I'm currently on a trip in Australia on my Tiger 1200. I'm finding the bike to be good for two up touring, but I'm a bit miffed with the availability of suitable tyres. I had a damaged rear tyre (pictured) in a small town and managed to get a tyre sent by courier from the nearest bike shop (180km away). The tyre was a 150 rather than the specified 170, but that was no big deal unless you read the Triumph manual that limits you to 3 tyre types.
I'm now in a larger town with three motorcycle shops and none have a front tyre to fit the bike. Apparently, 120/70/R19 is an unusual size. To get one to me is a 5 day effort. Luckily I'm not in need of the change and was only doing so to put on a more offroad oriented tread pattern, but it has me questioning my choice of advenure touring bike. I'm in a first world country and in a relatively large state with good infrastructure, and yet getting a suitable tyre is a major challenge. If I had a bike with a 21" front and 18" rear this would not be an issue as this seems to be a very common size combination for enduro bikes. Even if the tread patten isn't to your liking at least it will fit and get you going again. I can't imagine having this trouble in a remote corner of Africa and only wishing my rims were a common size. Has anyone else faced this dilemma, and has it affected your choice of motorcycle for adventure touring?

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Agreed - I do think it's something to think about, and depending on where you're going, as you note for instance, Africa, it's a very important consideration. Lots of people carry spare tires for this exact reason, but I hate doing that. Way too much aggro, too much weight and a hassle every day dealing with them.
DAMAGE however is not that common, so you could say "tough that out IF it happens, but plan on carrying a spare when it's down to 50% for instance, or 3,000km left, or the next country will be difficult, or whatever your personal criteria are.

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Grant Johnson
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Thanks for your prompt reply @cholo. Yes I did ask about an alternative size like 110, but it was the R19 that was the reason they did not have anything in stock. I too, was a little surprised by this. Plenty of 90/90/R21 though.

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I searched for 120/70-19
And found 55 tyres
https://www.dackonline.se/search?sor...temsPerPage=28

And 110/80-19 gave 65
https://www.dackonline.se/search?sor...ehicleTypes=MO

Not that many enduro style tyres, but several

Rim sizes are very much an influence on my motorcycle purchases.

Silly sizes that limit choice, particularly in a good wet weather/winter tyre I will count as a factor against. Crazy wide fashion styles have stopped me buying.

These shops in the town are MX places though. For 19-inch you need a road bike place and given how few riders wear out tyres even they won't stock them where UPS and accountants make claims about "just-in-time".

Currently the J-i-T pyramid scheme is in a state of collapse due to the pandemic, ships stuck in canals, freak weather, China trying to get close to emissions targets by turning off industry, the collapse of J-i-T tying all the shipping containers up as storage for half finished parts etc. etc. I hear people getting quotes of 12-16 weeks for common sizes like 130/80-17's if they want a particular brand. As a traveller you are better off in rural Turkey than London because the "stockists" there keep actual stock, not a weblink to their distributors (who have a weblink to the maker). From a home base, buy early.

Andy

Thanks Eric, I know they are available, just not available in a shop in a town that is close to where I am - and I'm not that remote. If I want to order one and am prepared to wait there is no problem. If I had an un-ridable tyre and I wanted to travel I have a problem with the size I would need. It was interesting to note the availability of the 18" (R) and 21" (F), as that would have kept me going if needed.

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