Tire Sales In Baja?

[WoodsChick]

Hey, everyone!
Got a friend in LaPaz that's looking for a front tire
for his Yamaha WR250R. Any idea where he could pick up
a new tire? Anywhere between LaPaz and north
to the border is good. DOT knobby preferred but not picky.

Thanks!


WoodsChick

[damasovi]

well dealers are located in La PAz or Cabo, so if he wants a new tire that would be the place, I think there is a BMW, Harley and Honda Dealers in Los Cabos...

What size? if you want I have 2 fronts (50-50 tire with 50%+ of life) I could ship him by bus, I am in Ensenada so no problem. The tires are 90-90-21 if need it

I hope he finds what he wants

Damasovi

[WoodsChick]

Thanks, damosavi! I'll let him know. I searched for dealers in Baja but came up empty.



WoodsChick

[Airhead Wrangler]

If he's in La Paz now, tell him to ask around. There are a few smaller dirt bike shops there, but I can't remember any of them by name. He can certainly find something there though.

[damasovi]

Originally Posted by Airhead Wrangler

If he's in La Paz now, tell him to ask around. There are a few smaller dirt bike shops there, but I can't remember any of them by name. He can certainly find something there though.

yes this is what I think too, I forgot that part. Small pop's shops could have something for him. I do not want to sell the tires, I will send them if ask because we are all motorcyclist !

Damasovi

[Lone Rider]

Originally Posted by damasovi

....What size? if you want I have 2 fronts (50-50 tire with 50%+ of life) I could ship him by bus, I am in Ensenada so no problem. The tires are 90-90-21 if need it

...

Nice offer, man.

That 1,000 mile strip has Cabo with La Paz on one end, and TJ with Ensenada on the other. OK, and Mexicali too, right by the border.

In between that entire 1,000 miles or so, is Santa Rosalia and Guerro Negro...pretty much smack in the middle. They don't have a lot of stuff 'stocked', but can get it.

Baja is unique in that if you need some kinda special item, it's quicker and cheaper to travel *1,000 miles* to San Diego to get it. Not alwalys, but is true many times.

Again, a unique place. Gotta love it...and deal with it...

[Bgunn]

I bought a tire for my WR a few years ago in La Paz at the Yamaha dealer.
I think there is a Honda dealer there too. 90/90 21 is a pretty common size.

[WoodsChick]

Originally Posted by damasovi

yes this is what I think too, I forgot that part. Small pop's shops could have something for him. I do not want to sell the tires, I will send them if ask because we are all motorcyclist !

Damasovi

Thank you, Damasovi! Very generous of you, and helps preserve the wonderful spirit of our chosen sport
And thanks for the suggestions everyone! Very much appreciated.




WoodsChick

[Bgunn]

Was heading toward La Paz on Thursday and seen 2 Yamaha's that looked like WR's.

Was already by them before I thought of this thread. Its was very windy and tossing my 950 around.

Did they find a tire?

[WoodsChick]

Originally Posted by Bgunn

Was heading toward La Paz on Thursday and seen 2 Yamaha's that looked like WR's.

Was already by them before I thought of this thread. Its was very windy and tossing my 950 around.

Did they find a tire?

Hey, Bgunn! It might have been them. My friend is on a WR and his son is on a DR650. He said it was crazy windy when they pulled into LaPaz a couple days ago. He was getting tossed around pretty good on the 250, too.
And, yeah, he got a tire




WoodsChick

[Bgunn]

Good to hear, if you need a tire in Baja.... La Paz is the place.

Tell them to turn around, 80 in Cabo today....

[HellsAlien]

There is big bike shop on the Carretera Transpeninsular as you come into town from the north, shop is on the right side, east side of the road, not that hard to find.

Thing that works best there is ask around on the "people net" instead of the internet!

Nothing here tirewise, we wore out every tire in town running our bikes in the Mulege off road race last weekend, what a hoot!

[Adv Grifter]

Originally Posted by HellsAlien

There is big bike shop on the Carretera Transpeninsular as you come into town from the north, shop is on the right side, east side of the road, not that hard to find.

Thing that works best there is ask around on the "people net" instead of the internet!

Nothing here tirewise, we wore out every tire in town running our bikes in the Mulege off road race last weekend, what a hoot!

There is that shop ... and a couple others in and around La Paz. The one above is hard to miss ... BIG Honda sign in front.
In Mulege' there are some Gringos who live there part time. Some are riders and stash used tires. Someone might find something to get them to the border. Putting the word out is the way ... and asking all round town. Glad he found something. Fronts are easy ... a rear is tougher to find.

[HardWorkingDog]

Thanks to everyone who pitched in here, I'm the friend of WoodsChick who was looking for a front tire for my WR250R. She relayed all your messages to me (I'm probably the last advrider inmate who DOESN'T have a smartphone ).

Short story, I wound up buying a Bridgestone M603 90/90-21 off-road knobby from Dagoberto at Motospeed of La Paz. Carried it on top of my duffel for the next, oh, 1000+ miles and actually wound up never needing to install it.

Longer story:
I've never used up a Pirelli MT21 to the bitter end before, so I wasn't aware of its unusual wear pattern. With about 4000 miles on the tire (and about 1000+ more before we get home) the double knobs in the center of the tire were worn down to less than 2 mm from the carcass. The single knobs in the center were still close to full height, but I just didn't think the tire was going to make it. We were close to La Paz, the winds were pushing us all over the road (yeah Bgunn, it was tough on my little 250--lightweight is good, except for crosswinds...son's DR650 is blue, looks like a Yammy, but weighs about 75 lbs more) and I figured that was probably my best shot at getting a new tire. We pulled in to Motospeed and met Dagoberto, the owner/mechanic/all-around good guy.





He had as far as I could tell only 2 tires in his store, both the same--Bridgestone M603 mx/offroad front knobbies. I wasn't sure that was going to work for the next 1000 miles, and he did everything he could to find me something more dualsport oriented. He called all his friends, including the other dealer down the street (more on them later) and the stores in Cabo as well. Nobody had anything. I may have misunderstood him as we were both trying to speak each other's language but I believe he told me that there were no other front tires in any of the other stores--there was a race that weekend in Bahia de Los Angeles, and everyone had depleted the tire supply. At this point we'd spent probably 45 minutes at his shop, talking about tires and riding, he'd made 5-6 phone calls, and treated us with amazing courtesy and effort.

I decided to ponder it a bit, and we rode out of there to see if we could find another shop, still a bit disbelieving that nobody else had a DS tire. Two or three blocks later we see the "Honda Dealer" otherwise known as Motos Baja. We were met at the door, I explained what I was looking for and was told no, no tires for that bike. That's it. The attitude was clearly "See ya later, dude." OK.

We went further into La Paz, got a cheap room, called WoodsChick, and then I walked 12 blocks to an internet cafe where I found some pretty positive reviews of the M603 for DS use. Called Dagoberto back and said I'd take the tire.

The next morning we rode to his shop, bought the tire and rok-strapped it on the top of my duffel bag where it rode the next 10 days as we slowly worked our way home. He offered his help again by saying if we ran into trouble anywhere in Baja to give him a call, as he has friends all over the peninsula who he can contact and will try to help. Amazing! I was glad to have found Dagoberto and highly recommend him and his shop to anyone looking for moto help in Baja.





Oh, and the MT21?--a 1000+ miles later, the center pair knobs had worn down to 1mm above the carcass. Hell, I should be good for another 1000 miles now.

[Adv Grifter]

Wow, good to hear the good service from Motospeed. A friend had work done on his old BMW R100GS final drive and had OK luck with the "Honda" guy. Not cheap however ... clearly charging Gringo rates.

You should have mentioned you had an MT-21. I've used them in Baja and they do wear quickly if ridden fast on pavement .... but seem to last well at the last 20% of tread. You should have changed to the new tire ... much better to have a "new" tire in high cross winds. Oh well ... next time.