The bike needed a good set of dual-sport tyres for the trip. I chose Heidenau Scout K60 because they are one of very few 50:50 on-off road tyres, and they should have long enough life to complete the trip and not be bald. On the last trip I used Continental TKC80, but they were done after 5,000 km, which is not enough for this trip.
I only got to test the tyres on-road. Compared to the original Bridgestone Battlewings, they are much lighter in feel. The Bridgestones are perhaps excessively stable in that the bike always wants to go straight and it takes some effort to make it turn sharply. The Bridgestones are useless as an off-road tyre – that is is not their purpose. I don’t know why they are standard fitment on the Tiger XC.
Happily, the Scouts do not cause that weird “tipping over” sensation that happens with TKC80s when cornering at low speed. I will report later on their performance in mud, of which there is an excess in some parts of Borneo.
New pair of Heidenau tyres getting fitted at Hills Motorcycles.
Well it looks the goods anyway.
