Interesting. I run K60's, and although I don't do much off road stuff they are holding up very well on my F 800 even when sometimes fully loaded. 12,000Kms so far and no problems.

Can't help noticing that all the issues you've had are on one side of the tyre, which could suggest acute stress on one side , perhaps caused by the tracking being slightly out and overheating up one side of the tyre more than the other, with the subsequent failure.

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Yes very.....I have been running a K60 Scout rear and a normal K60 front for 5000 miles on my XT600E and 4700 of those mile were mixed terrain on my trip, and they are doing really well, better than the Sahara's I had on before.

Maybe just a faulty tyre?

Wayne

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Our sample size is too small to be meaningful, but I’m another user who’s run through a couple of sets of K60 Scouts (Triumph Bonneville) both solo and as an outfit on snow a bit of gravel and a lot of road. The sidecar will tend to reveal reaction to odd loadings and I’ve nothing but praise for them (and not only because Heidenaus never tried to kill me like Pneumats on MZ’s back in the day!).

Andy

Yes, I still have an involuntary shiver when I remember those on my old MZ but the worst of all time must be the Inoue's fitted to early Jap stuff. It was like riding on ice every time it rained.

This is very surprising Russ, thank you for sharing. I suggest to send these pictures to Heidenau directly and without delay. Careful selecting an alternative, maybe a MEFO or TKC-80 is you can find these locally, but unlikely to last as long.

Here's Heidenau's address:
Reifenwerk Heidenau GmbH & Co. KG
Hauptstrasse 44
01809 Heidenau
Germany
info@heidenau.com
Phone: +49 (0) 3529 552801
Fax: +49 (0) 3529 512438

I only have a positive experience with those mounted on my 690R and I give them hell each time. I like those tires very much though scary at times on wet surface. Ride safe!

I had exactly the same issues with my Heidenau K60s. Huge cracks around the knobbies and parts and bits starting to come off. However I replaced that tyre before it became as bad at Russ' tyre. Had 12 k kms at that time.

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Thanks for the comments, and I will send the thread link to Heidenau.... ( two weeks later, no reply)

I do agree that it is probably related to heat, although the failure mechanism might be complex. The ambient temperatures were around 30 deg C, but the Transalp does have a large exhaust catalytic converter mounted right in front of the rear tyre which would have passed some heat onto the tyre.

However, I do tend to check tyre temperatures at fuel stops, and at no time would it have been over 60 degrees C (the temp at which you cant really touch it with your bare palms for more than a second or so).

I can't see that poor tracking has anything to to with it, as on a bike, incorrect wheel alignment does not "scrub" tyres as it does on a car .. besides, I checked the alignment many times during adjustments to the chain, which was fine.

However, lets not loose sight of the fact this is a "T rated" tyre, which should be capable of max speeds of 190 kmph (118 mph) ... something I assure you the Transalp is barely capable of reaching.

The tyre was built in 2015, so was not an old one, and while it might be a case of faulty manufacture, if that is so, then I suggest Heidenau have some major quality issues across their range. I'm more inclined to say its operating on the limits of its design, and perhaps a more cautious description of its capabilities is whats needed.

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