Heidenau K60 problems

Any of you guys have any problems with the rear K60 getting tears or cracks? Mine has 1500 miles on it, probably 50/50 dirt/street and I have several cuts or tears running from the front of the knob to the base of the tire. I'm really surprised at this as none of my GS buds are having any problems and I thought this was supposed to be a long lasting tough tire. Plus my 990 is tons lighter than the Beemers. I've been running 30 psi off road and 38 on road with Alpina Tubless wheels. The dealer has taken pictures and set to Heidenau so I'm just waiting on if it's a flaw or normal wear. I don't feel confident enough in the tire now to take any serious rides or take the wife for a trip.

What size is it? I had an 140/80 18 and it didn't last. Got pretty chew up on various terrain. However an 140/80 17 went pretty well on my mates 800GS, in the same circumstances.

(the 18in I had was also on a 800GS)

Yes we got cracks and it severely impacted the life of the tire and we only got 13000 miles out of it

The cracks appeared early but never got any bigger as I kept an eye on them but yours does not sound ideal if it is that bad

I'm sorry the tire size is 150/70 - 18

13000... How?:huh

That was our reaction too, all related to the right hand, never had a tire last that long especially with house and contents on!!

I am impressed and to be honest don't want to run anything else now.

Just finished my first set of k60 scouts at around 7,000 miles, best mileage of any I tried on the Adv.
It does have a few nicks n tears, but I put that down to all the sideways messing about I've done on it.
Really good tyres for the Adv IMO and another set going on.

Sent from my HTC Desire S using Tapatalk 2

I didn't have good luck with that tire at all on the 990. It was shredded in no time but I'm a bit heavy handed on the throttle. I have way better luck with the stock Scorp.. Especially at have the cost. YMMV...

I've got over 8k miles on mine. That's riding 2 up around Moab and the dirt roads of Colorado plus street trips in Co, Ut, and around the Southeast. I'll probably get another 2k out of them. They do well, both street and dirt for me. Much better offroad the the Scorps.The most mileage I got from the stock Scorps was 4k.

Im interested to hear more about the saftey issue regarding cracks. Cant help but worry when making a pass at 100mph.

I'm right there with you. I will post info I receive from them next week.

He rides like a pussy

Same here, no cracks on my second K60 140/18, third in the garage....about 6000 miles life...about a 1000-2000 more than other enduro rears.

Have`nt had any problems with rear K60 on my 990.Ran about 5,000miles on a set and no obvious fault cracks or damage that I can see apart from what I would consider normal wear and tear.I would put another K60 on the rear as I was impressed with its performance.However I too would be interested in the report back from heidenau as to the what caused your K60 to fail like you describe.Any photos by the way?.You mentioned alpina tubless wheels are on your bike.Any similar issues with other tires on the tubless set up or is it just the K60.
Regards Dave54

Yup, I am getting pretty good mileage out of mine (150/70-18), but I have had these cracks in both my second and third tire.

THIRD TIRE




SECOND TIRE





I am traveling through the Americas and in Brazil right now, so because of my concern I sent a message to Heidenau through info@heidenautires.com and actually got a response. Here is what John B at Heidenau had to say:

"Hello Joe,

We seen these before and though they look bad, haven't posed a threat, often come about from over-inflation. Where they've statistically turned-up a lot, has been Alaska. Riders would arrive at our dealer in Fairbanks after coming up from the lower 48 and have these same cracks. The shops there found the tire inflation at 45lbs or better when the tire is designed for 36lbs. Since they were running loaded and BMW says 42lbs the riders were over-inflating them. The combination of heavy load, long stretches of freeway, and to much pressure would cause cracks.

If I was out in the middle of C.America I'd change it to, but we haven't had a failure due to these cracks.

John B"

I didn't over inflate so I took him at his word that they wouldn't cause any problems, and so far they haven't.

Ive got the same kinda crack, nicks and tears in mine, have done around 2500 km.... i'm watching it, it started out as an amazing tyre i thought until the outer tread wore down to the middle strip, now it's just ok, on hard packed marbley dirt its pretty dodgey, getting better when the terrain gets a little softer and it can dig in a little.

Soften it up a little.
36 psi is something like total max that the tire should ever be used with.
Also, please always mention the tire sizes and models. K60 and K60scout and size etc.
PS! To the highway runners - they do overheat going 100mph and get dangerous in the twisties, when wet. So keep it calm and stay safe - they are 50/50 tires.
I have about 7000 very mixed conditions on my 950 and no cracks nor problems. Wearing down to the fat center strip will create more patch but gets slippery in mud/grass situations.
For that money though - as good as it gets.

By the way, I run a Heidenau K60 Scout -150/70B-18 70T. Here is the load and speed chart for Heidenau tires. Based on this chart the maximums for my tire are: 118 mph, 736 lbs

I had one of the first k60 rear tires several years ago on my big strom, they cracked the same as the one in the pic here but never failed, and I would not be scared to try them again. Changed it around 7000mi. that was better than most tires I had tried. bete.

That's what I would like to know also. Wondering what the difference in wear would be between the 140 and 150 18's and if both sizes are having the cracking problems. Can you tell us what size you are running?