Stelvio NTX: Got some K60's installed today.

[andrewdonald1]

Well I am pretty excited.

Got the Heidenau K60's installed while the bike is at Moto International.
Swung by to take a couple pics today.

They have some serious tread and tread depth to them.

Not sure I'll use the tires to their capabilities, but I thought... meh... why not put them on and try them out this summer?
If anything it'll give me the confidence/freedom to play around a little with the stelvio this summer.
They've got some serious tread to them.. Really deep too...

[PJPR01]

That's pretty nice!  Still decent for pavement riding?

[Luap McKeever]

Thanks for posting this.  I will be in the market for NTX tires this spring and like the looks of these.  This is what I found on a website about them.

A true "50/50" dual sport tire, the Heidenau K60 Scout brings a proven balance of performance on- and off-road. With an improved tread and compound, the Heidenau K60 Scout dual sport tires deliver better cornering stability and wet weather grip on the pavement, while delivering off-road as well.

[leafman60]

Be careful on wet pavement.

[AH Fan]

Me likey.............. . all I can say is man these machines are awesome in the loose and muddy stuff........ even though you wouldn't think it would be possible.

Ciao

[Cage Free]

They really look aggressive, Im interested to here how they handle fast paced street riding as far as grip is concerned. I have Anakee 3's on my bike now and really like them but have heard good things about the K60's and might give them a try.

[rocker59]

Be careful on wet pavement.

Yeah.  About the only complaint I've seen on them is the front being slippery in the wet.

Quite a bit of talk about them over at ADVrider.

There is no perfect tire, though.  People used to complain about the ME880 radial fronts being bad in the wet.  I ran two sets of ME880s on my Nero Corsa and never experienced the problem.

The K60 Scout seems like the best all-around option for ADVbikes right now, if you want to spend any time off pavement on dirt and gravel.

The Conti TKC80 is an option, but the treadlife is pretty short if you run them long distance on the highway.  The K60 Scout is supposed to be better about tread life.

One of the reasons I'd want a Stelvio would be for exploring un-paved backroads, so I'd be looking to install a set of K60 Scouts if I ever buy a Stelvio.

[rocker59]

They really look aggressive, Im interested to here how they handle fast paced street riding as far as grip is concerned. I have Anakee 3's on my bike now and really like them but have heard good things about the K60's and might give them a try.

If you don't do much dirt and gravel, there are better tires on the road.  The best would be a road tire!  Metzeler Tourance comes to mind as a good 90/10 ADVtire.

[leafman60]

If you want an aggressive tread pattern, check out the new Continental K70.

The Heidenaus are an aggressive tread that lasts a long time on the street and that results from a hard rubber compound. Not just the front tire can slip on wet. Easy powering out of a curve on damp pavement made mine step out in the back.

You may like the Heidenaus, though.  Just be aware.

[Jaxthedog]

Best of luck with those tires.  They look as if you'll be in for loads of gnarly fun.

I just went the other direction having shod my GS with some Michelin Pilot Road 4 Trails.  Seems I'm doing unsurfaced roads less and less.  My first good spin on these was just yesterday - a fine spring morning in the Coast Range of California. 

Love 'em.  Great handling although weird looking on the Adv bike. 

And certainly no K-60s...

[guzzi ride]

I've got a K60 front that I'm gonna try on my 640 adv. I usually run the TKC's which work
great, but a short life.

[Demar]

If you want an aggressive tread pattern, check out the new Continental K70.

I think I'm going to try these on the Stelvio next.... but, I have about 2 years of tread left on the stockers.

[Cage Free]

I think I'm going to try these on the Stelvio next.... but, I have about 2 years of tread left on the stockers.

That just means you're not riding enough.  ;D  Two sets a year on mine.

[Trialsman]

I had a set of K60s on my F800GSA and put about 3500 miles (80% offroad) on them in Colorado.  My impression was the front was not the best choice.  Although the tire lasts, it did slip in the wet and if you hit sand on an asphalt road.  Encountering mud is just plain scarey. It also set up a slow speed vibration which was irritating.  I thought it would be better due to the chevron design.  The rear tire is very good but the 150 has the center lug continuous for longer life - that limits your traction off road.  I gave the bike to my son and he has put an additional 3k miles on the bike with the same observations. They seem to be about 50% worn at this point.   I have since moved to a k60 140 for the rear of my KTM 990 ADV which has no continuous center lug.  The front information will not work as I laced a 19" and use the TKC80. I tried the 21" version and it is much narrower and the block pattern is smaller and more squared off.  This profile causes the front end to "topple over" when cornering.  The 19" version seems perfect.  For a 21" I would look at the Mefo Explorer as it seems to have all the right characteristics but I have not tried it yet.  Maybe when I pick up an NTX to go with the Norge.  Hope this helps.

[Spuddy]

I've thought about installing Shinko 705s on my NTX but I heard (from a credible source) they will 'chunk out' with the Stelvio's power.

Spuddy

[Larry_77084]

Be careful on wet pavement.

 ;-T 1+

[leafman60]

I've thought about installing Shinko 705s on my NTX but I heard (from a credible source) they will 'chunk out' with the Stelvio's power.

Spuddy

Baloney.

I've just finished running two sets of Shinko 705's on my NTX.  They performed well. They are more aggressive than a Tourance and more roadworthy than a Heidenau. Traction on pavement is fine, even wet pavement. I ride both dirt and street. If you do only a little dirt riding, you probably don't need something as aggressive as the 705's.

I tried them not for their reasonable price but to see how they performed.

I never experienced any sort of failure of any nature in the tread or carcass.  I may go back to the 705's again. The 705's are as good or better than tires costing twice as much.

[Spuddy]

I've just finished running two sets of Shinko 705's on my NTX.  They performed well. They are more aggressive than a Tourance and more roadworthy than a Heidenau. Traction on pavement is fine, even wet pavement. I ride both dirt and street. If you do only a little dirt riding, you probably don't need something as aggressive as the 705's.

I have 705's on my Quota.  I put 1,500 miles on them solo with no complaints.  And combined with 3,500 miles tugging the Ural I think I got good service out of the rear.
The front has another 1,000 on it.  When I wear out the stock tires on the NTX (hope I can get 6K) I'm leaning toward the 705's. 

Spuddy

[andrewdonald1]

Ok, I've managed to put about 500 miles on the tires so far.

On the gravel roads & more aggressive fire roads, great.. I like them.  

On the dry roads, great.  Front a little squirmy but that might just be because they are new.
Rear:  the traction control kicks in when I hammer it in first and try to pop a wheelie.  Traction control off, the bike does its first gear wheelie thing when I hammer it.

On wet or damp roads in the 50 deg range:  rear end can break loose fairly easy when putting lots of power down.  Of coarse I am hammering it to see how it does.
Clearly the scorpions didn't do that.  But tires are about compromise.  Really we should be exercising restraint in these conditions.. but I am testing.
Need some more time up in the 60 - 70 deg F range in these conditions to truly get a feel for the tire in wet/damp conditions of summer riding.

Over all feelings so far:  its a 60/40 tire or something like that.  You need to use some common sense with them.
Initial impressions are that they aren't going to have the wet weather traction at the rear of some of the more 90/10 based tires.
At this point:  not sure on my verdict.  Need to put more miles on them.  If I crank out 10k miles out of them, and have the confidence on gravel roads etc.  I'll probably do them again.
If you run most of your time on the paved roads (90/10), at this point I'd say don't put them on.

I'll update more as I get more mileage on them.

Andrew

[biking sailor]

Same here on my NTX with the 705s.  All the bike saw after the stock scorpions wore out.  Most of my riding was high speed year round commuting, followed by at least a half dozen NW Arkansas trips per year and a Colorado trip, and a Texas trip (where I did a lot of agressive twisty roads), and then a small amount of dirt/gravel roads.

Already got a 705 on the front of the GS, and soon to see one on the back after our Texas Hill Country trip this month.  Would get 6 to 7K miles out of a rear and handled all my types of riding very well. 

[swmckinley54]

I have been running the Full Bore M-40 tire on my Stelvio for the last 20K miles. They are made in the same plant as the Shinkos and if I remember right they were $170.00 for front and rear. It's a great tire for a great price.