Tire availability

[okmac]

On my way home from WFO I had planned on going down to Moab , Utah . I had been to Arches before but I just thought I would stop again. I had planned on getting a new rear tire there as mine was going bald. However the weather was predicted to get to 104 deg. that day so I bypassed Moab and stopped in Grand Junction, Colorado. I got there about 3 pm Sun. so got a motel instead of going on as I needed a new rear tire and being it was a large town I thought I would be able to get one there. I had to wait until 9 pm when they opened and guess what, they didn't have that size of tire in stock.

Crap, I had figured on spending a couple of days riding Colorado, I have been on all the roads before but most of them are a great ride. Now I figured I had better check for a tire on a more direct line home. I called the dealer in Steamboat Springs, Colo. It is another decent size town and I thought I could probably get one there. Guess what, no f------ tire there either. So I headed for Laramie, Wyo. for the night. I tried to call Cheyenne but they are not open on Mondays. I figured I would stop there on Tues.

When I got to Laramie I checked the thread depth and had 1mm left and only had 800 miles left to go so I road home. I ordered tires and will replace them myself.

I guess after all this tirade my question to long time owners of the FJR is, Do you have any trouble finding tires on the road. I came from the BMW group and as there is only about 1 dealer in each state I figured I had it made on the FJR as there are Yamaha dealers everwhere. Bad mistake, they are there but they cannot help you.

Mac

 

[Ignacio]

I have yet to get a tire on the road unplanned. So far, I've always either planned accordingly and got them installed at my local dealer that does regularly carry a variety of FJR tires, ordered a tire special at a dealer, or had a tire delivered (as in like I'm doing with Smitty in Missouri this Thursday).

It's catch-as-catch-can if you walk into a random shop.

 

[MotorSWATCop]

180/55ZR17 is a very common tire for sportbikes. Were you trying to find a Strada "E"? In a pinch, I would put on a regular Strada or even a Diablo. They should be easy enough to find.

 

[okmac]

180/55ZR17 is a very common tire for sportbikes. Were you trying to find a Strada "E"? In a pinch, I would put on a regular Strada or even a Diablo. They should be easy enough to find.

At the stage of the game I was in they could have been made out of Kangaroo skin and I would have bought them. Neither had tires of that size. It speaks pretty poorly of Yamaha dealers that ones of that size don't have tires in stock.

Mac

 

[mbottoms]

And sometimes you have to go to the other side and try a Suzuki or Honda Stealer.

You can usually find a tire at one or the other that will work in a pinch.

But it can be difficult talking them into mounting a tire on another brand bike.

I have had success doing this but it helps if your full of **** or a I mean a smooth talker.

Mark

 

[wallypiper]

I got a rear Avon from these guys in the middle of nowhere.

Covington Customs

They build choppers. A little "realer" than the OC TV stars but they are not a sportbike shop but they did have a 180/55/17.

Lots of people arrange for tire changes before they leave. Find a shop along your route. Communicate with them. Don't cut it too close.

 

[vectervp1]

I'm really surprised you couldn't find a 180/55-ZR17 anywhere. This is pretty much the size all 600cc sportbikes have, and the same tire alot of naked bikes use too.

I've only once had to buy an emergency tire on the road. I ended up having to buy a very soft compound BT-014 because they had no sport touring tires in stock. It got me home, but definitely did not last anywhere near as long as a sport touring tire.

 

[Groo]

I stopped for the night in Vernon, Texas on the way home from WFO-6. It was raining when I pulled into the hotel, so I checked in, unpacked the bike, and settled in for the night without doing my once over I usually do at the end of a day's ride.

The next morning, as I was walking across the parking lot towards my room after eating breakfast, I noticed my rear tire looked kinda "funny". Popped it up on the centerstand, and saw this...

I had put about 8+K on this Pirelli by the time I got here... and they are notorious for not telling you squat before they go south... but Jeebus! Started looking for places to find a replacement. Remembered some threads about a place in Irving mentioned here... looked it up... called them... they didn't have the right "type", but had one for sportbikes that would work.... Looked some more, found a great Yamaha dealership in Wichita Falls that had 3. Loaded up the bike, and drove the 50+ miles on the metal bands to the dealership. Got a new Dunlop rear, and got back on the road.

I had hoped to nurse that rear the remaining 450 miles home so I could replace it with one I took off the bike with plenty of tread before I went to WFO-5 last year... no such luck.

 

[RenoJohn]

My experience is that it is not worth the anxiety and frustration finding tires ...that time could be better spent riding.

I will order tires ahead and have them shipped to where I'm going, SWmototires is good about doing this. For me, knowing the tire is waiting for me avoids the anxiety. ...and having the tire in-hand or waiting is 90% of the battle, if you have the tire, you can always find a place to get it mounted (car tire shop, those used tire places in the seedy areas of most any town etc etc) whle not the norm for them, they'll have the tools to get the job done and it still is easier than dealing with most metric bike dealers. A good practice is carrying wheel weights with you ...you can always balance the tire on the axle in a pinch if need be and you'll have them handy for the car tire shop or whoever you find to help you mount the tire ...as they likely won't have stick on motrocycle weights..

for my WFO/colorado ride I ordered and had a new tire ready and waiting in Utah ....removed the wheel, in the parking lot of a cycle shop, had my new tire put on and balanced by those folks and was rolling again in about 30minutes. Thirty minutes of my choosing, and I got the tire that I wanted, (not what they had to sell me)...and I paid over the internet pricing for it.

The size is pretty generic with sport bikes and other tourers, I am midlly surprised that they had nothing.

 

[Big Sky]

It seems most dealers - at lest here in the rural northwest - don't stock diddley for parts, especially ones that tie up money in expensive inventory. However, most can get parts overnight if you want to pay the freight. Few have any kind of selection of tires but usually enough variety to get that "emergency" tourist back out on the road. I have had tires replaced while out on a tour but always call dealers well down the road, often before I leave, and make appointments. The one time when I badly punctured a rear tire on the Blackbird (road freshly chip-sealed with splintered rocks like arrowheads) and couldn't reseal it, I went to about four shops in Spokane before I found a shop that had...right, a tire the same size as we run on the FJR, 180/55-ZR17.

 

[yamaholic]

Don't get a flat in Northern Michigan! Wasn't a ****** tire for 200+ mile radius when I incurred a nail over the US/Canada bridge in S. Ste. Marie. Had to get a 160 shoehorned on to get home.

FYI, a lot of 600cc bikes use 160's. And I can say for certainty that they hold up to 600 miles of slab at high speed, leaping across the flats of Michigan and Northern Ohio, fully loaded with touring gear!

 

[Bike Effects]

I guess after all this tirade my question to long time owners of the FJR is, Do you have any trouble finding tires on the road. I came from the BMW group and as there is only about 1 dealer in each state I figured I had it made on the FJR as there are Yamaha dealers everwhere. Bad mistake, they are there but they cannot help you.
Mac

Last year I took a nail in a near new Pirelli Strada. I was in Phoenix and there was not a sport touring tire of any brand to be had. I got a Diablo sport tire which served me well.

 

[vectervp1]

I guess after all this tirade my question to long time owners of the FJR is, Do you have any trouble finding tires on the road. I came from the BMW group and as there is only about 1 dealer in each state I figured I had it made on the FJR as there are Yamaha dealers everwhere. Bad mistake, they are there but they cannot help you.
Mac

Last year I took a nail in a near new Pirelli Strada. I was in Phoenix and there was not a sport touring tire of any brand to be had. I got a Diablo sport tire which served me well.

Umm really? Who did you try? There are two Cycle Gears here who I know carry Pilot Roads, Donlops, and Bridgestones. Not to mention the whole "Powersports" motorgroup out here who's web presense is www.ridenow.com.

 

[burnergold2B]

On my way home from WFO I had planned on going down to Moab , Utah . I had been to Arches before but I just thought I would stop again. I had planned on getting a new rear tire there as mine was going bald. However the weather was predicted to get to 104 deg. that day so I bypassed Moab and stopped in Grand Junction, Colorado. I got there about 3 pm Sun. so got a motel instead of going on as I needed a new rear tire and being it was a large town I thought I would be able to get one there. I had to wait until 9 pm when they opened and guess what, they didn't have that size of tire in stock.
I guess after all this tirade my question to long time owners of the FJR is, Do you have any trouble finding tires on the road. I came from the BMW group and as there is only about 1 dealer in each state I figured I had it made on the FJR as there are Yamaha dealers everwhere. Bad mistake, they are there but they cannot help you.

Mac

Hey Mac,

you got REALLY lucky in Grand Junction on them NOT having a tire. A friend of my was in your predicament while out to the Top O the Rockies, he stopped in there, and they had tires for his pristine R100RS. So, he left them the bike and went to piddle fart around Grand Junction on foot. Came back about noon, bike wasn't done, and most were out to lunch. Came back about 3 and still not done, they had " gotten busy." End of the shop's day he went back again to find a nightmare. The boys out back were sandbaggin' him.

They'd gotten to his beautiful airhead right away, put it up on the lift, where the bike was somehow allowed to do a 180 off of, and landed perfectly upside down smashing the windshield, fairing, and into the tank. That's how they left it to sit for hours as they panicked trying to figure out what to do. What they did was eventually pick it up, zip-tie the fairings that were left, and that was it. They did NOT call their insurance man. They REFUSED to fix the bike, AND charged him FULL MSRP for the tires. Then, they waited 'til the end of the day to give it to him last minute right before they closed. That's the service you'll get at the Grand Junction shop. But, believe it or not, it got worse.

They, the shop, never pulled the plugs to clear the jugs and top off the oil after they left it sitting upside down for god knows how many hours!! By the time he got to Paonia the motor was toast. -OK, rant off- So, consider yourself lucky G.C. couldn't help you out!

 

[okmac]

On my way home from WFO I had planned on going down to Moab , Utah . I had been to Arches before but I just thought I would stop again. I had planned on getting a new rear tire there as mine was going bald. However the weather was predicted to get to 104 deg. that day so I bypassed Moab and stopped in Grand Junction, Colorado. I got there about 3 pm Sun. so got a motel instead of going on as I needed a new rear tire and being it was a large town I thought I would be able to get one there. I had to wait until 9 pm when they opened and guess what, they didn't have that size of tire in stock.
I guess after all this tirade my question to long time owners of the FJR is, Do you have any trouble finding tires on the road. I came from the BMW group and as there is only about 1 dealer in each state I figured I had it made on the FJR as there are Yamaha dealers everwhere. Bad mistake, they are there but they cannot help you.

Mac

Hey Mac,

you got REALLY lucky in Grand Junction on them NOT having a tire. A friend of my was in your predicament while out to the Top O the Rockies, he stopped in there, and they had tires for his pristine R100RS. So, he left them the bike and went to piddle fart around Grand Junction on foot. Came back about noon, bike wasn't done, and most were out to lunch. Came back about 3 and still not done, they had " gotten busy." End of the shop's day he went back again to find a nightmare. The boys out back were sandbaggin' him.

They'd gotten to his beautiful airhead right away, put it up on the lift, where the bike was somehow allowed to do a 180 off of, and landed perfectly upside down smashing the windshield, fairing, and into the tank. That's how they left it to sit for hours as they panicked trying to figure out what to do. What they did was eventually pick it up, zip-tie the fairings that were left, and that was it. They did NOT call their insurance man. They REFUSED to fix the bike, AND charged him FULL MSRP for the tires. Then, they waited 'til the end of the day to give it to him last minute right before they closed. That's the service you'll get at the Grand Junction shop. But, believe it or not, it got worse.

They, the shop, never pulled the plugs to clear the jugs and top off the oil after they left it sitting upside down for god knows how many hours!! By the time he got to Paonia the motor was toast. -OK, rant off- So, consider yourself lucky G.C. couldn't help you out!

Geez, after reading that I feel lucky, that is just terrible . I made it home with my old tires and will try forever from now on to change them myself. I don't think I could have left that shop peacefully.

Mac

 

[ELP_JC]

I've always said unless you'd be riding more miles than a tire lasts (I don't), change the freaking tires before a long trip if current ones might not make it. Even if you discard the current tires (most folks use them later), it's still a much better alternative than having to deal with the issue in the middle of a trip (IMO). Plus in my case, I know my wheels won't be damaged by me; I still have to learn of a dealer not damaging wheels at all during an install.

If you get a flat, that's a different story; nothing you can do about it in advance. Later.

JC