Bit of a long shot but ......................
 

Has anyone experience of buying tyres in any of the following places:

Russian Federation: Samara, Saratov, Volvograd, Astrakhan, or in Kiev in the Urkraine?

90/90-21 & 150/70-17

Thanks.

I bought a 90/90-21 today - but in Croydon, UK.

But the coincidence persuades me to share this: about 13 years ago I did a ride that went through Kiev and Moscow (and St Pete), and wherever we stopped, (on UK-registered bikes) to ask the way or at a cafe or for petrol, a big crowd always gathered. In the big cities that would include local bikers who were always very helpful, so you may find a source of tyres that way.
Maybe you've already experienced this.
Amongst other things, we received free accommodation, repair-shop recommendations, use of workshop, and secure parking info through these gatherings in various places.
In Kiev, the crowd grew pretty big because we were lost and everyone wanted desperately to help. Eventually the police turned up, looked at the address we were looking for, and escorted us all the way there in their police Land Cruiser. Complete with formal salute when they departed, job done!

Good luck with the tyres!

Samara has a big well known (domestically) motorcycle community. I would think you should be able to get stuff there. Check out the moto samara link on my blog.

I can put you in touch with a mate there who speaks english and rides a bmw gs ... 17 inch rear wheel ... he must know

Can't help re sourcing the tyres, although as Colebatch says the local biker communities seem to have their own networks and sources of supply. You may want to wait until Moskva (not sure whether you are heading east or west) where you can get absolutely anything you want or need.

However, one thing I wil say is that your tyres may well last you longer than you expect. I discovered on a number of occasions, including crossing Russia last year, that even when the cords in the tyre start showing you have at least another 1,500 - 2,000 km of riding left, so don't panic. :)

worn tyres...
 

We didn't see cords on our TKCs in Africa but we did end up doing 10,000 miles on a rear tyre that we thought was dead at 5,000. It lost most of the 'knobble' from the middle but then didn't get any worse!

If we get 7.5K from our TKC's we'll be over the moon! :thumbup1: Didn't your puncture rate increase as they became progressively thinner?

Now seriously considering carrying our spare tyres on the back of the bikes - a PITA, but at least you're self-sufficient!

BTW enjoyed your website very much :thumbup1:

That is the only negative - I find that I usually get two punctures in the last few weeks of wearing out any tyre. I have gotten 24,000km out of my last two rears though - a Bridgestone Battlax and a Michelin PS.

Thanks mystic - in fact the tyres wore down to a level where they were flat=ish in the middle and then left us wondering if they were ever going to die. In the end we got bored of carrying the spare so we changed them in Cameroon.:thumbup1:

There is a bike place in Volograd, I have no idea as to where it is though as another biker showed me the way and I don't have a GPS track for you to locate it!. Its on the road to Samara though thats all I can say their URL bikecity34.ru appears to be down.

Volgograd 'Bike City 34'
 

The bike workshop in Volgograd Bike City 34, is owned and run by Roman, a really friendly and amazingly helpful guy. Roman tracked down tyres for us through his 'contacts' and eventually had a set sent down from Moscow. If they are available in Volgograd, he will find them for you.

Ken said that his website was down, but his eMail is: bikecity34''at''rambler''dot''ru

I'll send Roman's cell number in a PM

All the best .... Geoff

Thanks Geoff for taking the time to post. :thumbup1: