Tires in Central/South America

[Bazmataz]

Hi, I have just been reading some posts about trouble finding tyres on the road in Central/South America. I am on a KLR and currently halfway through Mexico having done about 4000 miles on a pair of Avon Gripsters. Does anyone know about buying tires in out in SA? I guess mine will last until Panama.
Cheers Baz.

[Your Mileage May Vary]

I'm currently in Santiago, Chile. My advice would be to get tires in Panama City before shipping the bike. There you should be able to find most any brand.

[Jeffr726]

Bogota and Medellin both have huge Motorcycle neighborhoods with dozens of shops all within a block or two of eachother. I saw 17 inch Pirelli MT60's in both. I bought a MT60 at a small shop in the small town of Monteria, north of Medellin. The police use DR650's in Colombia, so 17inch are easy to come by. At least that's my theory. Side note, and personal opinion, but the MT60 has worked great all around, and I've had it for almost 4000 miles, with a lot of highway time in Colombia and Ecuador, and it still has life left.

[Bazmataz]

Excellent I will stop panicking then. I was wondering what the cops/army used in Colombia I have seen pics of them in the background two up fully ARMED. (surely they weren't DR650s?).

[mollydog]

Maybe here can provide the name or Tel # of a shop?

[albert crutcher]

Tyres of all types,shapes and sizes in Medellin are available.Even the prices are reasonable!!!
Al theturtleshead

[Sjoerd Bakker]

I actually enjoy riding around Guatemalea city, it really is quite easy once you get yourself a good city map with the various zones marked and then keep track of several of the major arteries which feed traffic around and through the "CENTRO"
I keep telling folks about the store called FPK Electronics and Autoparts which carries a good supply of tires in many sizes of different style and brands, and inexpensive too . They are located at - mind the address directions!- 7 Avenida 8-08 Zona 4. This is the zona directly on the south side of Zona 1 which is the historic core of the city and they are very close to the steel trellis tower which resembles the Eiffel Tower and stradles 7 Av. intersection. Find the tower easy to spot from a distance and you are at the location. Bonus is that a number of different Big 4 Japanese bike shops and the official BMW dealership are all clustered near that area within Zona 4 Find one and you will have a short hop to the others- look in the yellow pages or google the brands and you will easily find them.

[mollydog]

Good info Charlie.


Patrick

[Leaky_eddie]

Picked up a set of Brazilian made Pirelli Rally cross for my KLR in Trujillo Peru for $100 mounted and balanced. Lima Street has tons of shops with tires and parts.

[estebansos]

Buy them in Panama as they would be cheapier.
Can buy them here in Colombia, but certainly a bit more expensive.
I bought a set for my V-strom 650 Anakee for a decent price. Sometimes even better prices than in the states.

[mollydog]

I mentioned reports of NO tires in Panama earlier in this thread. (my first post)

[motomech]

I.M.O., the best value on DP tires in C. America are Pirelli Scorpians. They are made in Brazil, but are the same quality as the ones made in Europe.
I bought a 90/90-21 frt. about a year ago, and as I recall, it was about $60.
As one enters San Jose from the North, there is an area called La Urca, where there are 4 bike shops grouped close together. The owner of one, Mini-Moto, speakes English and is real helpful.
I'm in Puerto Rico at the moment, so I don't have the #, but it's easy to find. If you want better directions, PM me.

[criboun]

I'd be grateful for some local advice (local being for Mexico and Central America!) I'm riding down from San Diego to Panama from April '09 (taking about 6 months) and I don't know what type of tyres to go for, as I have not been to the area before.

I hope to be riding a mixture of paved and dirt roads but don't really know how bad and how frequent the dirt roads generally are thus how knobbly my tyres should be. I'm looking at the following for my XL650 Transalp and would be grateful for any advice.

Do you think I should be going for at what they call "Enduro Street" or "Enduro On/Off" types?

Enduro Street being tyres such as:
Metzeler Tourance / Enduro
Pirelli MT60 / MT80
Dunlop 607
Michelin Sirac
Enduro On/Off being tyres such as:
CONTINENTAL TKC80
Metzeler MCE Karoo
Metzeler MCE Six Days
Pirelli MT70
Michelin T63

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Ollie

Greasy Sprocket

[kikele]

In Guatemala you could find any brand or type of tires, here are the links for some vendors, they have Pirelli, Dunlop, Michellin, Metzeler, Continental, IRC, Maxxis, Bridgestone:

MotoPunto (4ave. A 13-24 Zona9)
Bienvenidos a Ogris - Artículos para motos
:::Motoshop VRC:::Motos en las venas desde 1,973:::
Tarmoto Guatemala. Distribuidor Autorizado de Aprilia, Moto GUzzi y Vespa
BMW Motorrad Latin America

and this website is a forum of motorcycles in Guatemala
Moti7.com

[marior97]

I suggest Enduro Street , you will get a lot more milleage from them.
Ride safe
Saludos de El Salvador
Mario