Modern Vespa

The rear Sava tire was worn to the wear bar at 3,500 mi. on my GTS so it was time for some new rubber. Searching the forum for new tire recommendations the name Heidenau was found along with some good reviews. I had a difficult time trying to purchase this brand locally (Cleveland, OH) so I got in touch with Heidenau's American distributor Moto Amore http://www.moto-amore.com/ and spoke with the owner John Bettencourt. I told John I wanted an all around tire that would be good in wet conditions as I ride my GTS daily rain or shine. He recommended the Heidenau K-58 and also to get a 140 for the rear as opposed to the 130 the GTS came with. I stayed with the 120 in the front. After 500 mi. I really like these tires, not as noisy as the Sava's and more "grippy" than I thought they would be leaning into the turns. It's been raining here the last couple of days and I haven't had any problems with the Heidenau's skidding or breaking loose. I highly recommend the Heidenau K-58's !!
As I changed and mounted the tires myself I figured as long as I was taking the muffler off I would purchase Moto Amore's patented Muffler Bearing which is a permanent replacement for that flimsy gasket that was on the Vespa. Easy install, great idea!! Thank you John Bettencourt!

+1 on John and his great operation. wet tracking of the k58's, and muffler gasket. Great tires on gravel as well....nowhere near as scary as Sava on wet and gravel.
I'm not certain on the wear on my k58's yet....2K and the rear shows substantial wear and the front very little. I just bought a tread gauge and will look up actual mileage and measure.

great write up..I'm goin for those tires next!

Just curious, but what is the benefit of the muffler bearing?

To get access to the rear wheel you have to take the muffler off, you have two choices disconnect the header pipe directly at the head and drop the whole muffler unit or disconnect the muffler at the joint where it meets the header pipe. I think this is the easier way...the only problem there is a gasket thats composed of what seems to be soft graphite molded on to screen like material that won't hold up to prolonged breaking of this connection which will mean the purchase of a new gasket!. Enter the Muffler Bearing made of what looks like bronze,this material once installed acts as a permanent "gasket" that will seal the joint against hot exhaust gases leaking and causing a problem.

Thanks for posting your review of the K58's in the rain! I haven't had a chance yet to actually try mine in the wet... what can I say, it's tough living here in California! I've been very happy with mine for the most part, but I do have two minor peeves to report with them, after logging several thousand miles on them:

1. They are much noisier than I would like, and they seem to get louder with age, especially on the front. However, they are much more stable on rain grooves or gratings than the Savas are. I'm planning to switch to a K66 on the front, with a K58 on the rear in the near future. The K66 should be quieter, but still serve well as a rain tire.

2. The K58's don't seem to hold up well under high-temperature, high-speed riding, with a heavy load. I learned this on the Cannonball, when my rear K58 140 got all the way down to the wear indicators after only 2000 miles. I was running a 4-gallon spare tank in my topcase (30+ lbs when full) and riding at WOT much of the time, so I'm sure I was pushing that poor meat way past what it was meant to handle. After thinking about it, the K58 probably is made with a compound that's designed to be as flexible and sticky as possible under cold, wet conditions, and most likely running at lower speeds, for the most part. With that in mind, it's not surprising that the abuse of the Cannonball made it wear out 2-3 times faster than it would have under normal riding.

That said, I've been very happy with the Heidenau tires I've tried. Their quality and engineering is top-notch, they Next summer though, I'll be mounting a pair of K61's front and rear, as I plan to do a lot of high speed, long distance riding!

+1 on the muffler bearing... I installed mine several months ago, after I had gone through 3 stock gaskets in about 5 months. It was kind of a pain to install, but it's been rock solid since then. I've had to take my exhaust off several times since then, and I haven't had to worry about destroying the gasket. Much nicer!

Thanks Bagel for a good insightful review!

So which would be better the K58s or K61s? I do want to get as much mileage off the Heidenaus compared to my crappy bald Savas I have on my rear tire. I plan on going to Monterey now and then, do short freeway jumps but here on the Peninsula I am worried about morning dew/ slippery roads. So would I get more bang for my buck with the K61s? 140s on the back way better than 130s?

Hey, if you're going with K61s, I like 140 for the rear. IMHO, the lack of the center groove on the 140 made it "feel" better over rain grooves. If your biggest concern is the morning dew, then maybe K61s will be fine. If you plan on riding a lot in the rain, maybe K58s.

I'm sure you will hear many different opinions. Just realize no matter which tire you get, wet roads require more attention. I just don't want you to get a false sense of security with either choice.

I suspect there are a number of variables affecting wear. I'm extremely happy with my K58's performance on MN and WI country roads. My new K58 140/70-12 tread depth reads 6MM. After 1800 miles the 130/70-12 rear reads 3MM, more wear than I expected but performance is everything I wanted! Front tread after 1800 miles on 120/70-12 is about 5.5MM. I believe my weight with a pillion and a loaded topcase (>410LBS) may well be the factor accounting for higher than expected wear. Stability on wet and gravel roads is worth the cost to me.

For those who have been asking for a Heidenau dealer closer to them, we now have Vespa St. Louis in St Louis Missouri, and Scenic City Scooters in Chattanooga Tennessee. A little more reasonable for the east coast.
ALSO, In a week I should be receiving some K58 140/70-12 Snowtex tires for the real hearty winter riders.
www.sceniccityscooters.com
http://www.vespastl.com/

Just ordered my K58 today. $74 plus $8 UPS shipping...my current tire has 6100 miles on it...