Where should I Buy a front tire? Buenos Aires / Border with Paraguay / Brazil / USA?
 

Hey everyone:

I have a MT-60 front tire with 7,000 miles on it. Photos at bottom of the post. I'm in the USA now and am thinking which is the best option:

1) Buy the tire in the USA and fly back to Uruguay (I'm in the USA for one more month), then take the ferry back to B. Aires where my bike is located. Put tire on the back and carry it towards Igazau Falls. I can get one for $80 here in the States (Shinko 705 Radial). It costs nothing extra to check this as luggage. But would be slightly annoying lugging around a tire with me.
2) Buy a front tire in Buenos Aires and take it with me.
3) Try to buy at the border in Paraguay (I have a US passport, so not sure about to get in without paying a $160 visa fee which I don't want to pay)
4) Buy in Brazil... I've heard they are really expensive though, which doesn't make a ton of sense to me considering there is a Pirelli factory there. It's 1750 miles from Buenos Aires to Curitiba (along my route) which looks to be the first big city I'd pass.

Your thoughts?

Best,
David

Photos:
http://i.imgur.com/G4v1Zeh.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Z13jOyp.jpg

I definitely wouldn't bother with Brazil, even if it's made there the price will be high. The only exception to this I found were tyres from MOTO MAXXIS in Brazil, which were still expensive but no where near the crazy prices I saw elsewhere. Not sure if they will have one for you.

It's always worth having a quick look on these sites to get a quick idea of prices.
MercadoLivre Brasil - Onde comprar e vender de Tudo.
MercadoLibre Argentina - Donde comprar y vender de todo.

The best bet it is to buy it cheap in US and lug it or change on reunion with the bike and loose 7,000 m.

Not Buenos Aires, that's for sure. Here in Argentina tyres are very expensive (369 dollars for a rear Anakee II doh).
Most of the tyres that are being sold in Argentina are made in Brazil, so they should be cheaper. If you buy it there, avoid Rinaldi

I've heard walking across the border to Paraguay you can find an affordable tire (from Igazu Falls). Can anyone confirm?

Info is a little old, but in 2006 I bought a pair of Pirelli Scorpions at a Honda dealership in Mendoza, Argentina for ~$160 USD. They held up well, and I would buy them again. I would just wait and buy in Argentina.

The more you ask these questions, the worse the advice you attract. Think about that.

What was true in 2006 has nothing to do with life in Argentina these days. You probably already know that, but it appears #5 does not.

What makes sense in an alternate universe in which Brazilian tires are cheaper when purchased in Brazil has no relation to the way it works here in the universe we inhabit. Don't listen to people who tell you it'll be cheaper in Brazil.

Bring your tire if you're willing to schlep it around. Bring your battery too, if the airline will allow. Bring whatever else you want to save money on--anything you're willing to carry (and risk having confiscated, although the risk is minor--this is known as "smuggling"). Otherwise, just buy it in Paraguay. You can cross the bridge with or without a visa, as you appear to know. Asking for answers you've already got just increases the odds you'll get another incorrect one. Then what?

Mark