Greetings van kooks,

I've been in no-mail for a while now as the summer is crazy busy, and
I've been waiting to get my computer set up at home!

Anyways, I thought I would relate my experience to the list and bring up
the dreaded word of TIRES again.

I called my tire guy - Ralph at Pro Tire here in Calgary.  He is a one
man operation and specializes in high end wheels (need a very expensive
set of Fikse's?  He can do it) and he's the only guy I'll let touch the
OZ's off my Golf.  But Ralph used to drive a Vanagon, so he has a bit of
a soft spot.

I called him up and said I needed new tires for my Westy "No problems,
I'll look into it and get back to you".  He called me back in a few
minutes and said he found something (can't remember what).

I said I wanted some Agilis 61's. "No problems, I'll look into that and
get back to you".  He called back "Nope, not listed, Michelin doesn't
have 'em".  Crap.

I dig in my archives to find the email that Dan Landry had sent (ref:
May 24) and he had called Michelin Canada and badgered them for the
stock #.  "Ralph, try calling Michelin and asking for part # 78012".
"No problems, I'll look into it and get back to you" Ralph says.

"Yup, they have 'em" he says "But they are not listed in the Michelin
catalogue I have, nor in any of the addendums I get".

It took a couple of weeks for them to all arrive (special order from
Montreal) but I picked up my 5 new Michelin's yesterday.  They cost me
$800 CDN for the set of 5 including tax and tire disposal fee, new valve
stems and mounting, balancing, and disposal of my old tires.

I put them on and went for a quick spin last night.  Steering feel is
lighter compared to the 205/75/14 Roughriders (seriously that's their
name - I think they are from Canadian Tire or something).  Steering is
also more precise, and feels less like driving on marshmallows.
Unfortunately (?) there was no wind last night, but I am eager to get
out on the highway in the mountains and try 'em out!  I am headed to
Vancouver in two weeks for the Great Canadian Bug Show, so that will be
a good test.

My thanks to Dan Landry for posting that valuable part # to get the
right tires, and Ralph at Pro Tire for putting up with my shenanigans.

Cheers,
Keith Adams
Calgary, AB, CA
86 Westy "Roxy" / 87 Syncro "Hugh"