Anybody have any good tips about where to find street-oriented tires for a KLR650 in Bolivia, southwest Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, or around Buenos Aires? I have emailed the dealers in each country (at least the one dealer that Kawasaki has on its web site for each country) but have not heard back. The tires I would be looking for would be a 130-80-17 and a 90-90-21, which usually are:

Kenda Challenger K657
Avon Distanzia AM43 / AM44
Avon Gripster
Kenda K761
Dunlop D607
Metzler Tourance
Michelin T66
Michelin Anakee
Pirelli Scorpion MT 90
Kings KT 966.

Thanks for any help.

Nathan Neuberger

Nathan
just drop a mail to Javier here in BA.He will get some set you agree with him.
http://dakarmotos.com
CU
KH

__________________
http://vientoderipio.blogspot.com/
America is a nice continent,not a country.All people who lives in this continent are americans.Discover it in peace!

Boli will be the most difficult place to get what you want. Nosiglia´s in La Paz is the best bet if you have to. They say 2 days for any tyre made in SA but I got a different tyre to the one ordered ( although better) and it´s not the cheapest. Depends where you are and which way you´re going but Javier at Dakar in BA would be the best bet from all accounts . Just had to buy 4 tyres for a truck and was cheaper to get them in Argie than Brasil where they are made.

You will not find tires like Avon Distancia, Pirelli MT90 or Metzeler Tourance in Bolivia and Paraguay. But there are Pirelli MT21,MT40, MT60 for 17 inch wheel. There are also sport tires.

One thing you need to know is that tires in Bolivia and Paraguay are so cheap (41$US for a rear MT21/ 29$US Front and 46$ for MT60 rear in Santa Cruz at Becar Moto) and you can pay more than double price in Argentina and Brasil for some tires.

Brasil:
In Sao Paulo you can find any tires you want except MT90 which are not available in Brasil???

Argentina:
You will find MT90 in Argentina and most tires brands everywhere.


Pat

<<<<[quote=njneuberger]Anybody have any good tips about where to find street-oriented tires for a KLR650 in Bolivia, southwest Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, or around Buenos Aires? I have emailed the dealers in each country (at least the one dealer that Kawasaki has on its web site for each country) but have not heard back. The tires I would be looking for would be a 130-80-17 and a 90-90-21, which usually are:>>>

Those are the same sizes that my R100GS uses and I'm assuming what is available in S.A. is the as what's available here in Costa Rica. My experience with these is;

<<<Kenda Challenger K657>>>>

Only available in 130-90/17, so it's big. Good all-around tire that is decent in the wet. Good value in the States, only so-so in L.America at $70.

<<<<Avon Distanzia AM43 / AM44
Avon Gripster>>>>

You won't find these.

<<<<Kenda K761>>>>>

No experience with this tire.

<<<<<Dunlop D607>>>>>

You won't see this tire either.


<<<<Metzler Tourance>>>>

Only made in Brazil Tourances available. They stick well, but wear fast. Perhaps because they are not radials and lack the steel belt. Cheap though, $40 to $50.

<<<<Michelin T66>>>>>

This tire is dis-continued and you won't find it anyhow.

<<<<<Michelin Anakee>>>>

Great street tire, but only sometimes available. Pricy, $90 to $110.

<<<<Pirelli Scorpion MT 90>>>>

Possible, but the MT60 is more common and will serve. There is also the very common MT40, a very good street-biased enduro tire that is rated strong enough for your KLR. All Pirelli tires are made in Brazil and are a great value, $40 to $60.

<<<<<Kings KT 966.>>>>

No chance of seeing this tire south of the border.

Other tires you may encounter;

Vee Rubber line, decent, strong Taiwanese tires that are a good value, but have no traction in the wet.

Maxxis Traxer, New upscale line of tires fdrom Cheng Chin. Fantasic street tires with a very soft compound, almost road race. Stick like crazy, but service life may be short(I've only had mine on for 2,000 miles. Great price for the quality, $50 to $60.







Hope this helps

__________________
Motomech
Playas del Coco
Costa Rica

"..an attaching bike on which one rolls serenly along."
(Google translation of a French R100GS review)

Thanks a lot for the help everyone. That makes me feel a lot better about everything. We should be in La Paz in a few days, and will be there for a bit. If anyone has address or anything for Nasiglias, that would be sweet. Otherwise I will set out with my broken spanish to try to seek it out. Thanks again for the tips.

Nate

Nosiglia Sports
Rua Costanera, 29
Calacota.
Go through the centre and keep going down hill for about 15 mins.
Get to a huge Ketal supermarket on your right and turn right.
Keep going until you can no more and turn left.
It´s about 500m on your left from there.
Would take you there but stuck in Rio waiting for bits to arrive from Europe.
Enjoy Bolivia
Fraser

Rigth now is not too easy to find tires in Paraguay, I think the better place is Argentina, you can get the Enduro Sahara 3 for a good price.