Heidenau K66 4-Season Scooter Tire

[davenowherejones]

Has anyone tried a Heidenau K66 4-Season Scooter Tire on a 2014 Forza 300?

Fortnine has one at $136 Canadian. M + S rated 150/70-13

I had Heidenau on my DR650. They were interesting. Not super long lasting but fairly grippy.

I have tried the Dunlop ScootSmart (Original), Michelin CityGrip (great), Michelin PowerPure (Not great in mud).

I ride a lot in the rain and cold.

The CityGrip is $79.

[GeorgeSK]

At nearly twice the price, it would have to be very nice indeed. Last fall, all I could find was a Pirelli Angel, so that is what went on. Seems fine, but I haven't been out in the wet with it. In fact, I only have around 200 miles on it, so... no real valid opinion other than it is round, black, and has a pretty tread pattern (but not for mud, to my untrained eye).
https://www.bikebandit.com/tires-tubes/ ... 2?m=157721

[87112]

I don't think I will ever ride on anything else besides Pirelli. My Diablo ( not the new Diablo Ross) transformed the handling from the stock Dunlop Smartscoot which were most happy going straight. The Diablo wants you to have fun turning and leaning can only imagine how much better the Diablo Rosso might be.

[Oyabun]

I use the K66s on my PCX (I know this is the Forza part ofthe forum, but the tires are practically the same, so I think it might be relevant).
I have direct comparison to the oem IRCs and Michelin City Grips.
To me they were much better than the oem IRCs in all situations.
I've found them average on dry clean asphalt - Michelin City Grips are much better in those conditions.
On warm wet surfaces they are pretty much the same as the city grips, and better than the IRC.
In cold, wet, snow or on the moderate ice I've rode them they're significantly better than anything else.

I cannot comment on fuel economy as I run oversize tires on the k66, so the comparison would not be fair.

I ended up buying a second set of wheels (yeah, I'm lazy) and got a set for summer with city grips (love 'em) and swap the K66 for winter. I find the City grips still equal or better in cold but dry, but on wet the K66s are clearly have the advantage. In case you decide to run this combo, I suggest to go for the k66 wintertex as that is even better in cold and wet.

[davenowherejones]

I ordered a rear tire today. A 150/70-13 M&S Heidenau K66 from FortNine in Montreal. I think it ships out of Calgary, Alberta to me in Hope, British Columbia, CANADA.

It is -8C right now and I am a little under the weather. I have been working outside and it has worn me down.

The tire will be $148 Canadian to my door by mail.

I have ordered it a little early. My current CityGrip only has 11758 km on it and I expect it to last until 16,000km.

I am not sure if I will last for another 4242 km. I got a phone message saying I am scheduled for a brain scan on Feb 14, Valentines Day.

I ordered the Mud and Snow tire so I must be crazy.

My MRI was moved ahead a few months. I guess the other people waiting ahead of me died?

I work in construction sometimes so I have to get an eyeball X-ray to check for metal before my MRI.

Too many concussions in my almost 60 years. I also twitch muscles. I would not be a good person to sleep with because sometimes my whole arm twitches to the other side of the bed. Parkinson's?

I want to ride today but the -20C windchill is a bit much. It is even sunny.

[lolofigo]

I ordered a rear tire today. A 150/70-13 M&S Heidenau K66 from FortNine in Montreal. I think it ships out of Calgary, Alberta to me in Hope, British Columbia, CANADA.

It is -8C right now and I am a little under the weather. I have been working outside and it has worn me down.

The tire will be $148 Canadian to my door by mail.

I have ordered it a little early. My current CityGrip only has 11758 km on it and I expect it to last until 16,000km.

I am not sure if I will last for another 4242 km. I got a phone message saying I am scheduled for a brain scan on Feb 14, Valentines Day.

I ordered the Mud and Snow tire so I must be crazy.

My MRI was moved ahead a few months. I guess the other people waiting ahead of me died?

I work in construction sometimes so I have to get an eyeball X-ray to check for metal before my MRI.

Too many concussions in my almost 60 years. I also twitch muscles. I would not be a good person to sleep with because sometimes my whole arm twitches to the other side of the bed. Parkinson's?

I want to ride today but the -20C windchill is a bit much. It is even sunny.

I've had heidenau k66 on my pcx and Kymco Downtown 300i. They are excellent on wet and in the winter.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

[davenowherejones]

I ordered a rear tire today. A 150/70-13 M&S Heidenau K66 from FortNine in Montreal. I think it ships out of Calgary, Alberta to me in Hope, British Columbia, CANADA.

It is -8C right now and I am a little under the weather. I have been working outside and it has worn me down.

The tire will be $148 Canadian to my door by mail.

I have ordered it a little early. My current CityGrip only has 11758 km on it and I expect it to last until 16,000km.

I am not sure if I will last for another 4242 km. I got a phone message saying I am scheduled for a brain scan on Feb 14, Valentines Day.

I ordered the Mud and Snow tire so I must be crazy.

My MRI was moved ahead a few months. I guess the other people waiting ahead of me died?

I work in construction sometimes so I have to get an eyeball X-ray to check for metal before my MRI.

Too many concussions in my almost 60 years. I also twitch muscles. I would not be a good person to sleep with because sometimes my whole arm twitches to the other side of the bed. Parkinson's?

I want to ride today but the -20C windchill is a bit much. It is even sunny.

I've had heidenau k66 on my pcx and Kymco Downtown 300i. They are excellent on wet and in the winter.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

Did you ever use the k66 in mud? My shed area is a bit muddy. I also do a bit of gravel roads. I go slow.

[davenowherejones]

I was looking at my CityGrip front on my Forza yesterday. The centre rib looks almost new but there is strange cupping on either side.

I have a tire pressure monitoring system on my valve stems and have been running the fronts at the recommended 25 psi.

I think I probably should have had them a little higher at maybe 29 psi same as the back tire.

The back is almost worn down to the tread bars but it is worn very evenly.

I have the high Honda screen and I think it puts extra down force on the front tire???

I am going to order a K66 front tire and run it at 29.

I tried the worn out front CityGrip at 29 today. It felt a lot more lively and the road bumps felt worse.

Every thing is a compromise.

[davenowherejones]

OK, I now have 1049 km on the K66 with no problems. I am running a little higher air pressure in the front to see if the cupping goes away. The factory says 25 psi but I am running 29 psi the same as the rear. It makes the turning lighter.

Round tires are so much nicer. I think the balancing beads are working.

I went up to Spences Bridge, BC today. There was too much NEW snow on my local mountains to go on any of the higher trips.

I am a gentle rider. If I get a knee down I am doing it wrong. I am also relatively slow. I tend to obey speed limits. I can go much faster but slow means I enjoy the ride a little longer. Too many people around here want to go much faster, substantially over the speed limits. I meet them in the ditches some days. Not a good thing on mountain highways.

They were working on the #1 Jackass Pass today. The cliff is falling apart as usual. They made us stop a long way away. Dynamite! Half the time they make us stop in an avalanche zone which is stupid.

One problem I had was that the rest area toilets are still closed for the winter. The government thinks we don't shit all winter when travelling. Some of the stops have no power and the shit freezes. Solar powered shit melters are needed. We change the governments but it is the same frozen shit every year. Do other Canada/USA rest areas close in the winter?

[Old Grinner]

I am a gentle rider. If I get a knee down I am doing it wrong. I am also relatively slow. I tend to obey speed limits. I can go much faster but slow means I enjoy the ride a little longer. Too many people around here want to go much faster, substantially over the speed limits. I meet them in the ditches some days. Not a good thing on mountain highways.

They were working on the #1 Jackass Pass today. The cliff is falling apart as usual. They made us stop a long way away. Dynamite! Half the time they make us stop in an avalanche zone which is stupid.

One problem I had was that the rest area toilets are still closed for the winter. The government thinks we don't shit all winter when travelling. Some of the stops have no power and the shit freezes. Solar powered shit melters are needed. We change the governments but it is the same frozen shit every year. Do other Canada/USA rest areas close in the winter?

Kind of makes me think of the road up to Pike's Peak, CO . . ..

Even Mt. Washington, NH requires good judgement and a steady hand on the throttle and brakes. Any time I've gone up the Mt. Washington Auto Road (when it's open) the first thing I notice is the smell of burning brakes. "Keep it Slow" and "Keep it in Low" is the word on the descent.

I've noticed over recent years that more and more "Rest Stops" on major highways are just being shut down altogether, not just seasonally, to save on government $$ expenditures. It's too bad because if you are traveling with a family they always want to know "How much farther?". These days you have to get off an exit and find some gas station or food place that has rest rooms. It's good for business in some ways . . . impulse purchases . . . but a big inconvenience for long haul travelers. Even the truckers have less places to rest up now than they used to. Another sign of the times . . .. I'm always hearing of trucks going off the road in my state . . . especially around dawn when the sun starts a glow on the horizon. Years ago when I used to commute I could tell when a driver was getting tired by the drift from center line to shoulder and back again. Some managed to keep it together and some ended up in the woods.

[davenowherejones]

We have a TV show about the truckers. Highway Thru Hell is made in my area. I have been at a few of the wrecks. People die for real. It is game over, no reset. It makes me late for supper also.

[E. Foster Salsbury]

Do you think the K66 has the same grip as a new City Grip when your doing 120kph around logging trucks? asking for a friend

[davenowherejones]

I haven't noticed any grip problems but I do not press the tires hard. Smooth and steady at all speeds seems safer.

I also have a habit of pulling off the road onto the paved shoulder at speed to let people by. I am sometimes hitting small gravel on the paved shoulder at high speeds. No abrupt movements and all is fine. I think riding a dirt bike helps with the confidence of doing this. Or I am just too stupid to know better.

[davenowherejones]

Logging trucks are not usually a problem. They are drivers doing a short haul.

The problem comes with the truckers after the logs have been turned into 2x4's. Those bastards drive really long distances non-stop.

They fling their urine filled pop bottles out of the truck and keep on moving. They go long distances without sleep.

The electronic log books are supposed to stop this but I suspect many truckers ignore the things in Canada since there are not many enforcement officers.

If I spoke Punjabi I would ask a few truckers but I don't know if I would get an honest answer.

[you you]

Logging trucks are not usually a problem. They are drivers doing a short haul.

The problem comes with the truckers after the logs have been turned into 2x4's. Those bastards drive really long distances non-stop.

They fling their urine filled pop bottles out of the truck and keep on moving. They go long distances without sleep.

The electronic log books are supposed to stop this but I suspect many truckers ignore the things in Canada since there are not many enforcement officers.

If I spoke Punjabi I would ask a few truckers but I don't know if I would get an honest answer.

Truckers Tizer

[MikeP]

I have a question for you all.
To or not to put Heidenau K66 4 season tires on my 2013 PCX sized 120/70-14 and 140/70-14
I can only get these tires in this size in Canada. Why I dont know. We are the land of snow and ice.

What I know is a few members here have installed this size before and are pleased with them.
Yes less top speed and less fuel economy is a downside, however compared to my van at 15mpg, it is not my concern.
My concern is are they worth it, can I expect to ride in slush, light snow (less than 2inches), morning frost ant the like. They are marketed as mud and snow. Is it hype or do they really work.

I appreciate any feedback.

[davenowherejones]

I have them on my Forza 300. They have been good on gravel and in the rain.

They would probably be OK in slush BUT I would never ride in those conditions. There are too many other drivers who can't handle snow on the Island.

PLUS it is cold riding in those conditions and your brain does not work well when it is frozen. Go drink a Slurpee really fast and try to ride.

I think I have a bit of frostbite in my toes from riding in the cold. It HURTS.

It only snows 4 days a year on the Island, take the Van and live longer. They are expensive, you won't save any money.

[Old Grinner]

They would probably be OK in slush BUT I would never ride in those conditions. There are too many other drivers who can't handle snow on the Island.

I think there are too many drivers who just plain can't handle driving . . . let alone on snow. It can snow anytime from the end of October through mid March where I live. Some years more than others.

That said I don't take my two wheelers out on snowy or icy roads. There was a time when . . . 40 plus years ago that I would but the density of traffic is too much now . . . too much competition for space. Add to that the distracted drivers, elderly with handicaps who shouldn't be driving, and those who drive "high" and it's just more of a recipe for getting hit from behind or having someone drift across the line into your lane.

When the pavement conditions are adequate you have a fighting chance to find and "escape route" or skedaddle out of the way but when it's slippery you are screwed.

Just my two cents worth . . . take the cage in bad weather and live to ride many more days. Oh . . . and get your choice of regular tires whether they be IRC, or Michelin, or whatever.

[MikeP]

Thanks for the thoughtfull feedback Davenowherejones and Old Grinner.

I will stick with my Michelin City Grips. I think I have been watching to much of Ed March and his Honda c90 adventures on utube. Gone to my head......

[davenowherejones]

I met Ed in Hope, BC, Canada when he passed through. I tried to talk him out of a prairie winter crossing on safety grounds. -40C is dangerous.

He is also a bit of a fraud as the C90's spent some time in the back of pickup trucks. Charley Boorman never rode his BMW the whole Long Way Round either (trains & trucks for huge distances). I on the other hand did ride Vancouver to Newfoundland and back (except for long ferry rides (guess I am a fraud also)).

Sliding on snow in the middle of nowhere can be fun until you hit something hard and break bones. Not something you want to do on the way to work or school.

I like the K66 for the wet gravel covered roads we have. I never had a problem with the Michelin CityGrips though in similar situations. Bald worn out tires are a problem for both. My 1930's almost Scottish mother is dead. I need to buy tires more often.