Modern Vespa

I know most people that have K61 love them and I understand the difference between the K58, K61, K66, and the K66 Snowtex. My question is deals with the fact that we don't all live in the dry and arid biome that is Southern California. I am interested in tires that can handle the year round erratic behavior of Central Kansas. We have everything from 115°F with 0% humidity in the summers, to monsoonish weather in the Fall and Spring, and finally sub 0°F winters with sporadic snow storms. Which is the best year round? Has someone tried each one? Once in the Summer months here I will go with the K61 or Pirreli SL 36. I would like to have a good all around tire for the fall, winter, spring months. This isn't limited to Heidenau tires but I am guessing that most here that will be bias to them so that is just what I presented.

Remember this is for the fall, winter, and spring!

K58 has a more all-round profile, K61 does it rather well in all conditions, but K58 looks a better all-round tyre IMHO.

I have K61 on my GTS I tend to use with nice weather only.
My everyday commuter LX50 will get K51's

That is kinda the way I was trending towards. Either the K58 or the K66. Winter is right around the corner. As of right now it's 55°F (13°C) and raining outside. I have Muffs in the mail I need to get an apron soon. Waiting to hear back on that one still.

Not sure what is the real difference between K58 and K66lt...



K61 is obvious 8)

Duh the k66 has a blue stripe on it.
lol

My honest guess would be that the K66 is more of a "rain" tire. It looks like it has a rain channel and rain grooves

Are those made for Scooter Cops, the Thin Blue Line?

I'm running a set of K58s right now (left over from Cannonball). I chose them in case we ran into errant weather in Kansas (or anywhere else). We never did hit any weather, so I never got to try out the K58s in the rain or something more interesting, like a tornado. The only place I got to try them out on anything besides dry pavement was on that 40 mile stretch of gravel, where the knobiness did nothing whatsoever when my front wheel washed out. Not that any tire could have really helped there...

The real problem, though, is that the K58s are a hard tire to love. They're really noisy, really bumpy, and (in my experience) not sticky enough. They may or may not help you with the wet and the mud, but on dry pavement they're one of the most unpleasant tires I've ever used.

I love my K58s' great grip, rain or dry. Also, they seem to last a long time.

I bought a set of K66s for my MP3 for Minnesota winter. I can't tell you much yet, but what I have I noted here.

I went and ordered some k58s. So we will see.
My back tire is on the verg of a blowout so I needed to act quickly.

What sizes are you running Jess? Stock or slightly larger?

I have a stock size K58 on the front and a slightly larger K58 on on the rear. I think they're a great year-round tire. Yes, they are a bit noisy but they feel super stable at high speed. Plus, ever since I installed them, I have never yet managed to hit the rev limiter. (That may or may not be a good thing.)

what size are you running? I bought 120/70 for the front and 140/70 for the rear. I can't wait till they get in so I can slap them on. Sad to say I have Savas on right now.

I see that a lot of people have picked K61. I cannot imagine that these would be any good at all for the application that I was asking about. Would someone who picked K61 please explain why you picked them?

I just got a new set of Heidenaus, a K66 on the front and a K58 on the rear. I was pretty happy with the K58's on the Cannonball, aside from how noisy they were and how quickly the rear wore out. The wear was mainly a factor of too much weight on the rear of the bike while riding at high speeds. The K58 is designed for cold, wet conditions, and the compound used just doesn't hold up as well in hot, dry conditions. As far as the noise goes, that's mainly due to the tread pattern, and it sounds like a truck with mudders. I found that to be the most negative aspect of these tires. So, when I got the new set, I opted for a K66 in the front, which is Heidenau's other rain/winter tire, but which has a slightly harder compound and is much quieter. I'm running oversize tires (130 front/140 rear), so I had to get a K58 for the rear, since the K66 isn't available in that size. So far it seems like a good setup, but I have yet to try them out in the wet. Well, to be honest, I haven't been able to try them much at all, since my bike dropped an exhaust stud last week... but that's another story... but I was pleased with the setup when I did get to try it out. Hope this helps!

Last year a German scooter magazine tested both the K61 and K58, among other brands. Both the Heidenau's were recommended by the testers. The K61 got 5 stars on dry surfaces and 4 stars on wet surfaces, the K58 got 4 stars on dry surfaces and 5 stars on wet.

I opted for K61s because I live in Northern California and over the year we have way more dry days than wet ones.

I've got about 1,500 miles on my K61s and really like them a lot.

Yes I understand that but the question was stated as thus: I live in shitty Kansas, not California.
Although some might say visa versa

But really I just can't see the K61s being good in cold, wet & snowy weather.

I think you're on the money, Josh. I have the impression (based on this post) that the K61 is a sticky tire that hardens up in the cold.

Scooter tire test Regards
Harvey

I think most of the people on here are taking your question more as "Which do you prefer." I don't find the tread of a K61 EVER feels hard, cold or hot. But for poor weather conditions and better life, I would go with the K66. The K58 is a great tire and a very aggressive tread pattern that will handle most anything, but the K66 is no slouch either, delivering good poor weather handling and more rubber on the road than the K58. Heidenau uses the K66 pattern for a lot of the snow tires, that should say something about it there.

This was more what I was looking for. I should have just left the K61 off of the poll to start with.

I removed the Savas yesterday and installed my K58s. Man those Savas are shit. The side walls were so weak and crappy. The K58s are very nice and I am digging the ride. Jess was right, they are a bit harder to turn but I haven't really noticed any road noise. I took them out on a dirt road and they handled great. I'll have to wait till the next rain to see how they handle the slick.
Very Happy!!!