I'm just about to pick up a new GSA and the plan is to ship it to Chile with the aim of riding through the Atacama desert then into Argentina and ride Ruta 40. Ignoring the tarmac element many of the roads will be hard packed earth/gravel/loose stones. The bike has arrived fitted with Michelin Anakees. I spoke at the dealership yesterday to a chap who fitted Metzler Karoos to his GSA. He had been doing some proper off roading with them and said they were very good. Now I'm not going to going off road - it's just that the roads will be rough. I have toured a lot in Europe but always on tarmac and on a combination of K1200S/K1300S/XR 1000 but am a newbie when it comes to the GSA and tyre choices for the type of roads I will be riding. So if anyone has any thoughts or recommendations I will be grateful to receive them.
Tyres for the GSA for gravel roads - recommendations please
- Thread starter zzrman
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Cant go wrong with Continental TKC 80's I would have thought.
Thanks. I saw in a Nick Sanders video that he had those fitted to a Yamaha 1200 Tenere.
Any tyre will get you through what most of South America will throw at you. Fresh gravel will be a bit deep in places and a pain but most of the roads are ok. If you do feel the need to change your tyres you can get Heidenaus K60´s although they're a bit pricey. Check out Motoventura Chile for prices, their fitting service is also quite pricey. Depending on your budget the main bike hostel to gather information is Casa Matte (Santiago), if the timings right I can give you a bit of my knowledge, although I´ll be spending most of next year in the north(Ecuador, Colombia). Get stuck into Babbel to learn a bit of Spanish before you get here, a little goes a long way, although in my ears they speak Chilean and not Spanish in Chile.
Thanks for that particularly the info on the Hostal in Santiago. I'll be leaving around the second week in September for about 7 or 8 weeks. I've lived in Andorra for almost 2 years now so have a basic level of Spanish and you're right, Babbel is a good way to get it!
hi222
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Continental TKC 70
I've driven in Chile and Argentina, globebusters trip and few weeks ago went to Iceland. I used Continental TKC 70s. they're a more in-between tyre worked perfectly.
Just watch out for fast flowing water across the roads which gave me a problem. Advice would be stop and assess it before ploughing in, lol
you could carry on into Bolivia and Peru if u have the time
Enjoy your trip, fantastic scenery.
one other suggestion , when you arrive in Chile and if you have a few spare days, fly to Easter island (flights go from Santiago Chile) , great experience and u can hire a bike for a ride round the island. I only had 2 nights there , so took a days tour but loved the island, wish I could have spent longer
I've driven in Chile and Argentina, globebusters trip and few weeks ago went to Iceland. I used Continental TKC 70s. they're a more in-between tyre worked perfectly.
Just watch out for fast flowing water across the roads which gave me a problem. Advice would be stop and assess it before ploughing in, lol
you could carry on into Bolivia and Peru if u have the time
Enjoy your trip, fantastic scenery.
one other suggestion , when you arrive in Chile and if you have a few spare days, fly to Easter island (flights go from Santiago Chile) , great experience and u can hire a bike for a ride round the island. I only had 2 nights there , so took a days tour but loved the island, wish I could have spent longer
We did ruta 40 on TKC 70s with no issues (1200 & 800 GSAs). A lot of it paved now so hurry up. The gravel can be deep and loose in places but all fine.
+1 for Motoaventura, expensive but good service.
Have a great trip.
+1 for Motoaventura, expensive but good service.
Have a great trip.
September I should be around, I might pop down to Villa O´Higgins a little later if the weather is good. Due to family stuff I´m having a quiet year this year. Cannot remember what the weather systems are doing in the north at this time of year, this can have a major impact on your routes and planning if you're not careful. Some of the flash floods that happen can be devastating, I passed through one town and the next day it was on the news as half of it was swept away. Money exchange is the biggest rip off in Chile and Argentina, so it may be worth bringing GBP or Dollars to exchange, ATM´s are a killer.
If you don’t want the tyres to be biased off road tread how about Pirelli Rally ST
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wideparting
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Pirelli scorpion rally str. if it was me.
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Maybe do 600 miles first get the first service done, just in case, that way you have new oil, and bike checked, before your trip, A3,s would be fine in dry gravel, not to sure about mud though, might get a tad slippy, so mabe a 50/50 tyre.
Many thanks for all the suggestions. Keep them coming.
Tatty
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The BMW off-road schools in the UK use Karoo 3's on all their bikes. They are marketed as a 70/30 tyre, ot 60/40 depending on whether you listen to Metzler US or Metzler Europe. I know they handle unbelievably well off-road, and are 'good' on road apart from the noise. The instructors swear by them, but then again they are probably paid to say so! Will last longer than the TKC 80's. Worth considering.
Redmonster
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You really don´t need to worry, even the Lagunas route can be conquered on any bike with any rubber. The only consideration I take in is tyre wear so I always go for the Heide´s, maybe next time I will go for the Mitas over here as they are half the price of the Scouts. Being caught out with lack of tread is a bit of a pain but you can always get them to post. I was up in the Peruvian highlands when I noticed I was a bit on the slick side, phoned the local Heide stockist in Lima and 3 days later I had them fitted to the bike, the postage cost of 2 shiny tyres was about a fiver using the local bus route. I would go for longevity over a fancy TKC although with Heide´s they don´t want you to alter the tyre pressure due to the tyres construction so I haven't ridden deep sand with standard inflated tyres. Not that you´ll be getting much deep sand in unless you want too.
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