A friend of mine here in Japan sold his hexhead and got a new waterboxer the day they went on sale. Now he's got about 7,000km on it, the rear tire is looking kind of worn, and according to BMW Japan there are NO REPLACEMENT TIRES AVAILABLE ANYWHERE IN JAPAN. :huh Apparently, BMW just put the bike on sale here and figured buyers wouldn't actually ride the thing. At least not more than back and forth to the nearest Starbucks (which there are plenty of in Japan). No telling when there will be tires in stock, either. And because it's a new size, he can't buy them in ordinary tire shops. Frankly, this is unbelievable. Any idea how he can get some new tires here without paying double or triple for shipping and customs fees? And/or, anybody know who to complain to at BMW headquarters about this sorry state of affairs?
I can't really help with the new tire sizes, but I've been reading quite a few people have fitted tires from the oil cooled bikes with no issues as knobbies are hard to come by everywhere for the water buffalo.
your BMW dealer can get the tires just like any other part listed on the fiche. But you are going to pay lots of Yen.
BMW doesn't sell tires nor list them "on the fiche," but the dealers need to press their tire sources--which again is not BMW--for a solution. It's continually amazing how so many want to bash BMW. For what it's worth and for those not yet conversant with the 21st century, Metzeler rep spoke here recently and said he's never fitting knobbies again. Says these days traction is a function of chemistry much more so than tread pattern. Yes, don't look for many knobbies in GS sizes as the 21st century has indeed arrived.
So what is the difference in size and why can't the old 17" tire size work on the new bike? I've got a brand new set of anekee 3's I had bought for my 09 and traded it in last weekend and was gona throw them on the new ride once the stockers wore out. Thanks, TBob
Thanks So new one is 20mm wider and has a 3mm shorter sidewall height. So I wonder if the rim is any wider than the old one?
The rears are easy. There are dozens of different tires that will fit. No need to be ONLY dual sport tires. I am not sure what the front is, but IIRC it is the same as the old GS, so no problems there even with DS tires, or non-DS tires. Jim
Sounds like your friend's beef is with the dealer for not carrying them...of course it couldn't hurt to complain to BMW corporate as well since they can pressure the dealers...but it's the dealer's job to carry tires for bikes they sell.
Really? For off-roading? That's a hi-larious statement right there! :huh Unless of course he has no plans of really riding a GS off-road... - Dorian
JVB, could you please name some common tires that will fit? What size should we be looking for? Cheers.
120/70 R19 at front and 170/60 R17 at the rear. I can give you a bunch of web sites, but start with Bike Bandit. You should have similar sites that sell/ship in Japan. http://www.bikebandit.com/conti-trail-attack-2-dual-sport-tire They have both sizes and it is a dual sportish tire. Search the site, and you will find several that will fit. Jim
A quick Google search shows a lot of street tires in 120/70 R19. I'm thinking this really isn't an issue once you (as always) run away from the BMW dealer.
