Modern Buddy

Well for all the talk of their phenomenal longevity, I wore out my Heidenau K61 rear tire in 4100 miles (6 months). Disappointing as far as life span goes, but still the best tire I've ever ridden performance-wize.

FWIW, I do seem to be pretty hard on rear tires — I sit right at the back of my seat, I have a top case, and I do a good deal of fast, long distance riding, all of which contribute to accelerated tire wear. Even so, based on their reputation (and price) I was really hoping to get 8000 miles out of the rear tire.

My front tire, also a Heidenau K61 and installed at the same time as the worn out rear tire, still has 80% of its tread life left.

Sounds like you were quite hard on them. I think i'll give them a shot when I gotta change tires. currently i'm at 1750 miles so I gotta ways to go.

Drum Pro wrote:Sounds like you were quite hard on them...

Still am

Even with the less than expected life span, I still replaced it with another Heidenau. You will definitely notice a great handling improvement when you get yours.

Maybe try "rotating" them next time? I have often wondered if that adds any life to them. I don't see how it could, but some folks swear by it

viney266 wrote:Maybe try "rotating" them next time? I have often wondered if that adds any life to them. I don't see how it could, but some folks swear by it

Really not worth it on these bikes. The mileage is too low on the tires compared to the cost/difficulty with dismounting and mounting the tires.

viney266 wrote:Maybe try "rotating" them next time? I have often wondered if that adds any life to them. I don't see how it could, but some folks swear by it

Makes no difference to tire wear. You just wear out the other tire at the same pace. Besides, having a healthy front tire is by far most important. Also, the cost of swapping out two tires is about the same as or more than the cost of buying and installing a single new one.

bluebuddygirl wrote:

viney266 wrote:Maybe try "rotating" them next time? I have often wondered if that adds any life to them. I don't see how it could, but some folks swear by it

Really not worth it on these bikes. The mileage is too low on the tires compared to the cost/difficulty with dismounting and mounting the tires.

I know Lokky disagrees... if you wear out your tires super fast likes Skootz says he does, or have a shop do it for you, then I'll concede. But our shop showed Lokky how to change his tires, and from there he noodled out how to do mine. Since the fronts don't ever lose tread as fast as the rears, he swaps them when the rear is around or a little at the halfway mark... it gives him an extra shove until the next time he has to order tires and still leaves a more than decent tire on the front.

I would only rotate a used front to the back, placing a new tire on the front. I change my own tires , so that's not a problem. Also do this on my bicycles and usually get 10 to 11K before the cord is starting to show.

Have the K61's on my Vespa and will definitely go that route with the Buddy for the next change.

Skootz, are you using 3.5-10 or 100/90-10?

Buddy 150=100/90-10's

Yup — 100/90-10's

Hmm, so that one is M rated just like the 10" rear on my Vespa. Really wondering why you got such vastly shorter life than I have (13K) on mine. It's not as if you're that much harder on your tires. In fact, I've subjected this one to many freeway runs at 65+ actual mph.

Top case is a factor. I stopped using one to increase my rear tire life. Not 9K worth of difference though.

Skootz, my current rear was installed about a month or two after the Los Gatos ride. That's how long I've had it!

I was gonna consider these, now meh.

Then again the rider here is like a scooter Speed Racer, so idk?

Ive got a pair waiting in the garage to put on. Im at 4800 on the OG Maxxis. Im looking forward to getting them put on soon. I want to get a top speed test on my scoot, and those maxxis arent rated very high(62 I think?).

yeah that tire was super bald. Since i was putting on Zippy 1 100/90, these weren't much more expensive, besides, no other tire is rated to go as fast as my buddy can go - and it's speedy . and besides THAT they are simply the best tires I've ridden. they stick to the road so well and can be leaned on harder than zippys or s1. they are so rounded it's nice! I'll put these on always!

4100 miles is a bit better than my replacement rear tires have lasted. Pirelli SL26 = 3500 and Michelin S83 = 2800. The tire that lasted the longest by far was the Cheng Shin C922 that came OEM on my 125, which made it 8520 miles before the wear bars were met. I actually still have a new C922, I swapped out the front tire for a SL26 when I first bought the scoot because so many people complained about its performance. As a rear tire is seemed alright. For the record I weigh 180#, run a top case that usually has a couple pounds of stuff in it and ride a 50/50 mix of city and near WOT highway.

I change my own tires and have started rotating front to rear placing a new tire on the front. The front tire does wear much slower, but I have noticed they don't necessarily wear evenly - cupping due to braking perhaps. Its not too bad by the time one rear tire is due for replacement, but its pretty noticeable but the time 2 rears have worn down.

So the K61 100/90-10's are rated M which is to 81mph (no danger of me going that fast on my Buddy) and they are load rated to 567lbs (which I'm happy to say I'm not even close to, even with a fully loaded top case). So I would think that the strength of their rubber should withstand the temperatures and other stresses of higher speed riding extremely well.

Eric, I can't believe you still have the same set of tires on your scooter that you got after Los Gatos! That's nearly three years ago! Incredible.

Maybe I got counterfeit tires? Could there be some sort of manufacturing difference between the 10" tires and the larger sizes?

In any case, I am curious to see how long this new rear tire will last.

jijifer wrote:yeah that tire was super bald. Since i was putting on Zippy 1 100/90, these weren't much more expensive, besides, no other tire is rated to go as fast as my buddy can go - and it's speedy . and besides THAT they are simply the best tires I've ridden. they stick to the road so well and can be leaned on harder than zippys or s1. they are so rounded it's nice! I'll put these on always!

jijifer, did you notice any performance difference going from the stock 3.5-10 to the 100/90-10? I'm just curious if the bigger/heavier tire decreased acceleration or top speed.

Skootz Kabootz wrote:In any case, I am curious to see how long this new rear tire will last.

Liberate yourself from your top case. I did it, so can you! You carry too much stuff anyways.