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Availability of tubeless tyres Availability of tubeless tyres
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Equipping the Bike - what's the best gear? Anything to do with the bikes equipment, saddlebags, etc. Questions on repairs and maintenance of the bike itself belong in the Brand Specific Tech Forums.
Photo by Alessio Corradini, on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, of two locals

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Alessio Corradini,
on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia,
of two locals



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Old 21 Aug 2022
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Availability of tubeless tyres
Are tubeless tyres available the world over, South America, Africa, Asia etc or do I need to use tubed tyres ?

I'm just putting a list together of what I need to plan for. I know tyre choice is limited in many places, or in reality most places, so I guess most or all are tubed ?

Edited to add I'm referring to off-road tyres, not pure road tyres.
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Old 9 Dec 2022
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Good question because TL is definitely the way to go on travel bikes.
I would have thought 17/18/19 for big bikes (250+) would be available, certainly across Latin Am, Southern Africa and SE Asia. The bigger the tyre the more likely it'll be TL.
Also depends what you mean by ‘off-road’ tyre.
I would call that a knobbly which of course won’t last long, while ‘Adventure tyres’ are a great compromise between all-terrain grip and longevity and can last up to 10,000 miles, which you’d hope would include passing a place which sells replacements.

Last trip (which didn’t get far; ATwin) I experimented with a ‘road’ tyre on the back (Anakee Adventure; DIY TL) and a knobblier Motoz Tractionator Adventure on the front (TT), the idea being the rear would last longer while the slower wearing front would grip better in the dirt. Covered 4500 miles with I’d guess half as much left in them.
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Old 9 Dec 2022
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Also, what bike are you riding? SIZE matters, under 250cc bikes are EASY in many countries, but almost always tube-type. Bigger bikes, as Chris says, are usually tubeless and less available, but in most big cities not a big problem.
Definite preference is for tubeless. But, sometimes the preferred bike isn't, so just work with it.
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Old 10 Dec 2022
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Quote:
Originally Posted by steve_m77 View Post
Are tubeless tyres available the world over, South America, Africa, Asia etc or do I need to use tubed tyres?
The easy way to check this is to see whether BMW sells its R1250GS there, as this bike has alloy wheels with tubeless tyres. Here is BMW's Peruvian site

What you can use depends on what the wheel rim will support. For tubed tyres you need a different shaped well on the inside. Generally alloy wheels are more likely to support tubeless, spoked wheels more likely not to.

I vastly prefer tubeless, even to the extent of buying a KTM 790 Adventure over its opposition because tubeless tyres were standard, and I run this with TKC80 knobblies.

I also have a KTM 690 Enduro that doesn't support tubeless, so I run this with mousses instead of an inner tube, again with TKC80 knobblies.
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Old 16 Dec 2022
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I would say it’s a matter of research and planning.
I left Uk with part worn tubeless tyres but wanted to use them up. I changed my rear in the US but knew my front would last until Bogota, where there is a good choice, in fact a much better choice of tubeless than tubed (my wife has tubed).

This combo should last for the rest of the trip but if I was going longer I would do the research and if I had to change my tyres when they were half worn then so be it.

It’s also possible to have tyres shipped to a workshop in advance or carry one with you, although that wouldn’t be my choice.


PS depends on the tyre size - met a guy travelling from Vancouver to Chile on a CRF 300 Rally and he’s had trouble finding 50/50 tyres anywhere - he’s now in South America and has no chance.
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