Avon Storm AV55 Front

This being my post #1,000 and all, I REALLY did not want it to be another tire post. But I just can't help myself!



OEM Metzeler Z6 was starting to feel too much like a truck, so at 3,940 miles I decided to go ahead and mount the new Avon AV55 Storm front tire.

Immediately, the steering was noticeably "loose", much more loose than I would typically expect. So I spent the past few days putting about 500 miles on the new front and readjusting my timing to the feel of the Avon. The front end "dance" and noticeably loose feel required a big change in my habits, timing and style.

After doing about 200 miles slabbing (followed my Mom to the beach this weekend), the front Avon developed that noticeable thump-thump-thump in a lean. I had not felt or heard that sound since my last Mich Pilot Road was on its final miles. The sound was tolerable, but soon after the front developed a definite shimmy during braking. Hands-off on the bars under any load, accel, decel, or braking, and you get fork wobble that would undoubtedly grow into tank slap if left unattended.

I've consistently found myself going wide in corners, slipping across wet stripes of pavement, doing whoopee slips across paint stripes, and generally running lines that scare me a bit too much. The rear Avon seems to be handling fine, but the front Avon has to go. I will say that the Avon front seems to do much better in a two-up situation, and might be a decent choice for someone who rides 2-up most all the time.

As a side note, my local tire dealer swears that the front is mounted backwards. He says the tread pattern looks backwards, even though we definitely have the rotation arrows correct. I'm not sure I agree with him, but I am sure that this is the second worst handling front tire I have yet run on a FJR, with the Z4 Metzeler still holding that 1st place honor.

The rear does not look like it's going to offer substantially longer life than most other tires. It's looking pretty worn at under 2,000 miles. Things are not looking good in the Haulin Ashe household for Avons' future.

There, I've done it. I wasted a perfectly good milestone post.

Huh, go figger. Mine does all of the opposite of what yours does. I luvs it, vertically or horizontally!

Jeff, I am really surprised to here about the bad performance of your front Avon Storm. I only have a little over a 1000 miles on mine (I have the storms both front and rear) and I am not getting any of the bad symptoms that you mention. The bike, with the Avon Storms, track true up to 120mph, lays into a corner easier and holds it's line like it is on rails. I have no tire thump or wobble. I had the stock Metzeler’s on prior to the storms so this is the only other tire I have to compare to but the storms are better in every way so far. I am wondering if maybe you got a bad tire. Reading the post of others, that are using the Avon Storms, I am not hearing many negatives on this tire, which again makes me think that you might have gotten a bad one. My thought is, see if you can exchange it for a new one and see if you get the same results. Just my .02.

From reading your post I feel that you probable push your bike harder than I do mine. I don't spend a lot of time in the triple digits but I do play fairly hard in the corners and maybe this is where we are seeing the difference in the tire performance.

I am really interested in hearing your feelings on this tire because you really put a tire to the test but I think that you might have a bad tire, which will ruin the results.

Jeff,

I just put on Storms front and rear 2 weeks ago. Just got home from a weekend trip to Robbinsville, NC (dealsgap), 1100 miles round trip.

I ran slab to Clemson, SC, then SC/NC 28 all the way to COT. 28 has become my favorite road on the FJR, a great mix of tight switchbacks to open sweepers.

I noticed the front end felt loose, or reacted quicker to handlebar inputs as well compared to the P-Roads. I noticed this same characteristic when I put Avon venoms on my H-D; much lighter feel.

Overall, I like 'em. I did multiple runs over the Gap, 1st with all three bags + 2-up, down to no bags, no passenger. Full lean, pegs down, the bike felt solid. We got hit with a heavy down pour Saturday, and rode down 28 from COT to the Ironhorse lodge; they felt solid in the wet as well. I only had one bobble all weekend, this morning on the way home outside Highlands, NC; I hit a tarsnake that was running just off center of the lane. The front wiggled just a hair, just enough to let me know to slow down a tick.

Better luck with the next set of unlucky tires that get sentenced to life with haulin'ashe...

-wr

Jeff.. think Kenda.. as in knobbies.. that's what you really need. 42 dollars delivered. Predictable, long wearing, no thump-a-thumpa.. hey, any chance that black cherry bike of yours wants to be Harley? :blink:

I sure hope you got a 'bad' front tire that's the exception not the rule.. I have a brand new set of Avon's curing in the bedroom right now.. waiting for the new Pilot Roads to expire..

I thought about the bad tire possibility. I worry that the absence of a balance mark on the Avons, means that they do not have any final quality inspection in their process. This front required 2.5 ounces of weight and the side walls had a lot of "slag" or "rubber feathers" along the mold lines.

Probably the only hope for me running another Avon front is IF the rear holds out better than expected. If mileage is the about the same, then there's no doubt I'll go back to my tried-and-true Stradas.

extrememarine said:

I noticed the front end felt loose, or reacted quicker to handlebar inputs as well compared to the P-Roads. I noticed this same characteristic when I put Avon venoms on my H-D; much lighter feel.
... they felt solid in the wet as well.

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Extreme,

Thanks for the input. I'm really not trying to bad mouth the tire. Fact is, that after five days of riding I am still consistently running wide in turns and feeling uneasy about the overall handling. Those of you that have seen me ride with Stradas can attest to my comfort with that tire. I never felt like the tire was going to slip earlier than my own abilities. But the best way I can describe the Avon front is to say that wondering if the tire is going to hold the line is the first thought I have in every corner. I find that very unnerving and somewhat dangerous. I need to be thinking about other things! I'm sure you understand that.

This afternoon I had a fair corner with two 1-foot wide wet stripes about 30-feet apart in the corner. It was a right-hander that I typically hit dry at 80 or so. I saw the wet stripes and entered at a very conservative 60 mph and on the very inside line. By the time I completed that turn I was bumping the double lines on exit. I can't live with that.

Maybe I should spring for a new test tire? Who knows!

JeffAshe said:

This front required 2.5 ounces of weight

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As in 70g?!?!?!

Dude! That's ridiculous. Especially for a front. I had an Avon rep tell me that if it takes more than 50-60g (for a rear) they would replace the tire.

Did you match the tire/wheel combo?

SkooterG said:

Did you match the tire/wheel combo?

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Obviously I did not, since I have no idea what you are referring to. If you mean did I match the balance dot on the sidewall, then the answer is NO. Avons don't have any balance mark. At least mine did not, and others on the forum reported the same.

It's also worth keeping in mind that handling in general has a lot to do with suspension setup. Was there a noticeable difference in tire profile between your last tire and the Avon? If so, tinkering with ride height or or making other minor adjustments might very well tune out this tendency to run wide in corners. Since you mentioned that the front works better two-up, it's possible to think the back of the bike is sitting just a bit too high when you're solo. Also possible you have too much rear preload for the new tire combination.

JeffAshe said:

SkooterG said:

Did you match the tire/wheel combo?

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Obviously I did not, since I have no idea what you are referring to.

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I think he's asking what color you painted the tires/wheels.

I loves my Strada front too much to stray, but pursuant to a recent suggestion, I may go to a regular Diablo front next time, cause the last Strada went went a bit too far (through three rear tires) and I don't feel right getting that much wear out of a tire. There must be more traction if there's less wear, right?

Windjammer said:

It's also worth keeping in mind that handling in general has a lot to do with suspension setup. Was there a noticeable difference in tire profile between your last tire and the Avon? If so, tinkering with ride height or or making other minor adjustments might very well tune out this tendency to run wide in corners. Since you mentioned that the front works better two-up, it's possible to think the back of the bike is sitting just a bit too high when you're solo. Also possible you have too much rear preload for the new tire combination.

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I ran the rear preload in both Hard and Soft positions while solo. Made little to no difference in the front handling. If I was happy with all the other characteristics of the new Avon front, then I would probably tighten the front rebound next about two clicks to settle it a bit.

mine took the same 2.5 to balance.

Jeff, you know how I ride, I have not experienced what you have.

Well, maybe that is not true on the wobble. Shortly after I put them on, I felt the 40-50 mph wobble on accel and decel, Was feeling the same as the Z-6 at their end. I swapped with MSC (he likes the stradas as well) to see if he noticed it, and he did not. I have around 2,000 on them now and they feel the same. I've gotten use to them. But no prob in the grip area.

Did you look to see if you threw a weight?

FJRFencer said:

mine took the same 2.5 to balance.
Jeff, you know how I ride, I have not experienced what you have.

Well, maybe that is not true on the wobble. Shortly after I put them on, I felt the 40-50 mph wobble on accel and decel, Was feeling the same as the Z-6 at their end. I swapped with MSC (he likes the stadas as well) to see if he noticed it, and he did not. I have around 2,000 on them now and they feel the same. I've gotten use to them. But no prob in the grip area.

Did you look to see if you threw a weight?

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Yep, first thing I did was check for a thrown weight. The tire doesn't show any signs of runout in a static roll. So what I'm feeling is strictly under load.

Jeff,

I'm sort of with you. I'm completely satisfied w/ the Strada's. They grip well and ride smooth. I rode Fencer's bike w/the Avon's and I really did not care for them. They felt a little rough to me. I have 7k on my 06 and just put my third rear tire on. The Strada's are not giving me great mileage but I knew I was going to go through tires on this bike. I got 2700 on the Metz Z6's and about 3500 out of the Strada rear. The front still has some miles left because I trashed the rear on a trip and did a single change in TN.

ran the rear preload in both Hard and Soft positions while solo. Made little to no difference in the front handling.

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I don't think the Hard/Soft setting on the stock rear shock does anything to affect preload - I'm pretty sure it only changes damping. And I agree that it has little effect. Poor adjustability of the rear shock was one reason I binned it and got a Wilbers with less than 3K on my bike. If adjusting preload/ride height is possible with the stock rear shock, someone else will have to chime in.

An alternate to lowering the rear would be raising the front - or adding prelaod to the front.

Windjammer said:

I don't think the Hard/Soft setting on the stock rear shock does anything to affect preload - I'm pretty sure it only changes damping. And I agree that it has little effect.

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WJ,

The Hard/Soft lever on the stock shock actuates a cam mechanism that adjusts the spring shim/preload. Rebound is the bottom clicker. The stock shock lacks a compression adjustment.

twowheelnut said:

Huh, go figger. Mine does all of the opposite of what yours does. I luvs it, vertically or horizontally!

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+1, except I haven't tested the horizontal (knock on wood) yet.

JeffAshe said:

SkooterG said:

Did you match the tire/wheel combo?

Click to expand...

Obviously I did not, since I have no idea what you are referring to. If you mean did I match the balance dot on the sidewall, then the answer is NO. Avons don't have any balance mark. At least mine did not, and others on the forum reported the same.

Click to expand...

What skooter is referring to is matching the lite tire spot to heavy rim spot. You will need to dismount the tire, find the heavy spot on the rim by balancing just the rim. Then remount the tire, air up and pop the beads. Rebalance the assembly finding the new balance point and then break the beads and rotate the tire to match. The object is to minimize the weight necessary to balance the assembly.

--G