Tyres - what where to get them.

canthai

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I don't think it is just RE who play the tire game.
And I agree about the retro hipster cruising to the coffee shop thing.
After purchase parts supply and service (or lack thereof) puts me off owning a Multistrada
I would first go to Italy, find a spares supplier who can ship here, and then consider it.
May need to do the same if purchasing a RE
6 months for a fuel tank - 6 hours for the flight. They just dragging their feet or refuse to even order it. Just keep piling on the lame excuses
 

Fritzltouw

Ol'Timer
Jun 1, 2018
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Bangkok
So a little follow up on the tire debacle. I was in contact with RE a few times over Line the last couple of days and after stalling an answer several times they said tires might come in on the 8th. And now it's changed to arriving in Thailand on the 8th, but only arriving at their dealership after 11-12 days most likely. So I gave up on them and called with 29tire again. They said they will have Matis 07 tires coming in on Saturday morning and they will be able to fit tires on my bike in the afternoon, confirmed. The only thing is that they don't have the 120/90 17 rear tire but only the 130-80 / 17. This is not really an issue so I'll just go with that. They seemed to be aware of the Himalayan issue and mentioned they have changed these tires on all Himalayan bikes so far. OK, let's hope so. Set of tires 7,100 THB. Fingers crossed no other hiccups will come up in the meantime.
 

Oddvar

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I've been using Pirelli MT 60 on my CRF for the 17" rims. Very happy with them in the rainy season.:)
 

canthai

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I've been using Pirelli MT 60 on my CRF for the 17" rims. Very happy with them in the rainy season.:)
How are they in the dry ? and in the Gravel/dirt ?
I only ride off tarmac in the dry, too old to go bouncing all over like my younger days, plus my knee would not like it !
 

Oddvar

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Sticky on the tarmac. I use about an hour to change from 17/17" to 21/18" and that's my preferred off road configuration + 48 sprocket.
 

Fritzltouw

Ol'Timer
Jun 1, 2018
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Are you buying in CNX ?
Need new tires for my CRF before the wet - 120/70-17TL front and 150/60-17TL rear - Pirelli Angel CT
Checked Sahapanich and Piston Shop who sell Pirelli -
Piston shop a little bit cheaper, plus they install and balance for that price
4020 THB
I'm in BKK. But what I've noticed is the difference in price between the 17/18 inch and the 21" on my bike.

I've asked motoport chiang mai and piston shop, both don't have it.
 

Fritzltouw

Ol'Timer
Jun 1, 2018
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Bangkok
So today I got the tires changed. 29tire didn't tell me they were going to mix the E07 and E07+. I called them three times and they never informed me that they only had the rear tire in E07+ even though I explicitly asked about it. So we go ahead, get it changed and find out afterwards that they put an E07 on the front and an E07+ at the rear. I'm not happy with the set up now but I guess it is what it is. I've read some people mix them in the same way and people seem to have varying experiences with it. They said they can change it back but crap we already waited 2,5 hrs because they forgot to tell us that the automatic tire lifter was broken and alternatives are not available. Don't know but not a place I'll go back again, disappointed.
 
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Fritzltouw

Ol'Timer
Jun 1, 2018
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So a short update on the tires I painfully acquired earlier in January. I've had the Matis E-07 (f) and E-07+ (r) on the Himalayan. In the beginning I was on the fence with mixing tire types after mixed experience with it in Europe but I really had no choice this time. I've done about 500+ km on them now and they're turning out well actually. On dirt they're solid and grippy, wonderful. On normal roads the first 300km or so were quite slippery. Apparently that's normal with them but now they're nicely starting to stick in the corners. Since the Hima doesn't really go over highway speeds (125km/h), I haven't really noticed any side effects. At cruising speed between 80-120km/h they're nice and stable, no issues. You really have to be careful though the first 300 km or so because they're slippery. It rained today in BKK and I went out on a little unplanned trip through the rain and despite the roads being slippery from oil residue and grime after months of no rain, they performed well. They cut through deep (and I mean serious) puddles of water on the road like a hot knife through butter. Really pleased with that and it's definitely better than the MT60s I had before. Now I can't say anything about the difference with a matching set of tires of either type but so far so good.

So total cost of a 21/90-90 and a 17/130-80 was about 7,000 (2,700 and 4,300) thb. I think these are the only tires currently available for the Himalayan besides the veerubber tires. I met a Thai guy with a Himalayan a few weeks ago on a trip and he was running veerubber tires and had nothing good to say about them. He'd done about 2,000km on them and was ready to throw them off a cliff (veerubber total cost f+r about 4,500 thb)
 
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canthai

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Did over 200 km Sunday with the CRF and the Angel CiTy
Only about 30km flat road, rest up the mountain, down the other side, up a different route, back down again.
Grip very good on the asphalt, concrete and broken sections of both.
Some gravel also - tires performed well.
Last test after Songkran when the wet comes
Well pleased
Full set - 4000 THB balanced and installed
 

DavidFL

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So I checked my tires this morning and indeed, both come from the factory in Brazil, with the DOT code being XE: GRAVATAI, RIO GRANDE DU SU, BRAZIL

Now the interesting question is, was Ryan F9 right with his claim or not? I have only done 6700 kms on this set of tires. The tires are produced in week 53 of 2017 so they are three years old. There are dry cracks all over the rear tire and part of the front tire. The front tire has two deep cracks. The bike has alwasy been stored properly inside whenever I'm not here, not on the side of the road or in direct sunlight. Compared to a set of other aftermarket pirellis 1,5 yrs, with 15K of wear, the tires on my bike feel rock hard. To compare, I was able to squeeze the aftermarket tires' thread a bit and it had flexible edges. My tires are almost rock solid.

So to be honest, based on these subjective observations I can claim very little. Consumerreports.com published an article in Sept 2020 and claims that there are no differences in the tires produced from different pirelli plants. They do not talk about the difference in OEM pirelli tires and aftermarket tires so the question is what they have looked at. What I do know is that these tires are perhaps better up for replacement than keeping them. However, since I have to leave in a few weeks for work and I won't be back until June if the situation permits, I might just wait until then and order some tires later.

A bit off topic but...
I am a bit disappointed if it is really true that RE screws over customers with OEM Pirelli tires but then again, hearing the stories from people in India about RE, even today, it can be a lot worse than getting a set of B-grade quality tires on a new bike. It seems that RE Thailand is much more about creating a cool, retro, hipsterish image than really caring about costumer service (praram 5 is much better than Thonglor though). Sales reps know little beyond the brochure info but they seem to have some decent mechanics at work. Aftersale service... I wasn't able to make a claim on my tank because ordering a new tank would take 6 months and I gave up in the end. Then ordering spare parts, I lost a plastic dust cap and time after time I'm told it's arriving within weeks. That's been over a year now. I wasn't able to get stock tires through RE and was told to source them elsewhere. Getting an insurance is a pain and expensive since most companies know spare parts are hard to get and have issues with damage repair and difficult collaboration with Motogroup that owns RE in TH according to an insurance sales agent. There are currently only two companies that do first class insurance for RE. So a first class insurance, which RE made compulsory upon purchase (even when buying it cash like I did), costs around 16K thb for a bike that is only 167K thb. Even normal insurance (3rd class) is around 6-8K thb. I was pissed off then and perhaps should have walked away from it. My full option Honda Civic first class insurance is only a tad bit more and 3rd class insurance even less. I know difference in big bikes in Thailand vs cars is a thing but still.

Will I buy a RE again? Probably not. I like the bikes, they're fun to ride and what you see / pay for is what you get. I have had a lot of fun with this bike so I can't complain about value for money. I have a 25 year old Yamaha Diversion 900 in Europe and it beats any royal enfield hands down in any department but again, different bike /segment so that's comparing rambutans to rose apples.
TQ very much for the detailed updates..excellent work.
 
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DavidFL

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69 Tyres (Maxx Scooter) has opened a branch in Chiang Rai, directly opposite Honda Big Wing
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They have a small range of accessories and batteries.
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Location: Max Scooter 69 Tyres
 
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Fritzltouw

Ol'Timer
Jun 1, 2018
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Bangkok
So another short update on the Mitas E-07 and E-07+ after a couple more road trips. I've done about 4,000 km with them of which 1,000 km over the last 3 days mixed off road, gravel, dirt, and stretches of highway and local roads. No burnouts yet though... I think this is more a Royal Enfield issue ;-)

On tarmac, better than expected in tight corners etc and for a 50-50 tire they offer a lot of grip and nicely stick in the corner also in sharp corners like Khao Kho etc. No vibrations on long highway stretches and they deal really well of course with rain. No noise either. I rode on a vstrom with scorpion tires and they produced quite a bit of noise. Only when riding very slow and making a tight turn on a parking lot you can feel the 50-50 character of the thread of the tire. I feel more comfortable and confident with these tires than the previous set of MT60's . This is also the only tire for comparison I have though. The pirellis didn't feel as planted in the corners despite being 60-40 tires.

On gravel dirt roads they're great. They really offer a lot of grip as they do on sand / dirt roads, sometimes a bit more than expected. When you think the back is going to break out, it doesn't. I've gone up quite steep gravel roads with rocks / stones of varying sizes and I was impressed. This is definitely an improvement from the Mt60's. In mud, haven't done much mud riding in the rainy season with this but they seem fine. They're not knobby tires of course but offer a fair but of traction and grip. Again, much better than the MT60's where I had these moments sometimes at which I thought I'd loose the bike. I took the Himalayan up to Phu Thevada in the rainy season over a badly damaged dirt road full of mud and I was sliding all over the place with the MT60. With the E-07s the bit of mud I have encountered felt a bit better. Anyhow do read these comments and observations taking into account that I'm by no means an off road expert, on the contrary probably. I've been riding for well over 20 years but just sharing my own experience here but I do like off road/ gravel / dirt road riding a lot.

Anyhow, so far so good, happy with the tires and the handling. A definite improvement over the MT60's that came stock with the bike.