me.
 

Mak10

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Just went through a set of the Kenda Big blocks. The back tire was awesome. The front started to cup and wear funny at about 2000 miles. By 4000 miles it was down to the wear marks on one side of the knobs. It also started howling and got worse as it wore. I could have left the back on and would guess it would have went 6000 miles to the wear indicators. If going off road they are excellent. I never felt that they were unstable on the pavement either.

I spooned back on the battlewings and was amazed at how smooth and quiet the bike felt.

I have a set of the Bridgestone a41x to put on, but have planned a mostly pavement ride coming up and will put some wear on the oem tires. E8B379DB-E22B-4951-8CD3-49F7631DCB56.jpeg6ECF1F0B-E717-48F9-99B4-7B2600C01347.jpeg
 

MIMSEY

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Its looks to me like my options are the K60 or the Motoz tractionator. Nothing real close to me In the way of good Big bike ADV riding.
I will Just have to avoid the anything more than light offroading. At Saturday ride for me is 300-500 kms, they would last me a month.
 
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ballisticexchris

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So you Are using the Kenda Big Blocks? Looked at them, also the Shinko 804/805, but allot of guys were saying the 804 was prone to punctures.
The Big Block to me looked like a better tire. I'm trying to burn off the Battle wings early in the spring, its to wet here to explore anything either than gravel hard pack right now, but when summer comes I do enjoys having a good look at the ATV trails, for that the battle wings are completely out of the question, that's why I'm trying to find something with some life, but with a little grip on the two track. Couple of my friends swear on TKC80's but they are spooning on tires every 2500-3000 km. That's a season for them I do 5 times that in a season so that it a lot of spooning for me.
I'm running the Kenda Big Blocks on my Beta for everyday dual sporting with long pavement sections. I just spooned on the Michelin Wilds on my Tenere. I have had very good luck with Michelin's in the past so I figured to see what the 50/50 ones have to offer.

IMG-0125.JPG
 

jeckyll

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I'm a huge fan of the K60 on the front and pair it with whatever the riding calls for on the rear. Currently that's one of the new Midas E07+, previously the Anakee III for long road trips.

I tend to ask a lot of the front, being pretty hard on the braking in and for tight corners do a lot of 'foot out' motard style cornering and it's never surprised me negatively in any way. Can't say the same for the E07's fronts which don't like being way over on the edge.
Still looking for the 'perfect' rear tire, the Motoz maybe next on my list to try out...

YMMV of course, depending on your riding style and preference.
 
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