I just talked to a rather laconic guy with a British? accent at 704-542-3422 who answered the phone and "helped" me when I inquired after the motorcycle division (as the local distributor said Mitas is split into different divisions or some such nonsense). He claimed they took the website down to "revamp" their dual-sport line because of some problems with the DOT approval for their dual-sport tires. I asked after the "problem" and he said it was something to do with "getting insurance and paperwork sorted, but no problems with the tires." He estimated 3 months for said sorting to have happened, and then maybe they would be re-considering their distribution network. Just FYI.
sounds like the same guy I talked to over a month ago, same story about DOT. He also went on with something about "what if" about being sued and lawyers, etc.
I talked to then for about a half hour yesterday. They are working getting US DOT approval on the E-10. He said that and then a shipment from CZ Republic. He said could be 1-3 months. Also they are Looking at a distributor program for US shops. Small distributor orders of maybe 10 tires. They are taking email addresses and will update when they know more. The site is down b/c there are no tires in the US to order. When they are in he said he'll send out an email blast.
We talked about getting some tires, but a container of 800 tires is a lot of money. I really hope they get something worked out. Hey, lets do a group buy.
I asked about that one too. Each tire needs to pass DOT approval, etc.. I'd like to be able to try both. Yeppers. He said a full container was a LOT of kwan
Any word on when the E-09 Dakar might be available stateside again? I've found it to be a much better option to the TKC-80, but I'm going to be needing to order a new rear fairly soon (for some reason, that last 15-20% of tire lifespan always seems to happen much quicker than the first 80-85%).
This thread still lives? I thought we had established that this company does not give a shit about selling tires in the US.
Good point, it's a cryin' shame though, looks like I got the last E-09 they had and I'm please as punch with how it works(even though it was 3.5 yrs old). Just my luck I find a tire I really like and it's harder than hen's teeth to get hold of!
I really like the looks of the tires, hear good things about them. I'll continue to run Kenda Big Blocks, wear out easier but easier to get too.
Right on! Running E07's on my 800 Tiger, so far can only say great things. Traction & durablity is great, almost 2k miles & wearing very well. My TKC80's rear was basically done at 2500 miles. Rode a Super Tenere with E10's & they were great as well
The fellow who started this thread seems to be a good guy, very well intentioned. Things looked good for a while, but no support from the company itself. I would think you would want in the US market, this site is probably the best way to get into it. Guess they have enough money.
I've talked to Daniel on the phone, he is trying to get with a US distributor. It seems being virtually unknown in the states by all but us it seems it's hard to get in with big distributors when the buy in for 800 or so tires they've never heard of and don't know if they can move. They have a big market share in Europe, you would think that would be enough but who knows. Hopefully it will come together.
I can think of one big reseller who likes to stock all the odd ball tires we all want to run (revzilla) he would sell the heck out of them for Mitas
I got a set stashed for my gsa. Ran them for a few minutes and pulled them for when I really needed the knobs. Running E-07s right now. 4k kms on them so far, wearing nicely. They're working out well, in all conditions except really hot (as we ain't seen over 90f for like 8 months), think I'm gonna stick with them.
Maybe we all need to email Anthony at revzilla and cue him in on our procurement issues.... Sent from my smarter-than-I-am phone using tapatalk 2
Just got back from a week in Baja with the E09 Dakar on the back and this C17 on the front. They both worked very well. I appreciated having more bite on the front tire. They wobble a bit at speed in the grooves on the freeway but you get used to it quickly.
I'm guessing you've used a TKC80 up front in the past (or at least have some notion of how they'd compare); how do you think the C-17 compares overall? Aside from wobbling in the grooves on the freeway, do you have any thoughts about relatively on-pavement performance or ideas about relative longevity? I'm looking at ordering an E-09 (or maybe two) from Canada and wondering if I should add a C-17 to the order.
