Following reasonable reviews, I had a pair of these fitted about a third of the way into my journey from the UK to Thailand. This was on the basis of them having a long life and being suitable for the occasional unpaved roads I might encounter from Russia onwards.

My bike was a Honda Transalp 700, ridden solo, and with only lightly loaded panniers & top-box. I inflated the rear to around 35psi (being mid-point between the solo & pillion recommended pressures), and the front to the correct amount. My riding style on this tour was quite leisurely.

Grip was good on dry roads, but white lines and the like caused a lot of weaving around. Wet grip was acceptable, but I took it steady. In the mild off-road sections, they performed well.

I suffered two punctures in the rear, both caused by nails, and these were repaired immediately with no riding on flat tyres.

Problems arose after about 6000 miles, when small cracks started to appear at the base of the knobs on the rear tyre, but with an estimated 5-6 mm of tread left, I carried on. The front was fine and did not show any similar issues.

These cracks/tears slowly propagated over the next 3-4000 miles, and at 9500 miles, I woke up one morning to witness about 3 of the knobs had completely torn off the tyre carcass, exposing the tyre cords.

In hindsight, I should not have ridden with the tyre in this state, but simply in the middle of Thailand, I had little choice but to ride 300 miles slowly to a tyre dealer to have replacements fitted. On arrival, another 2-3 chunks had come off, suggesting it would not have lasted much longer.

So, if this had have happened in a more isolated place, it would have been a major problem, and on that basis, I feel this is unacceptable from a 3 month old German built tyre. Although the front was fine, I can not recommend the K-60 Scouts any more.

__________________