I will be picking up new tires in Panama in a few days. Can anyone give me an idea as to what type I should choose for the S.A. Terrain as my next stop will be Ecuador then on to Chile. Somthing that is good off raod and wont vibe me to death on the highways????

Jim

In Holland the most popular tyre is Michelin T63. Very good off and on road. I can send you some if you want.

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Fred, XTZ660, Holland.

And i can recommend Metzeler Karoo.

the short answer is "whatever you can get"

the longer answer is that it depends on how adventurous you want to be. You can easily get to lima 100% on tarmac and so you could go with road tires. But you could also choose to do lots of excursions off the main roads - especially if you choose to go into the jungle.
Northern peru apparently has some tough off roading - I met a trio of serious offroad bikers that had done a bunch of tracks there. But most of the time you can get away with mainly onroad tires. 80/20s should be fine.

Once you get to lima then things start getting interesting. there (or even better la paz) is a good place to go more knobbly as the dirt in bolivia is prevalent and very cool.
L

...although the pair I had (normal size on the front, oversize on the back) rounded of REALLY quickly, and were a bit dodgy on tarmac (thanks to their square profile). On the other hand, this gives incredible turning grip and great drive out of corners - my bike wasn't loaded up though. One of the best OFF ROAD tyres I've ever used; didn't even cut up too much on really sharp flint.

I've just switched to Conti TKC80 Twinduros. They're a million times better on road, and not a lot worse off road, to be honest.

You can ride over almost anything with them, and because they're really designed for heavier bikes (like AT and BMW GS) they last ages. Mine have been on for 2500km and are only *slightly* rounded off. They're great at speed too, being much better balanced than the Karoos.

I will be using them for my trip, with rimlocks and moto X toughened tubes.

HTH my friend.

Michelin T 63 is a good choice, the tire especially made for the desert form Michelin is called so: Michelin Desert. Use an old long chain, otherwise it will not fit! And look for a place in the shade and use very long levers if you have to change the tire! Last's very long, but be carefull on wet highways. No grip there.

I agree with y_kiwi: Whatever is available. As pirellis are made in brazil, the most likely stuff you'll find (if at all) is pirelli mt60 (80/20 type) or pirelli mt21 (much more off road) or some unknown made in korea/china type stuff (which aren't necessary all that bad). I had a 'Kings, made in china' 5.10-17 which worked fine on the back of an overloaded bmw gs.

If the shoe fits, wear it.
ChrisB