Tires between Yosemite and mexico
 

Hi all,

I am currently near Yosemite and heading down towards Mexico on my America's trip.

I am looking to get some new tires for my ktm 990, 21 and 18 inch. Any long lasting tire will do (heidenau, mefo, mitas)

Any advice on where I can get these and get them fitted at reasonable prices?

Thx in advance for any advice
Karel

I bought and had one fitted by Coastriders Powersport in San Luis Obispo CA, helpful people and a small local shop in a nice town, they are at

306 Higuera St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401,

Phone 805-543-0354

If you're going to Mexico through Baja, be aware that the roads were severely damaged by the storm Rosa. Full chunks got washed away, I've heard it takes 7 hours to cover the 80 km between San Felipe and Puertecitos. Some people reported that the freeway 5 is even closed further South.

Baja Road Conditions

I'm now in San Felipe and getting ready to ride South myself.

Thanks for the advice!

I'll look into the conditions in baja...

Many motorcycle shops south of you, chapparall just off the 15 to the 210 in San bernardino has some good prices, malcome Smith is further down in Riverside
Check their web sites

I'm now in Guerrero Negro.

Freeway 5 San Felipe - Puertecitos is OK now. Of course they haven't repaired the road yet, but there are detours in a OK shape. Approaching Puertecitos, a 10 km stretch of sand and gravel, nothing too bad.

South of Puertecitos, they hadn't started even to clean the rocks and debris when I travelled on OCT 4. It's very bad, full chunks missing.

At some point I had a talk with a man who mentioned 'la vieja carretera'.
I took that one, 15 km of rough off-road (there's no road left).

Finally, this is not new but a 30-km stretch of Freeway 5 that is gravel road where it's joining Freeway 1. Don't get lost here as road signs are inexistent among detours.


Summarizing: I strongly advise against riding now Freeway 5 South from Puertecitos if you're on a heavy bike (V-Strom, Africa Twin, GS1200 etc). I did it on a DR650 and came exhausted.

If you decide to make it, fill up the tank and bring snacks and water.

Did you find tires?

You probably found out that Mefo, Mitas and Heidenau are ALL special order and very few dealer stock them. Also, about double the price of local tires. Yes, I know they are cheap in Poland and EU. Not here.

Funny, no one mentioned Cycle Gear. Dozens of Cycle Gear stores throughout California and beyond.

Usually good selection of tires ... but not the Euro tire mentioned above.
Cycle Gear also offer just $25 mounting if you buy tires there. (wheel off bike)
Shop and compare that price.

Cycle Gear tire stock can be spotty, but they can oder any tire and delivery is pretty fast.

But you may find some sizes of: Metzeler, Michelin, Shinko, Dunlop, Pirelli, Bridgestone, Kenda, Avon, Continental.

If you want the Euro tires you need to order them and wait about 10 days for delivery.

On Baja. Very common for roads to wash out. Happens just about every time there is a decent "choco-mil". (milk shake)

That is good advice about being careful on a big bike. It will take a year or more for road crews to fix damage .... so you have to ride the detours around washouts. Sometimes easy ... sometimes not.

I've ridden my DR650 from San Francisco to La Paz ... and back 5 times in the last 10 years. Never a real problem. Lots more to explore at the South end of Baja too .... (keep it to your self)

Slow down dude, enjoy the serene calm of Baja while you can ... mainland Mexico is a different world. bier