A Chilean Adventure
Going 19,685 feet above sea level on a stock BMW R 1300 GS.
German tire manufacturer Metzeler originally produced plastic and rubber products. Founded in 1863, the company expanded like its peers into aviation, automobile and motorcycle tires. World World II saw the factory destroyed, and after rebuilding and refocusing over time, motorcycle tires became its primary focus before getting acquired by Pirelli & C. S.p.A. in 1986.
Today, Metzeler tires come stock on several production bikes, including the 2024 BMW R 1300 GS. To highlight the new bike’s performance capabilities beyond the typical media launch in Spain or southern California’s desert terrain, Metzeler and BMW Motorrad organized an expedition in Chile to prove how serious the two German companies are about performance under extreme circumstances.
The team included Salvatore Pennisi, Metzeler Testing and Technical Relation Director; Christof Lischka, Head of BMW Motorrad Development; Michele Pradelli, Italian extreme enduro champion and tester for the Italian magazine InMoto; plus Karsten Schwers, tester and journalist for the German magazine Motorrad. They rode a fleet of stock BMW R 1300 GSs equipped with Metzeler Karoo 4 tires, reaching and surpassing 6,000 meters/19,685 feet above sea level (starting from the sea!) in less than 24 hours.
A very difficult ascent for riders, motorbikes, and tires was chosen on the notorious North face of Nevado Ojos del Salado, where the expedition reached 6,006 meters/19,704 feet in just 19 hours and 22 minutes, ultimately reaching a maximum altitude of 6,027 meters/19,773 feet.
The expedition involved an acclimatization route ascending the Circuito de los Seis Miles, on the slopes of Nevado Ojos del Salado, located exactly on the border between Argentina and Chile. At 6,891 meters/22,608 feet, it’s the highest active volcano in the world, and its twin, the Nevado de Incahuasi at 6,610 meters/21,686 feet high. The BMW R 1300 GSs – equipped with Metzeler Karoo 4 tires – then descended to sea level on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, in Bahia Inglesa. The riders departed at 3:00 p.m. local time on December 6, crossing the Atacama Desert to reach Nevado Ojos Del Salado, successfully surpassing 6,000 meters above sea level in less than 24 hours. The goal was achieved at 10:22 a.m. on December 7.
As part of its proof of performance, the decision to tackle the volcano with standard bikes and tires was a test to achieve success in the extreme, accomplished with 19-inch front and 17-inch rear sizes, which opens a new era in the adventure riding world historically relying on a 21-inch front, 18-inch rear.
The Nevado Ojos del Salado subjected bikes, tires, and riders to varied terrain and elevation, from over 5,000 meters above sea level, to the cold and reduced atmospheric pressure, which required perfect electronic management of fuel-air mix as well as the reliability of each vehicle component. Metzeler tires, on the other hand, had to cross terrains of all types: stoney ground, dirt roads, endless expanses of sand and with the unknown of discovering snow and ice on the route.
Riders were required to make considerable physical and mental effort. Not only because the climb – which started from Bahia Inglesa, a town located near the port of Caldera on the Pacific Ocean, in the Atacama region – was completed in less than 24 hours, therefore requiring careful and tiring acclimatization in the various base camps at different altitudes in the days preceding the undertaking, before descending back to sea level for the departure. Above 5,000 meters/16,404 feet you enter an inhospitable environment for humans. Temperatures are very low – around -10° C/14° F during the day with temperatures that could reach -20° C/-4° F at night – and oxygen levels are rarefied.
“This expedition has allowed us to confirm the strong relationship between Metzeler and BMW Motorrad but above all to demonstrate the value of two strictly standard products that anyone can purchase and use even in the most challenging conditions,” Pennisi said. “The ascent to 6,000 meters was extremely tough, especially for our crew who had to undergo a demanding physical preparation before getting on the bikes. So, even before expressing our joy for the effectiveness of our tires, congratulations to the riders are a must."
The preparation of the expedition participants was stringent: all riders underwent targeted medical tests and checks at the Kore University of Enna, in collaboration with the Provincial Health Authority of Enna. A simulation of the undertaking was also carried out in Sicily having as its backdrop Etna, the highest active volcano in Europe, in a symbolic twinning of this high-altitude simulation.
The new BMW R 1300 GS comes stock with Metzeler Tourance Next 2 tires (120/70 R19 front and 170/60 R17 rear), while the same Metzeler Karoo 4 tires used on the Chile expedition are offered as an optional fitment for off-road use.
I canNOT imagine how demanding that was on the riders.
And it's cool that smaller front and rear wheels come standard, and worked this well.