The Heidenau K60 Scout Dual Sport tires perform extremely well for 50/50 on-/off-road riding on the Ultimate Motorcycling Yamaha Ténéré 700 Project Bike. Riding in the rain on asphalt, dry conditions on soft and packed gravel, and the occasional baby head section, the K60 Scouts provide the traction and handling that I need. Their consistent tracking on a wide variety of surfaces gives me the confidence to look at the scenery, knowing they will go where I point them.
As much as I would like to spend more time off-road, my usual weekend dirt fix is a minimum 28-mile commute to get to gravel. That’s 56 miles round trip on 45 mph twisty asphalt. I usually spend about two hours exploring at about 25-35 mph on forest roads. That equates to 50/50. Another favorite day ride is 40 miles to the forest, then 62 miles off-road, followed by 50 miles of asphalt twisties and 40 miles of freeway.
I admit I love big block knobbies for the dirt. With big block knobbies on the Yamaha Ténéré 700, I feel like I have tractor-traction and can take gravel turns much faster than I can with the Heidenau K60 Scouts. The problem is that riding home with big block knobbies on asphalt in the rain can be sketchy. I probably ride a full 20 mph slower on knobbies in the rain than on K60 Scouts in the same conditions. Forget about riding on the freeway with big block knobbies; their howl will pierce the best earplugs and vibrate your whole body on a long ride.
Additionally, I would probably go through four pairs of knobbies for every set of K60 Scout tires. The K60 Scouts are known for their long mileage. I have 1000 miles on mine, and the little mold hairs just wore off the center lines.
I do not ride the Yamaha Ténéré 700 like Pol Tarrés; I ride it as a 500-pound adventure bike to see the sights. When testing tires, I ride over the same terrain at the same speed to have a baseline for comparison.
At my normal speed for having fun on the Ténéré 700, the Heidenau K60 Scout tires track solidly on all my test-course surfaces. I did not find any lengthy stretches of mud or deep sand, though goosing the power in short mud sections didn’t produce any unexpected wheel spin.
Riding in the rain, on asphalt, and on twisty roads, I had no slippage and zero confidence issues. The K60 Scouts performed solidly in the cold and rain. The M+S (Mud and Snow) capability compounding does reduce the overall mileage of the K60 Scouts by about 10 percent, according to Heidenau. You can expect the K60 Scouts to be one of the longest-lasting tires on the market.
I used my Rabaconda Street Tire Changer to mount the Heidenau K60 Scout tires—the 90/90 x 21 front and 150/70 x 18 rear. Interestingly, Heidenau changes the tread pattern for several of their 13 sizes of the K60 Scouts. The 90/90 x 21 I tested differs from all the other front-tire tread patterns, while the 150/70 x 18 rear shares the same tread pattern as the 140/80 x 17 and 150/70 x 17. The 4.00 x 18 version has a completely different tread design.
Although the Scouts have very stiff sidewalls, the Rabaconda made quick work of their installation. I realized that I would probably not be able to do trail side tube repairs due to my tire spooning skill level and the stiff sidewalls, so I installed the Outex Tubeless Kit, hoping that a puncture flat would be a fast plug to get me out of the wilderness. I attached the FOBO Bike 2 TPMS for continuous air pressure monitoring. The K60 Scouts are tubeless by design, and hold air better than the name-brand tubes I have been using for the last two years.
Heidenau tires are manufactured in Germany for motorcycles, scooters, mopeds, karts, and vintage cars. The Heidenau K60 Scout line has been for sale in the United States for over a decade and has been enhanced a few times along the way. It has proven itself as a great tire for adventure bikes for touring, on- and off-road. While there is always a trade-off between tire traction and tire wear, the K60 Scout has all the traction I ask for in an adventure bike tire. The Heidenau K60 Scouts will be on the Ultimate Motorcycling Yamaha Ténéré 700 Project Bike for a long time, and I know they will reliably take me wherever I want to go.
Heidenau K60 Scout Tire Sizes
Front
- 90/90 x 21
- 120/70 x 19
- 110/90 x 19
- 100/90 x 18
Rear
- 120/90 x 17
- 130/80 x 17
- 140/80 x 17
- 150/70 x 17
- 170/60 x 17
- 120/80 x 18
- 140/80 x 18
- 150/70 x 18
- 4.00 x 18
Heideau K60 Scout Tires Review Photo Gallery
