I've had my K60 Scouts on for a while now, and apart from one thing, I like them.
Once scrubbed off, they are pretty good in corners....they are predictable and although noisier than Tourances, they are quieter than TKC80's.....though tyre noise is one of those things that ranks pretty low on how I'd judge a tyre TBH.
I've got no confidence issues on roundabouts or tight corners....they stick well for such an open block pattern off the centre line.
I've only done one gravel/clay track on them, but they felt good on that and I'd happily have the bike wear them on a piste ride in Morocco.
The biggest gripe I have though is a fairly major one, and I suspect it's down to the centre-line tread pattern which increases the longevity of them........on hard straight line braking, the rear loses grip a lot earlier than I'd like......more so than the TKC80's my 1150 has worn nearly permanently, and early enough that the rear lockup has taken me by surprise four or five times since I fitted them.
The centre band, although maybe providing a long wear life, seems to be rather narrow as the primary contact patch, and it just slides WAY too easily.
I'm going to try lowering the pressure on the back tomorrow before I'm back on shift in an attempt to increase the contact patch a little, but I have to admit, I'm seriously NOT looking forwards to using these on damp or wet roads when we get to September and through the winter.
The front feels a lot better though....even when deliberately provoked, I couldn't get it to lock up and it feels stable and predictable
I have to add that I've done many more miles on my previous ABS equipped bike than on this one without it, so there is a good chance that it's rider error rather than tyre inadequacy...perhaps my mind is still tuned in to riding with the feel of the servo ABS system
Once scrubbed off, they are pretty good in corners....they are predictable and although noisier than Tourances, they are quieter than TKC80's.....though tyre noise is one of those things that ranks pretty low on how I'd judge a tyre TBH.
I've got no confidence issues on roundabouts or tight corners....they stick well for such an open block pattern off the centre line.
I've only done one gravel/clay track on them, but they felt good on that and I'd happily have the bike wear them on a piste ride in Morocco.
The biggest gripe I have though is a fairly major one, and I suspect it's down to the centre-line tread pattern which increases the longevity of them........on hard straight line braking, the rear loses grip a lot earlier than I'd like......more so than the TKC80's my 1150 has worn nearly permanently, and early enough that the rear lockup has taken me by surprise four or five times since I fitted them.
The centre band, although maybe providing a long wear life, seems to be rather narrow as the primary contact patch, and it just slides WAY too easily.
I'm going to try lowering the pressure on the back tomorrow before I'm back on shift in an attempt to increase the contact patch a little, but I have to admit, I'm seriously NOT looking forwards to using these on damp or wet roads when we get to September and through the winter.
The front feels a lot better though....even when deliberately provoked, I couldn't get it to lock up and it feels stable and predictable
I have to add that I've done many more miles on my previous ABS equipped bike than on this one without it, so there is a good chance that it's rider error rather than tyre inadequacy...perhaps my mind is still tuned in to riding with the feel of the servo ABS system
I'm also on an ABS bike so we'll see how the braking is affected with the centre strip. To be honest I'd like to have the TKCs fitted as I ran them on my 650 and they're brilliant but I don't think they'll survice the 2,500 kms autoroute slog down there. I could take a set and get them fitted but I'd have to ditch the new trail attack 3's I fitted a couple of weeks ago and I'm too tight for that!
