Leaving for Panama in a couple a weeks and have not made up my mind on the whole TKC or Tourance tire decision. Would like to hear what other people have been doing. If I go on the TKC's I will have to put a second set on while I am south. Any trouble locating tires in Costa Rica or Pananma?? Would like to have the option of getting of the main roads but not sure if I want to give up the pavement and wet handling of the Tourance? HHHMMMMMM....
Hello Dwayne, I have been venturing north for years and I've been doing this for many years & it's worked well. Run your street tires as many miles as possible and carry a spare set of TKC 80's on your trek. Carry a small air compressor, tire bead breaker and a few tire irons. Change your tires when you need to do so. You can also have a set of tires waiting at a place on your way if you can pre arrange that, lets say a dealer close to the border. Take Care, Ride Safe, Rick
I've been through Costa Rica as a tourist a couple times, and you'll be hard pressed to find the tires you need. Your best bet is either taking a second set as previously mentioned or sending a set down there. DO NOT rely on the standard mail service. My mom lives in Panama and a regular letter takes 6 weeks to get there. If you intend to send tires down there, use Fed-Ex. They will get there when you need them with no problems. As far as the roads go, you'll probably ride mostly pavement if the roads are anything like what I have seen in Mexico and Costa Rica. The roads in Costa Rica, especially the ones that tourist mostly travel, are very good. The bad roads I was on were pot holed, or gravel, but no big deal. With that said, I have no idea what the roads are like in Guatemala, Honduras, or Nicaragua, but it seems like most of the main roads should be paved. If you want to go w/knobs, then consider mounting a set, and just bringing another rear for replacement. The front will last the whole trip (8,000 miles), but the back may need to be swapped after about 4,500 miles if you get similar mileage to what I have personally experienced.
The Tourance tires will work well for Pamana. If you want to go deep into the jungle, you might need the TKCs. I rode to Panama in Feb, I had the Anakees and all worked out well. The rodes are good most of the way, some rough spots here and there.... Hank
Tourances or something equal. I've gone from Calif to Panama and back on tourances and scorpions. They should last the whole trip and will get you where you're going as long as you're not planning any deep sand in Baja. Still had mileage left when I got home.
This is the kind of advice I was looking for...thanks....Oh and I am sending the square tires back to tirerack.com.........glad I got that hint before I left???
In all of C.America you will find Tourance and Scorpions. Both are about the same in gravel roads, you will see 90% pavement all the way. The roads in Nicaragua are the worst, and the drivers in Honduras are plain LOCO!! No chance of finding Conti's anywhere south of the USA...actually thats not true. I heard of someone finding them in Peru at a BMW dealership but they were crazy money! :huh
It's not hard to find Tourance or scorpions in any larger motorcycle shop in the larger cities in all of C.America. Both Metzler and Pirelli have factories in Brazil. These are the most common tires i saw while travelling there, most of them are only tube type, i never found a tubeless rated tire of these brands. They are pretty cheap too, less than $100. In Panama i paid $66?? for a front, and in Colombia i paid around $90 for a rear. I found a Metzler in Bogota for $93, shoulda bought it. Granted, i don't know what sizes they are available in. Definately 90-90/21 and 130-70/18, but i'm not sure about the newer GS sizes, not as common down south. Just look hard enough and you'll find what you need. You would be surprised how many GS's you'll find in major cities like Managua, Guatamala city, etc...These guy's aren't ordering tires from the states .
YOU CAN GET YOUR TIRES IN GUATEMALA. TOURANCES ANAKEES DUNLOP D607 CONTI TRAIL ATTACKS CONTI ROAD ATTACKS CONTI TKC 80 PILOT ROAD www.ogrismoto.com BEST MOTORCYCLE ACCESSORY STORE FROM RIO GRANDE TO PATAGONIA My e-mail is in the web site in case you need to get in touch.
