this tyre is indestructible..............being lazy i never checked tyre pres. when i started riding again in spring - well i went all summer with no air pres. at all on these tyres and didnt notice it until in the fall some 2000 miles later when i checked it to air down for off road in smokie mtn area......................i about shit myself and my dad couldnt believe it..................surprised i didnt kill myself- oh well.
Valued Forum, I do hear a lot of good feedback on the durability, characteristics of the Heidenau. I a planning a long tour coming January (app 18,000 km) - not hard-core off road, but certainly bad gravel/stoney roads. The thing I worry most are flat tyres - though I would know how to fix it, I would prefer to minimise the risk and hazzles My questions: 1) Is the Heidenau particularly hard to dismount/mount (compared to e.g. TKC 80 ?) 2) Will it help if I put re-inforced tubes inside to minimise the risk of getting stranded with a flat tyre ? Thanks Uli
The one and only flat tyre I'd had in some total of 150,000kms of "dual sport" riding was with the K60 and a 3 inch nail. Just bad luck. It came off the rim nearly straight away, unlike some of the forum members who say you can ride them flat for miles and miles. It was a bitch to dismount and remount. However, the next time I did it it seemed a lot easier. I think it can just come down to what happens on the day. I've been in a hurry and mounting a particular brand of tyre has been near impossible. Then I've done the same brand when I was in no particular rush, and it went on easy. When I removed the K60 for the last time it came off easy. It had been fitted and stripped 3 or 4 times by then though.
I put 9K on my last rear, upon completing a tour I noticed that the bases of the larger lugs, outside edges, had cracked. has anyone else experienced this?
I had to fix a rear flat this summer and other than breaking the bead, the tire was not really that bad to remove, I really don't get all the complaining about these tires being so stiff and hard to work with. I only spooned one side off to let me get the tube out, but typically that is the toughest to do anyway, the second side for complete tire removal usually goes much easier on any tire (reverse for installing). I just pulled the small nail from the tire and put my spare tube in. I patched the hole in the tube later once I was camped so it was good for the next flat (not yet needed). The whole job took me about 1 1/2 hours from opening the tool kit to reloaded and ready to roll again. Heavy duty tubes will help if you are running really low pressures for off road work as they will resist pinch flats better (when the tube gets pinched between the rim and tire hitting a rock or bump), but will do nothing more to resist punctures.
I am too lazy to go the garage right now, but I believe my bead breaker is a Motion Pro. It's a blue plastic unit with a wedge on one end and a round head for the hammer on the other end. I whack it with a rubber dead blow hammer. After I mounted my first set of K60's I bought it in case I needed it on the road. Used it when I changed to my current set of K60's. Once you figure out the correct angle to hold it at, I thought it worked like a champ. Bead breaks quick. Using the correct weight dead blow helps a lot too (also too lazy to go look at that) Relatively cheap combination to avoid hassles in the field. Takes up some space, but better than pulling your hair out with a bead that won't break.