Avon Storm AV55 Front

[HaulinAshe]

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.

I'm not willing to do that much work. I change tires too often to spend that much time mounting/dismounting/re-mounting. IMO Avon should put a damn dot on their tires like everyone else.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Can't say that I disagree. I did this three...yes three times on a new Avon45 before giving up and getting a new tire.

--G

 

[luvtoride]

Jeff, please take those tires off of your bike. Then put a label on them w/ my address & ship them here. I need tires.

Your friend, Heidi

BTW... good lord, another tire thread?!?!?!

 

[C&C]

And you may just have a bad tire. Have you raised the front end and done a runout on the tire; manufacturing defect, bad mounting, etc.? Avons do have replacement guarantees for tires with less than (so and so, can't remember) wear.

 

[sgoat]

Jeff,

I didn't notice if you said that you replaced both front and rear tires. Are you running an Avon front and a Metzler (or other brand) rear? If yes then that could be some of the problem. Keep us up to date on what you end up doing.

 

[Geezer]

(snip) I have a brand new set of Avon's curing in the bedroom right now.. waiting for the new Pilot Roads to expire..

I love the smell of rubber in the morning. :lol: You, sir, are hard core.

 

[Fairlaner]

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.

I'm not willing to do that much work. I change tires too often to spend that much time mounting/dismounting/re-mounting. IMO Avon should put a damn dot on their tires like everyone else.

Jeff mine lasted 3500 miles then developed a horrible font end wobble, When we took it off you could see that it was out of shape.

Now I have a diablo up front with a Storm at rear will be changing that after this weekend.

Richard

 

[HaulinAshe]

Jeff,I didn't notice if you said that you replaced both front and rear tires. Are you running an Avon front and a Metzler (or other brand) rear? If yes then that could be some of the problem. Keep us up to date on what you end up doing.

I replaced the rear with a Avon at 2,347 miles. Mounted the new Avon front at 3,910 miles. Now sitting on approximately 4,500 miles odo, so I have about 600 miles on the front, and about 1,800 on the rear.

Jeff, please take those tires off of your bike. Then put a label on them w/ my address & ship them here. I need tires.Your friend, Heidi

BTW... good lord, another tire thread?!?!?!

Be careful what you ask for!

:glare:

 

[Bike Effects]

Now I have a diablo up front with a Storm at rear will be changing that after this weekend.Richard

How did that combination work for you?

 

[jwilly]

Jeff, Did you use Scab's tire gauge? That will screw ya up everytime!! :glare:

JW

 

[HaulinAshe]

Jeff, Did you use Scab's tire gauge? That will screw ya up everytime!! :glare:
JW

Nope, I used the Neosporin (Scab-free) tire gauge. I also resisted the temptation to whip out a blade and trim off the sidewall feathers. It all seemed a bit too ominous.

:yahoo:

 

[Fairlaner]

Now I have a diablo up front with a Storm at rear will be changing that after this weekend.Richard

How did that combination work for you?

Actually it works really well IMHO.

But i will replace the Avon with the matching rear when it is time.

R

 

[black mamba]

I may not be the back road bandit some of you guys are, but I do ride fairly agressively at times....particularly when I'm up in the high country. My Avon Storms are performing flawlessly. Give me plenty of stability under all conditions. I've got my '05 really balanced out well, suspension wise, and with these Avons I get all the stick and sure handling I could ask for.

Incidentally, I too thought my front tire was put on backwards even though the arrows showed otherwise. A quick call to Avon confirmed the tires were mounted correctly and they explained to me why they do the tread pattern that way on the front tire.

 

[extrememarine]

Jeff,

Wonder if the difference in tire performance has anything to do with the chassis changes to the '07? I was getting that same type of front end push or running wide on corner exit with the Pilot Roads. It's gone with the avons. I'm running the suspension set up you had posted for your '05, which is much better than the sportrider.com setup.

I remember the way you left us on that one stretch of road back in December (frostyballsride '06); Maybe you should consider up grading your ride again to better suit your riding "style", something like an R1 or 1098 might fill the bill, eh??

-wr

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.

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!

 

[warsw]

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.

Jeff, I think I have the answer or at least an answer. I went for a ride today and while I was out I was paying a lot of attention to what the front tire (Avon Storm) was doing.

Here's my take: Both the OEM Metzeler Z6 and the Mich Pilot Road have a tenancy to not want to lay over in the corners, meaning that you need to push the bike over to get it to turn and you need to push it fairly hard to keep it there. After a while you get use to this and don't notice it much. It does provide a really stable ride through the corner.

Now the Avon Storms are just the opposite. They want to lay over in the corners, almost to the point that you feel like you need to hold the bike up instead of pushing it down. It provides quicker steering but with no real tension needed on the bars to hold the bike down in the corners it makes the bike feel really loose. It also makes it react to input much faster. If you try to ride the bike the way you did with the stock Metzeler’s you will find yourself over steering and constantly having to correct.

I can't say that either one is better than the other, just different. It does take a while to adjust from one to the other. I personally like the quicker steering of the Avon’s but it is not for everyone. I have noticed this trait every time I have gone to Avon’s from other brands. If this is what you are feeling then switching to another Avon will not cure the problem and a different brand would be a better way to go.

I don’t know if I am even close to what you are feeling and not liking but I now remember having similar feelings the first time I made the switch to Avons. By the time they were worn out and it was time for new ones I was starting to like the way they worked and stayed with them.

Just a thought.

BTW I really tried to feel any thump in the tire but it wasn’t there. It did take way less weight to balance my tire. I wander if there is a problem there.

 

[HaulinAshe]

Here's my take: Both the OEM Metzeler Z6 and the Mich Pilot Road have a tenancy to not want to lay over in the corners, meaning that you need to push the bike over to get it to turn and you need to push it fairly hard to keep it there. After a while you get use to this and don't notice it much. It does provide a really stable ride through the corner.
Now the Avon Storms are just the opposite. They want to lay over in the corners, almost to the point that you feel like you need to hold the bike up instead of pushing it down. It provides quicker steering but with no real tension needed on the bars to hold the bike down in the corners it makes the bike feel really loose. It also makes it react to input much faster. If you try to ride the bike the way you did with the stock Metzeler’s you will find yourself over steering and constantly having to correct.

I can't say that either one is better than the other, just different. It does take a while to adjust from one to the other. I personally like the quicker steering of the Avon’s but it is not for everyone. I have noticed this trait every time I have gone to Avon’s from other brands. If this is what you are feeling then switching to another Avon will not cure the problem and a different brand would be a better way to go.

I don’t know if I am even close to what you are feeling and not liking but I now remember having similar feelings the first time I made the switch to Avons. By the time they were worn out and it was time for new ones I was starting to like the way they worked and stayed with them.

Just a thought.

Warsw,

Your thought is dead-on, and had it not been for the thump-thump-thump and decel wobble that quickly developed, I would still be out there adjusting my riding style and timing to the Avon. Within the first 10 miles I was having a conversation with myself about taking it easy, targeting my entry/exit paths and comparing the results with my expectations. I'm sure that if this Avon front was silky smooth that my confidence would build and I would have waited a couple weeks to write a much better review.

But the truth is that my confidence in the tire has been shot. And no matter what the cause, that is a BAD thing. Too much thinking will surely result in a loss of concentration, and that hurts! I've emailed the vendor to see if I can get the tire replaced.

 

[HaulinAshe]

Jeff,Wonder if the difference in tire performance has anything to do with the chassis changes to the '07? I was getting that same type of front end push or running wide on corner exit with the Pilot Roads. It's gone with the avons. I'm running the suspension set up you had posted for your '05, which is much better than the sportrider.com setup.

I remember the way you left us on that one stretch of road back in December (frostyballsride '06); Maybe you should consider up grading your ride again to better suit your riding "style", something like an R1 or 1098 might fill the bill, eh??

Extreme,

I thank you for the kind words. I think I was having a good day that day. I hope that everyone gets those more often than I do. It (sometimes) sucks being over 40+.

Truthfully, I'm scared to upgrade rides to anything that can deal out more than the FJR. I am just old enough to know that I lack the self-discipline to hold back. Besides, it's too much fun to bust the occasional R1 around here when I catch him on a backroad. Those young boys think saddlebags slow you down.

I've been very happy with the suspension setups on the 07. The OEM Metzelers handled pretty good until near the end. They became truck tires almost overnight. So I'm very hesitant to start screwing with suspension when the only thing I changed was the front tire. My personal rule is to only change one thing at a time, and always know how to get back to where you were. Make sense?

We need to do another ride soon. You guys are a blast to ride with.

Jeff

 

[extrememarine]

Jeff,

+1 on the ride; I'm heading to San Diego next week for recruiters school, attempting a IBA 50cc for the trip out. If things go well, I may be able to make EOM, but it will be a last minute type deal. And +1 to schooling the occasional non-believer, ran away from a friend CBR600f4i on the nc28 heading to the Gap, he was humbled. Pls continue the HaulinAshe tire evaluation program!!

-wr

Extreme,I thank you for the kind words. I think I was having a good day that day. I hope that everyone gets those more often than I do. It (sometimes) sucks being over 40+.

Truthfully, I'm scared to upgrade rides to anything that can deal out more than the FJR. I am just old enough to know that I lack the self-discipline to hold back. Besides, it's too much fun to bust the occasional R1 around here when I catch him on a backroad. Those young boys think saddlebags slow you down.

I've been very happy with the suspension setups on the 07. The OEM Metzelers handled pretty good until near the end. They became truck tires almost overnight. So I'm very hesitant to start screwing with suspension when the only thing I changed was the front tire. My personal rule is to only change one thing at a time, and always know how to get back to where you were. Make sense?

We need to do another ride soon. You guys are a blast to ride with.

Jeff

 

[dcarver]

Kenda.. Come on Ashe... try it! Kena Knobby.. Nothing better.. take that fjr off road and surpise the KTM dudes.. :yahoo:

Geesh dude, after reading all these posts, I'm begining to wonder just how fast you do ride?

Are you a real peg scraper? Have you had to replace the peg feelers because you regulary grind them down? Got spares in the tool box because they are a consumable item?

Signed, CBA CEO...

ps - it rained last weekend and the 426 was GREAT!

 

[twowheelnut]

Warsw,Your thought is dead-on, and had it not been for the thump-thump-thump and decel wobble that quickly developed,

That thump and wobble has to be the problem. I'm glad you contacted the vendor and please keep us posted on the results.