Heidenau K66 4-Season Scooter Tire

[davenowherejones]

A while back I posted that my 2014 Forza 300 ticked over the 100,000 km mark. I have also posted several times that it was an insurance write-off wreck/fraud that was re-built when I bought it.

It was used and had a few km on it. I just noticed that I personally have now ridden it for more than 100,000 km now.

But 101,589 km is only 63,124 miles.

Mind you 101,589,000,000 mm is a more impressive number. 101 BILLION Millimeters!

You can do it in microns if you want.

I went from Hope to Merritt to Princeton and back to Hope. Nothing happened, it was almost boring.

Some twit pushed my kill switch in the parking lot when I went to the bathroom. I had a few tries of starting till I figured it out.

I ate too much and did not drink enough water. Too much coffee, no sleep tonight.

[Old Grinner]

I went from Hope to Merritt to Princeton and back to Hope. Nothing happened, it was almost boring.

Some twit pushed my kill switch in the parking lot when I went to the bathroom. I had a few tries of starting till I figured it out.

I ate too much and did not drink enough water. Too much coffee, no sleep tonight.

The "Long Way Down" and "Long Way Round" were great IMHO.

At the end of the day the trips had taken their toll in one way or another on them and the crew.

Glad they were able to do it and give us all another way to see the world from a two wheel perspective.

You have to admit that on long trips in cold rain . . . or just cold . . . you sometimes have to let the fingers return to normal at a pit stop before grabbing a gas pump or reaching into your pocket. The numbness makes them almost useless. When I rode from Colorado Springs back to Connecticut in Summer rain over several days back in the '70s on a Yamaha 650 twin I remember having to be very deliberate using my hands on the clutch and front brake . . . the flexibility was limited. That said I never got arthritis so far in my hands . . . knock on wood.

[davenowherejones]

I still enjoy Long Way Round even with all of the silly stuff.

It's like watching Star Trek, you have to suspend reality to enjoy the show.

[E. Foster Salsbury]

Star Trek isn't real?

[davenowherejones]

I went through 4 feet of snow on my Forza! There was a tunnel under the Coquihalla Highway at Zopkios. There was patch of snow 4 feet long and and eighth inch thick. Four feet of snow was no problem for the K66.

A big horn sheep at Spences Bridge turned around to look at me and then went back to eating.

A marmot sitting on a concrete barrier did not even blink as I went by.

Two Ducati and a BMW left me to peacefully drink my coffee.

I have no idea where the RCMP were?

A very nice Sunday ride from Hope to Othello where I saw a juvenile bear walking down the highway on Friday.

I slowly when up the cold Coquihalla Highway to the summit doing 20 under the 120 Maximum speed limit on purpose. Larson Hill is stupid, three lanes northbound up, two across the top and then 3 downhill. I think they ran out of money at the top.

30 km of Coldwater Road is more fun than battling big rigs on the parallel highway. The deer ignored me and the cattle guards threw me around a minor bit. NO SHIT on the road!!!

Fries & cheap coffee at Merritt McDonalds and then the fun highway twisties over to Spences Bridge. The Ducati saw me coming and left.

Back down the Fraser Canyon to Boston Bar for a Neapolitan ice cream bar and stop at Yale to use a working toilet. The rest stops are closed until May.

Tim Hortons for chilli. I wanted to test out my speedometer for accuracy. I have no holder for my iPhone , I took it off, it was too distracting and the print was too small for my old eyes.

I downloaded a GPS Speedometer app with a "max speed logger." I also updated a bunch of my Apps while I ate. By the time everything was done my battery was down to 4%. I quickly got on the highway and got up to 120 kmph. I stopped at home and charged the phone up. The GPS app said my max was 118 which if it is true means the K66 Forza is pretty accurate on the speedometer.

[easyrider]

Sounds like an adventurous fun ride.Must be beautiful scenery up that way.

[Old Grinner]

I went through 4 feet of snow on my Forza! There was a tunnel under the Coquihalla Highway at Zopkios. There was patch of snow 4 feet long and and eighth inch thick. Four feet of snow was no problem for the K66.

Wow. . .you certainly had another cold ride adventure!

You just can't make that stuff up . . ..

Considering the kind of terrain you have to travel in have you ever considered getting a portable solar charger for cell phones and devices? A lot of them list for under $50. It would be an added layer of protection to the power outlet on the Forza.

[davenowherejones]

I went through 4 feet of snow on my Forza! There was a tunnel under the Coquihalla Highway at Zopkios. There was patch of snow 4 feet long and and eighth inch thick. Four feet of snow was no problem for the K66.

Wow. . .you certainly had another cold ride adventure!

You just can't make that stuff up . . ..

Considering the kind of terrain you have to travel in have you ever considered getting a portable solar charger for cell phones and devices? A lot of them list for under $50. It would be an added layer of protection to the power outlet on the Forza.

I have a couple of small solar panels but I would probably freeze to death before they charged my phone enough. I also go where the sun don't shine quite often.

I live where the sun don't shine for a lot of the winter. Chawathil Mountain blocks the sun a lot at my house. I could not figure out why my solar garden lights did not work.

[davenowherejones]

I really like the K-66 Mud+Snow tires on my Forza for the type of riding I do.

Yesterday I did a loop around the mountains.

Breakfast at McDonalds and then the back paved road to Othello. Nestle bottles water in Hope and the 18 wheelers chew up Othello Road. Gravel on the road and pot holes. No problem for the K-66.

I went up the Coquihalla Highway at 120 kmph, no problems on this steep highway, overtaking big rigs. A quick bathroom break at the Zopkios Truck Brake Check weaving around the big rigs.

Larson Hill was no problem but I bypassed the twisty Coldwater Road to save time for later.

Fuel at Merritt Super Save, it was a few pennies cheaper. Yogurt and a banana at the Save-On-Foods.

The Okanagan Connector is really steep leaving Merritt and a 100 kmph road. Full throttle and hang on.

Turn off at Aspen Grove and start tackling the cattle guards, Texas Gates. Some times the K66 goes on the metal car tire strips and some times between the strips for a shuddering passage. I hate shuddering.

Next I turned off onto the Coalmont Road with its 30 km section of gravel. The paved sections have lots of winter sand and gravel on it still. No problems for the K66 tires.

The full gravel section got exciting at times. The K66 handled the loose gravel quite well with lots of dirt bike sideways slides. You can't really stand up on a Forza 300 so the ass twitching is interesting. You have to have faith in the tires.

The Coalmont Road was in excellent condition. The logging company grader did really good work. Almost no potholes for 30 km.

Eventually I got back on the paved stuff but it still had lots of gravel on it. The thousand foot drops to the river made you respect the road. Pay attention and be careful.

I had a small sandwich at Subway in Princeton. Up the big hill towards home. There was a herd of deer but they ignored the silent Forza.

They are repaving the road. Nice new pavement but no lines. There was also a long stretch where they had ground grooves into the road ready for the new stuff on top. The K66 ran along them nicely.

I had a Lemon Lolly (popsicle) at Manning Park Lodge. A black bear also ignored the quiet Forza. The snow beside the road at Alison Pass made it cold for a while.

A nice loop of 357 km. I never ever want to do a thousand miles in a single day. The slower I go the better. I frequently pull off onto a paved shoulder to let people pass.

The British Columbia government have come up with a plan to make the roads less crowded. They keep adding more taxes until almost nobody is driving. Sections of MAJOR highways were completely empty. No one in front of me nor behind me. Deserted. Twilight Zone eerie.

The 90 miles per bigger Canadian Gallon was fun on the gravel section where the top speed was 50 kmph. 27.4 km/liter was my worst section and that was on the high speed mountain highways.

So far I like the K66 in the rain, on the gravel and down the highway. They are a little noisier than the CityGrips but the 2014 Forza 300 is very quiet. I have had people ask if it is an electric scooter. That would be interesting if it had the same power and range.

[davenowherejones]

I did the Kane Valley Road yesterday, about 30 km of gravel, no problems. There was the usual shit on the roads. The cattle stared at me but dared not to even move.

It was funny when I had breakfast at McDonalds. I walked in and half a dozen RCMP got off their asses and hurriedly walked out. Forza riders rule!!!

Potato salad at Merritt Walmart with a chocolate milk chaser.

Back down the Coldwater Road. It had about 20 km of brand new pavement. So very, very smooth.

I watched some poor soul trying to die at the end of the road. A six footer weighing less than 75 pounds. He had people with him but he was in very bad shape holding onto a car door. Sad.

I saw a red Chrysler minivan with 3 wheels on the opposite side of the highway. My sort of boss also drives a red minivan and was on that very stretch of road a few days earlier. I did not stop, I was in a hurry to get to the bathroom. I don't think it was him.

I had a previous sort of boss who did the same 3 wheel stop a few years earlier. He called me up at 4:30 pm and said to pick him up in Kelowna, 3.5 hours away. His wife was some sort of Hungarian Princess (really). They had 500 year old paintings in the car which he was not going to leave in the Lexus for a week while parts were ordered.

I stopped in at the Zopkios Brake check for a cup of Indian Tea. There were two tour busses ahead of me. The Chinese tourist mostly don't speak English and hardly ever buy anything from the truck stop food trailer. There was also a high school music group and they bought everything.

I sat on a picnic table and enjoyed the young ladies dancing around. How did I get old enough to be their grandfather?

There was no Indian Tea. It was now Masala Tea so as not to be confused with a Canadian First Nations tea. Lots of the truck drivers are from India and area. I enjoyed my tea in peace, just me and the brake check drivers.

Some of the drivers did actually check their brakes. The snow shed section of highway has destroyed lots of trucks. I watched one truck load of 2x10 lumber burning one day. It was in the middle of a bad fire season. They called in a helicopter to drop buckets of water on it. I was watching way too close. In the winter they just let them burn.

The K66 tires are impressive. I wonder how many kilometers I will get. I want to go to Whitehorse in a few weeks. They will be very bald before I get home, if I get home.

[E. Foster Salsbury]

Kane Valley looks like a fun road! So does the Princeton Summerland road. It looks like the type of road you could sneak up on a bear on. Please share your Whitehorse trip with us when it happens. How many k's on the K66's now? You did front and rear at the same time?

[relic]

Hope to Whitehorse and back? Got to tip my hat to you Davey that's epic.

[davenowherejones]

Kane Valley looks like a fun road! So does the Princeton Summerland road. It looks like the type of road you could sneak up on a bear on. Please share your Whitehorse trip with us when it happens. How many k's on the K66's now? You did front and rear at the same time?

3500 km on the K66 tires but only about 100 km of gravel. I did front and rear about a week apart.

I have done Princeton-Summerland on my DR650 and on my 2014 Honda Forza 300. I want to do it on the Forza with K66 but slower, spend the night somewhere.

I played chicken with a grizzly bear one day on a narrow road. Not recommended. Somehow I lived.

Black bears fear me. Most of the time. I hope.

I had a male big horn sheep threaten me one day. Not sure who won?

Whitehorse is not a destination, I want to go one week north and then return. I got to Prince George last year.

[davenowherejones]

Hope to Whitehorse and back? Got to tip my hat to you Davey that's epic.

It might happen.

Hope to Whitehorse is about the same distance as Hope to Winnipeg but with a few less Tim Hortons & McDonalds.

Depends on weather and money.

[davenowherejones]

Doing the Duffy right now!

Well really soon. Having coffee first. Waiting for iPhone to charge. And then I leave Lillooet.

[relic]

Worked on the Duffy 1989 getting some lumps out so they could pave it.

[easyrider]

Have you ever been over to Banff or Lake louise ..Jasper??

[relic]

I have, on a Honda CB350, which I rode over the Duffy, the same road Davey travelled this morning.

[davenowherejones]

Worked on the Duffy 1989 getting some lumps out so they could pave it.

I did the Duffy in a VW Scirocco before it got paved. That was a wild ride. Every corner was blind and nowhere was flat. A drunken surveyor probably laid out that road originally. It is tame and safe now by comparison.

[davenowherejones]

Duffy Done!