My Avon Storms were terrible!

I ordered my Storms from SW Moto. Good price, super fast shipping. I put them on at at the end of May to get ready for a trip out west from Michigan. When the tires went on there was a wobble in the handlebars. Most notable in the 40-50 mph range but it was always there to some degree (I read the Forum on this. Many seem to have this problem). I took it back to the shop and they tried to rebalance it. No change. If I took my hands off the handlebars they would shake badly. If I left my hands on the bars it wasn't as bad but still noticeable. Since I was leaving June 12th I decided to leave them on and just deal with it. I tried different suspension settings, riding loaded down and with just my weight. Nothing helped.

I rode from Michigan out to Yellowstone and picked up my wife at the Bozeman airport (she has masters classes she could not miss and could not go on the whole trip with me). At this point I have about 2000 miles on the tires. The front still bounces and the rear is getting very flat in the center. I know the rears will do this but it seemed to happen very quickly. Together we rode through western Montana, northern Idaho and circled back around so she could spend some time in Yellowstone, the Beartooths, the Tetons, the Windriver Range and finally to Casper, Wy, where she would fly back home and I would continue into Colorado then home. In Casper I now had 4500 miles on the tires (2500 miles 2-up). The wear bars on the rear were showing and the front was cupping terribly and its wear bars were showing in some places and not in others due to the uneven wearing.

I decided I did not want to deal with these tires anymore. I felt they were unsafe and that they probably wouldn't get me home anyway. I found a shop with a set of tires that would fit. They were able to fit me in that morning. It was a nice place to do business (Casper Mountain Motorsports). The only set they had to fit were Michellin Power Pilot 2C, which I knew nothing about. They were $400 installed. I felt any tire at almost any price would be better than what I had.

The mechanics in the shop said they had never seen anything like my front tire before and the rear was "flatter than a cow pie on a hot rock," the mechanics words, not mine.

I put on another 3000 miles before I got home and loved the new tires. No wobble and not nearly as much flattening as the Avons. I know I was not riding 2-up on the new tires but they are still not as flat as the Avons were at the 2000 mile point.

I know there are a lot of you out there who like the Avons and have not had trouble. For me, Avons were not the ticket.

Lots of details in the post....yet no psi numbers you were working or note of how much the bike was loaded?

Man, that sucks! I am loving the Storms on my FJR. Several k miles on it and no issues thus far. Hope it stays this way.

No comment.

I absolutely LOVED the Azarros. So far for me in my limited experience, the Storms aren't hitting the standard the Azarros established.

I just replaced my first rear Storm. Only 4500 miles and was replaced sooner than I normally would (based on wear) because of upcoming long trips. It had worn pretty flat in the center. Far worse than any Azarro I had. It had a couple thousand left on it, but I never got less than 10k from the Azarros, and up to 14k+.

I only have 1500 miles on a Storm front, and so far no problems. Rides and sticks great. No vibration.

Me thinks Avon made the Storms a softer compound than the Azarros. More sticky at the price of wear life.

SkooterG said:

Me thinks Avon made the Storms a softer compound than the Azarros. More sticky at the price of wear life.

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Actually, there is no doubt whatsoever: the Storms are considerably softer than the Azaros.

After going through three sets of Storms in the last 40 days, I am re-assessing how much I like them. While the dry grip is indeed superior to the Azaros, the tradeoff in tread-life is something I am a bit unhappy about. Typically, for these last few sets of Storms, I am hitting the center wear bar around 5000 to 5500 miles (mind you, the assertive pace set during these last 40 days, coupled with these 100-degree ambient temps days we've had as of late, both likely contributed to the slightly abbreviated tread-life I saw....)

I'm about to put the Storms through another difficult riding test here pretty soon.... comments to follow.

Best corning tire i have ever had..... Lost my rear tire after 2500 miles.... :***: This is unexceptable to me..

Jdog

Does anyone have any information on these tires and different bikes? Just wondering if they do better on lighter bikes. Perhaps the feej is just a little wide in the hips for this tire.

Scab said:

Perhaps the feej is just a little wide in the hips for this tire.

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Yeah, maybe they need an "FJR" spec rear like the Pirelli Strada (which I'll be going back to soon).

I read somewhere (maybe here) that Avon was going to change the compound on the Storms to get more life. Like others I have a couple a thou on my rear tire & will have to change before WFO & change again when I get home, great gripping tire, so far(3 rears, 2fronts) but LOUSY life to be sure ...

My rear was flat and tossed at the 5000 mark.

I typ run 41 psi

Dang. How are you guyz getting such long life from the Storms? 2k, 2.5k and the rear is toast. If I got 5k I'd be entirely happy.

Ride more on the sides J/K

FJRobert said:

I read somewhere (maybe here) that Avon was going to change the compound on the Storms to get more life.

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It's on their website:

The long-lasting, all-weather, high performance sports touring tyre.
* Incorporates the very latest bike tyre technology 'Reactive Footprint'. The tyres contact patch changes size and shape depending on lean angle - for the life of the tyre

* Unique construction means excellent performance combined with very long life

* 'Super-Rich Silica' rubber compound gives superb wet road grip

* Front tread pattern optimised for shorter stopping distances in the wet

* Excellent stability and handling whatever the lean angle

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It use to say that the Storms would exceed the mileage of the Azaros. Oops.

I concur on the mileage, but these tires are just so yummy, otherwise. I just mounted another rear Storm and we'll see how that wears. I used to replace front and rear at the same time, but the Storm front is wearing so well, that the 2:1 change rate will equal the expenditure of replacing both of another brand at the same time given the lower mileage the Storm rear manages.

What did I just say? :dntknw: Well, you get my drift. (If you do, enlighten me then, k?)

To answer Ignacio's questions, I was running 42 psi in both front and rear. I tried a lower pressure in the front and it didn't help. I read on the Forum to run the front at a little higher pressure than 36 psi where the dealer had it, so, since the wobble was there either way I put it at 42psi. I checked the pressure every other day and it did not change from the beginning till the day they came off.

As far as how heavy I was loaded I stated earlier that the wobble in the front was there no matter how I was loaded, alone no gear, alone with gear, 2-up with gear, it did not matter. I realize running heavier will wear out the tires faster. I have little problem with the rear flattening after 4500 miles. I could have probably gotten another 1000-1500 miles out of it. As far as the front, it was terrible from the beginning no matter what I tried.

dcarver said:

Dang. How are you guyz getting such long life from the Storms? 2k, 2.5k and the rear is toast. If I got 5k I'd be entirely happy.

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+1 - 2.8K to wear bars.

I got 4500 from the rear.

HOF's cupping problem was no doubt because there was a problem with the tired to begin with and therefore wore unevenly. The Storm front, when built well (In my experience 50%) is really superb.

I am now riding with a different rear with the Storm front.

Jeeze....first you guys hated the Storms. Then the past couple of months you loved 'em. So...2 days ago I order up a set. Now everybody hates 'em again. Wazzup wit dat?? :blink: Oh well, I also ordered a rear ME880, per Ashe's recommendation, to get me to WFO and back.

Charlie Hoss said:

Jeeze....first you guys hated the Storms. Then the past couple of months you loved 'em. So...2 days ago I order up a set. Now everybody hates 'em again. Wazzup wit dat?? :blink:

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Well, in my case, it's a matter of now having 16,000 more miles of direct experience with them under a wider range of conditions.

In relatively cool ambient tempts, I still believe the Storm is superior to the Azaro in grip performance, and about equal in treadlife.

However..... having now ridden the Storms many thousands of miles in the more brutal summer heat of the Desert West, I am now of the opinion the Storms are probably a bit too soft for big, heavy sport-touring rigs such as our bikes. One of my chief complaints is the sidewall construction.... the sidewalls are just too thin/pliable. They just plain need to be stiffer. You can almost - almost - mount the tires with your hands alone.

Still and all.... I have found that if the bike's suspension is in good shape, and the tires are aired up at least to 42psi front and rear, the Storms are a pure joy to ride. They have the most incredible ability to hold their line during triple-digit sweepers in a way that is matched by few others .