My partner and i are about to enter Mexico on our way south on a DR650 and KLR650. We are considering purchasing tyres before leaving the US, as we expect prices in Latin America to be significantly higher... but the decision will depend on just how expensive tyres are once you leave the US...

So - what's the consensus among those who know... is it worth lugging a lump of rubber 1000's of k's to save a few $$???

Thanks!!

If you do a google search for motohouse you should find their site. They are the best and cheapest place to get tyres in Mexico. They will ship to anywhere in Mexico for a very reasonable price.
I don't have info about anywhere further south.
Hope this helps.

most of the time the price will be a bit higher but too bad , the problem will be more with the lack of inventory or specific size ( rear KLR) , if you are noo choosy you will find some pretty good tires.If you leave with new tire you could arrive to panama and change them very easily in Panama.

As Hendi mentions Panama is a good place to sort tyres out (especially if you are waiting there and arranging transport further South)

for comparison I paid $78 usd for a rear Pirelli MT 90 Scorpion in Barranquilla, Colombia and $41 usd for a front Pirelli MT60 in Lima, Peru - both on a DR650 - earlier this year.

Suerte

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Grif

'11 KTM 450 EXC
'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.ca

And if you leave the US with good tires and you find they last you through all the exploring in Mexico but won't last to Panama there is always Guatemala City where there are plenty of tires available in a variety of bike supply stores along 7 Avenida in Zona 4 in city center

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http://advrider.com/index.php?thread....207964/page-5 then scroll down to post #93

Whatever you do, DON'T carry tires with you. You are riding on 18" and 21" tires and you can get them in EVERY country in CA and SA. The prices are decent, maybe 20% more than you can get them on sale in the US.

Pirrelli makes great ON-OFF tires and they are made in Brazil and shipped throughout SA. I recommend the MT21 RallyCross. Knarly on the off road, wear well and you wouldn't believe how smooth they run on asphalt! Especially for those two bikes. They are less in SA than in the states!

Do not fear! Ride On!

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http://www.aroundtheblockmotoadventures.com/
'We build the bike (in Peru) for your Epic Ride of South America.'

Excellent - thanks very much for all the advice, guys... definitely sounds like there's no reason to carry tires with us... we'll both have pretty good rubber when we leave the US, so it should last us at least to Panama.

Thanks again - all the best!

Well, keep us informed as you ride!

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'We build the bike (in Peru) for your Epic Ride of South America.'

Hi Sjoerd, I beg to differ I'm afraid. I fitted new Michelin T63's just as the dirt started in Baja and finally replaced them in Bucaramanga, Colombia 16k km later. (The rear was balder than me but that doesn't matter in Latin America!)
Having ridden down from the US I'm currently in Peru. So far Colombia has been by far the cheapest and easiest place to find tyres.


Carrying tyres is indeed a pain in the arse. Bigmalcy's bikes use 17" not 18" which will make them easier to find in some places and more difficult to find in others. In Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia the police ride DR650's and KLR650's and so 17" tyres are easy to find but it's a different story in Peru. The only place I could get a 17" rear was in Lima.
I was with an English couple in Quitio, Ecuador who were kicking themselves for not replacing their tyres just prior to leaving Colombia. They had a real struggle to find 18" tyres in Ecuador.


The Brazil made Pirelli MT21's and MT60's are indeed great value/performing/wearing tyres.

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er .... Jedi ....how are you disagreeing with my statement ?I can't find it.
As you demonstrate different riders have different priorities and needs re: tire wear rates.
I don't like to replace tires either unless they are worn out and I will go into Mexico and CA on half worn out tires knowing that I will find something . I do not worry about paying a few bucks more for a tire than at home , the difference would be eaten up by having them removed prematurely then remounted later to use them up.The trick then is to be home when you do need to replace tires again. Personally I don't think I am very hard on tires, no deep dirt and rock work, wheelspin, or road race style riding so anything round and black will keep me going in an emergency. Prices for the well known brand name tires in Cd. Guatemala are in my experience no higher than in Ontario and installation done at tire shops is really cheap. Depending on one's route and time available somebody could easily do 16000km within Mexico alone so a tire might eventually be needed.
Souds like you are on a really good trip, Enjoy!!!

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http://advrider.com/index.php?thread....207964/page-5 then scroll down to post #93

I payed the following prices for a Pirelli MT 60 rear:
Paraguay: € 61,-
Bolivia: € 64,-
Chile: € 105,-
Argentina: € 155,-
No kidding! And when I gasped in Tucuman, Argentina, the guy told me that I'm lucky 'cause they'd raise the prices next week! This was 3 months ago.

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“It’s just a walk in the park!”
“You mean people are going to mug us and steal all our money and kick us viciously in the ribs?” Terry Prachett

Those tires are cheaper in Paraguay and Bolivia than in Mexico.

And if you think tires are expensive in Argentina, don't bother looking in Brazil.

I spent about US$1500 on tires on a yearlong trip. That's 6 rears and 4 fronts: 2x USA, Nicaragua, 2x Peru, Chile, 2x Argentina, 2x Brazil. Brazil was the most expensive; the cheapest was probably the USA, but after a certain point I don't really care. You can always find a tire sooner or later, but if you're picky about needing an MT-21 or a TKC-80 you might search long and hard in some places--or have to wait a week. Contrary to one poster above, I saw lots of 17" rears in Ica and Cuzco (Peru), and assume they were available elsewhere as well. However, note that I'm not picky.

Brazil, where all those Pirelli's are made, was for me the most difficult place to find tires to fit my KLR in addition to being the most expensive. I didn't try to buy in French Guiana, Suriname or Guyana, but it probably means something that no one in those countries had ever seen a KLR.

Hope that helps.

Mark

Brazil gets the award for the most expensive tires. In Rio I saw a Pirelli MT-90 150x18 for $550 USD! IIRC correctly, in Rio I paid about $200 USD for a 140x18 MT-90. and almost $100 for a 21" Michelin Sirac, and that damned tire would start to get the wobbles over 100 mph.

About 17" tires. My experience was that they are more common than 18" tires just about everywhere in SA. In Peru I saw 17's in Cajamarca, Trujillo, Cuzco, Puno, and just about every large town in Bolivia, FWIW. Of course since I was looking for 18" tires I saw 17's everywhere. :-)

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Update to my previous post:

Got a new set of Pirelli MT60 for my BMW R1200GSA in Lima, Peru:

Importer:
DIRELI S.R.L.
VictorAlzamora 304
Surquillo, Lima
Tel 01-2423912
S12°06.901'
W77°00.746'

The only shop that can balance motorcycle tires is
Honda MOTOPERFORMANCE
Ricardo Rivera Schreiber (speaks English)
Av. Rep. de Panama 5329
Surquillo, Lima
rrivera[at]motoperformanceperu.com
tel 01-2412132
cell 99-4230925
S12°07.038'
W77°01.092'

Price is the same in both shops:

front 100/90-19
179 Soles = €48,-
back 140/80-17
285 Soles = €77,-

Don't know how much mounting and balancing is, haven't paid that bill yet.

These size tires work well on the 1200 GSA, although they differ from the permitted size. I use MT60 for 35000 km now. Front tire last at least 12000 km, back tire only around 6000 km. Very good on gravel, dirt and asphalt, didn't have much sand an mud so far.

Next tire Change was 10 Dec 2011 in Cali, Colombia:
Got a MT 60 rear tire for 200,000 Colombian Pesos, a little more than US$ 100.
Ask Mike at http://casablancahostel.wordpress.com/contact/
The tire was delivered free of charge to the hostel, I had it mounted a couple of blocks down the road for a few Dollars.
When I was in Calle 15 later - a street full of mechanics and bike shops - I checked the price: In the 2 shops I asked I was quoted 240,000 Pesos, so Mike's connection is your best bet.

Equador: I checked in a couple of places in Quito and north. They have the MT 60 but not my size. 140 seems not to be available in the country, they have 130 though.

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“It’s just a walk in the park!”
“You mean people are going to mug us and steal all our money and kick us viciously in the ribs?” Terry Prachett