Tyre choice question: with a difference

As some of you may know, we are off to Argentina on the GS in three weeks . My initial plan was to run my part worn Tourances ( which I would need to spend £20 getting fitted). after the first 1000 miles or so, I would swap to a set of TKC 80s of which I have bought 1 front and 2 rears from Vern. Now the whole trip is going to be at least 6000 miles, perhaps more, hence this initial thought. The flips side is that the tyres must therefore also be shipped, probably left with a shop in Buenos Aires and have them mailed to us in the south when we are ready and then again when the first rear dies (presumably before the front). that may well be when we end up in Chile.

I've never done off road and I'm about to do plenty, two-up with 80Kg of luggage, so I want tyres in decent nick to do it, and I've read that TKCs do not last particularly long.

Do I put up with the extra hassle and expense and fit the tourances to save the TKCs till the terrain they're built for or do I save the space cash and head ache and use the TKCs from the off...?

If the total trip is 6k then two rear TKC's should last.... just about.

I have been getting 3k to 3.5k from my rears with a fair bit of off roading and fording thrown in.

Comes down to cost I suppose as well, shipping and storage of the TKC's and the delivery cost to where ever you are when you need them.

If you are strapping the spare TKC rear to your luggage then you do not have any of the above costs. If they don't last you could prob get one shipped over from here or source an alternative over there

Jon

in south america now

Hola,

i am currently in south america now , peru actually, but rode all through the south of argentina earlier this year.

If it wasn{t for a puncture i reckon i could have got 6000-8000miles out of my rear tyre . my front lasts much longer.

If you are doing Ruta 40 or any other gravel roads then i would go with the Contis. Ruta 3 down teh coast to ushuia is very hard on tyres, long extremelly straight and boring with huge amounts of wind, so tourances are teh better choice there.

You can buy trailwings and tourances in BsAs and Mendoza but they are getting on for 130quid a tyre (not a set).

If you need somewhere to leave spare tyres then speak to Javier at Dakar Motos in BsAs, his shop is an institution! and they will help you import the bike if you need it. I left a front half worn TKC80 there if you are interested in it.

I got my girlfrind at teh time to bring some spare tyres out when she visited a couple of months ago. But in the airport customs charged 50% import tax on them , fortunataly on the wrong (lower) price but that may also be something to bear in mind. If you bring them in in teh crate with the bike then you may not have teh same issue as teh warehouse lads in teh airport where more relaxed, and they can be classed as spares maybe.

cheers
mike

MikeB said:

If you need somewhere to leave spare tyres then speak to Javier at Dakar Motos in BsAs, his shop is an institution! and they will help you import the bike if you need it. I left a front half worn TKC80 there if you are interested in it.

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I have already been in contact with the crew at Dakar. They seem very helpful and they know their stuff. I think I will be leaving the spares with them (tyres, oil and air filter etc) and get them to mail them to places like Carmen de Patagones so that I am knobbly shod for Ruta 40 from the Ruta 25 in Chubut all the way to Puerto Natales and the filters I may change in Ushuaia, or once we are in Chile.

How expensive are Dakars?

I'm not really going to be buying stuff from them, nor do I need work on the bike doing. They will be helping with getting the bike from the airport, storing the crate for the return, mailing spares, and sorting our return shipping. All these are not really hourly rate jobs and I'm curious if I should budget a big amount or not for their help. I'd rather have a worst case scenario...

Warthog said:

Do I put up with the extra hassle and expense and fit the tourances to save the TKCs till the terrain they're built for or do I save the space cash and head ache and use the TKCs from the off...?

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Hi Nick

Run the TKC's from the off, but don't bother taking the spare rear. Once you're in Puerto Natales it's only a short hop to Punta Arenas where you can get some Karoos off Gonzalo Javier Escarete Yutronic. Carrera 666. www.motoaventura.cl motoescar(you know what comes here)123mail.cl. He's a great guy (two times Chilean motocross champion, so he knows what he's talking about!) with pretty good english. Cost? Including getting them flown down from Santiago, less than UK price! Believe me, by the time you've worn the rear out on Ruta 40/Careterra Austral your dirt riding skills will be so good you'll manage fine on the Pirelli MT60 that you can get anywhere out there.

Warthog said:

I'm not really going to be buying stuff from them, nor do I need work on the bike doing. They will be helping with getting the bike from the airport, storing the crate for the return, mailing spares, and sorting our return shipping. All these are not really hourly rate jobs and I'm curious if I should budget a big amount or not for their help. I'd rather have a worst case scenario.

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Best bet is to e mail Javier and ask if he wants any Africa Twin or SR250SE bits taken out there. Don't forget we're all very wealthy in comparison with them, plus he's a very honest guy, so whatever charge he makes will seem incredibly reasonable.

Enjoy.

Regards, Mick

As Mick said, Javier´s a top bloke. When they sent me a new tyre they aranged it so that I paid the courier on collection, when they dropped it off at the hostel. so you are paying cost. I think a tyre from BsAs to El Calafate cost me 50 pesos with Cruz del Sur. Less than 10 quid. did take a few days, but there are worse places to relax .

They have done this several times for Simon and Lisa too.

When i was in Chile and Punta Arenas there where no 150-70 Karroos in the country whatso ever. there was a big supply problem with Metzler i think and i wouldn´t rely on this at all. But I agree, if you need any work doing or use of a workshop then Gonzalo is your man in the South. 140 tubed sizes are easily available though.

Mike