Avon Storm AV55 Front

[dcarver]

Interesting thread. I have 1,200 on the Storms now and love the handling, no problems. The Storms, as compared to the Z6, Roads, and Strada are soo much more of a finesse tire; very easy to initiate the lean in, and with the Storms I can even tighten the arc if needed. In short, the best tire by FAR I've run on the FJR.

Still, where there's smoke there's fire.. and too many folks have bad experiences with the Avons; Jeff and Ian are knowledgeable riders whom I respect; if they say problems exist, I believe them. On the other hand, my experience is totally opposite; this presents the quandary.

I ordered another set of Avon's today for the Utah ride....

 

[HaulinAshe]

Still, where there's smoke there's fire.. and too many folks have bad experiences with the Avons; Jeff and Ian are knowledgeable riders whom I respect; if they say problems exist, I believe them. On the other hand, my experience is totally opposite; this presents the quandary.
I ordered another set of Avon's today for the Utah ride....

Likewise back at ya'

Which is why I've tried very hard to stress that anyone trying the Avons should seriously consider the problems they may experience mailordering the tires. The expense and hassle of returning a bad tire for credit can be monumental. There's definitely some bad front Avons out there and I was lucky enough to receive one. I have no doubt there are lots of good ones too. It was the hassle and the nearly $40 for return shipping that makes me not go there again!

 

[warsw]

My Storms ran really good for the first 2000 miles and I was more than pleased. I have always run 40psi in the front. The front tire started to develop a low speed thump and wobble shortly after the 2K mark. Now, with 4000 miles on the tire you can see the distortion and the strange wear pattern. The wobble and thump is definitely from the front tire, not the steering head bearings or suspension. Plan and simple "bad tire".

Piccie please...

TWN, as usual the pictures don't do it justice but this picture seems to show it the best. The dark shinny section in the middle is raised with a deep impression on the edge of the dark part. Like I said, the picture doesn't show it very well but it is the strangest wear pattern I have ever seen on any tire, of any bike, I have ever owned. It is very easy to feel and tell where it is coming from.

 

[twowheelnut]

I can see that area you describe. Almost makes me think you need to air up more than 40 psi. :dntknw:

 

[Scab]

Far be it for me to be the voice of reason, :blink: but if there is a tire that is this subjective in its performance, I think I'll use something requiring a few less PHD's to get consistently reliable performance.

 

[painman]

My Storms ran really good for the first 2000 miles and I was more than pleased. I have always run 40psi in the front. The front tire started to develop a low speed thump and wobble shortly after the 2K mark. Now, with 4000 miles on the tire you can see the distortion and the strange wear pattern. The wobble and thump is definitely from the front tire, not the steering head bearings or suspension. Plan and simple "bad tire".

Piccie please...

TWN, as usual the pictures don't do it justice but this picture seems to show it the best. The dark shinny section in the middle is raised with a deep impression on the edge of the dark part. Like I said, the picture doesn't show it very well but it is the strangest wear pattern I have ever seen on any tire, of any bike, I have ever owned. It is very easy to feel and tell where it is coming from.

This tire looks just like GoFar's on page 5 of this very thread. And sounds like several other complaints on the board. I'm no rocket scientist but there's a snake in this wood pile and he's not friendly. It's these very problems and hassels that I orderd a set of Bridestone 21's for WFO. It's just not worth the headache's caused until this is ironed out by Avon. I mean come on, is it really up to us the riders, buyers, the customers to figure out our suspensions, bearings and tire pressures to keep our tires from becoming deformed, warped and almost causing wrecks and getting jipped on return shipping for inferior product? I don't think so...........And how many other brands of bikes are having these same issues with the Storms? Do their bikes need adjustments so their tires work too? Hey Avon, you listening now? PM. <><

 

[sprint_st]

I can see that area you describe. Almost makes me think you need to air up more than 40 psi. :dntknw:

Ya know, this seems to be the consensus, to go up in pressure, yet when I talked to Avon customer service Keith Ost was definitely saying to try lower pressure to address the wobble problem. Now those pics show a totally abnormal wear pattern. If anyone is debating that point, they have to be blind.

The question is why? I'm going for a spin tomorrow and I just dropped the pressure to 36.5. That's going to be my new starting point.

 

[twowheelnut]

You better take those first couple of turns easy... You leavin' the rear as is, PSI-wise?

 

[SkooterG]

C'mon SpringST, don't believe everything a tire rep tells ya. While I agree Keith Ost is a hell of a nice guy based on a few prior experieces with him, I am definitely not following his tire pressure advice. I had great experience with 40-43 psi on the front Azarro, which he specifically told another forum member was not correct. And as good my experiences were with him, he didn't take care of another forum member very well recently.

He is after all, trying to schill his product.

Still, it will be interesting to here what you find with the reduced pressure.

I am eagerly awaiting to try the Storms. I have a set in my garage. Though I must say, it has been a bit disconcerting to hear of the reports of problems/issues. Still, I have tried most of the other options out there, and for me, they never came close to the Azarros. So I have high hopes for the Storms. I just hope Avon has f'd up a great tire.

 

[smitty141]

Heres a piece of shit front storm I pulled from the front of my brothers BMW RT1150 the other day. It does have a little over 5000 miles on it. I have never seen a wear pattern so crazy. If you look from the side the tread is 1/4" higher.. Very weird.. :angry2: Smitty

 

[twowheelnut]

Holy crap! Well, I'm at a loss as to why that happens. All I can say is I love 'em and will keep running them unless the new PR proves to be better in mileage and close to the Storms handling qualities.

 

[RenoJohn]

Can I play too??

Just now mounted a new set of BT-021 -which BTW will be getting bitch slapped in 13.5hours from now when I start an all nevada BBG1500 ....in 36hours i'll have a good idea about how good these tires are.

Anyway, took off a POS Avon off one rear wheel and a OEM metzeler off the other rear wheel (the one i picked up used with a fairly new tire on it ...well it aint fairly new 2 weeks later)

New 021 Front

New 021 rear

POS Avon ....wore weird and is just a goofy mess. ...and I won't even get into those bastards not marking light spot on tire....

here you go again:

...and here is the oem metzeler that I used up. didn't take me long to slap this girl down

BTW a front Pilot Road that I have no complaints with .this tire did well

and about to mount another BT-021 on the other wheel ....letting the sun warm it up a bit

 

[painman]

This will be a good test for the Bridgestones John. There are many here who would like to know the results on these tires so keep us posted and good luck on the BBG. Take care, PM. <><

 

[mdisher]

Yes, can't wait to hear about the Bridgestones.

Just finished the MD2020 and my rear Storm is already at (or actually well into) the wear bars with less than 4200 on them. The rear is also cupped quite a bit on the sides from the riding in PA/WV.

I will not buy another set of these...

I will go back to PR, or maybe the battleaxe's I enjoyed them both on a previously similarly powered and weighted ride.

 

[KrustyKola]

My experience is similar to others here; I ordered a set of Avons and had them mounted. I noticed that there was consistent wobble accelerating, coasting and braking in the 35 to 50 mph range. At 65 70+ range no wobble but I feel that the frequency had just gotten too high to feel any more.

To my dealers credit the tire was replaced free of charge (and any hassle) by 930 am Monday after I dropped it off Sunday evening unannounced. At first he believed it was a balancing machine issue when it had been mounted but said a bump on the tire was immediately found when it was placed back on the machine.

Of course I hope that they just have a above average defect rate and the new tire will be fine in the long term.

 

[sprint_st]

C'mon SpringST, don't believe everything a tire rep tells ya. While I agree Keith Ost is a hell of a nice guy based on a few prior experieces with him, I am definitely not following his tire pressure advice. I had great experience with 40-43 psi on the front Azarro, which he specifically told another forum member was not correct. And as good my experiences were with him, he didn't take care of another forum member very well recently.
He is after all, trying to schill his product.

Still, it will be interesting to here what you find with the reduced pressure.

I am eagerly awaiting to try the Storms. I have a set in my garage. Though I must say, it has been a bit disconcerting to hear of the reports of problems/issues. Still, I have tried most of the other options out there, and for me, they never came close to the Azarros. So I have high hopes for the Storms. I just hope Avon has f'd up a great tire.

Do you guys ride real turns on sport bikes???? Do you know what happens when the front end washes out??? When you hit the twisties you go down in pressure not up. Sport bike riders will quite commonly run in the low 30's when recommended pressures are 36 to 38. This is the only forum I have ever seen people consistently recommending going up. My tires corner just fine. Keith explain the design issues involved with the front tire brought on by the new tire designs in the rear. They make a lot of sense. Front tire pressures above 40 make no sense at all unless you're slabbin' it.

 

[Wolfhound]

Air pressure, Air pressure. I've run 40 to 42 front & 42 rear on 2 sets (3 rears)now without a problem whatsoever. No cupping (I don't brake so hard as to cup), also noticed the start of rear cupping after trying a few panic stops. Soft tires cup easily from braking, especially if Air pressure is not kept up. I'm no x-spurt but did work at a motorcycle only wheel shop (The Wheel Shop, Phx) for 5 yrs (20 yrs ago) & most all problems were from Air pressure. I know some of the Avons have been bad from the get go but hopefully QC has caught up. I'll have another set . . .Love the handling & stick to the road feeling . . .

 

[twowheelnut]

Do you guys ride real turns on sport bikes???? Do you know what happens when the front end washes out??? When you hit the twisties you go down in pressure not up. Sport bike riders will quite commonly run in the low 30's when recommended pressures are 36 to 38. This is the only forum I have ever seen people consistently recommending going up. My tires corner just fine. Keith explain the design issues involved with the front tire brought on by the new tire designs in the rear. They make a lot of sense. Front tire pressures above 40 make no sense at all unless you're slabbin' it.

Yeah, but Sprint, this ain't a sport bike we're talking about. Far from it. This bike, and I think we can all agree, is a porker compared to a sport bike, and as such, most of us like to run more air. When my air goes below 38 up front, the handling gets squirrelly and has on every brand I've run to date.

Here's the best analysis of this whole situation I've seen:

The reason this and pretty much all tire threads are found in the NEPRT forum is that no two people will ever have the identical experiences with a particular brand of tire. The reason is obvious enough: no two people have the identical riding styles, riding environment, throttle discipline, etc, etc, etc. Some are into heavy, late braking; some always pour on the heavy acceleration; others rarely touch their brakes and depend on engine braking and proper corner entry speed, etc, etc. Some may not have their suspension setup optimized to ensure the best performance under all conditions, etc, etc. Some like to ride 10/10's on the street, enter corners a little too hot, etc, etc. All of these things combined together to ensure no two riders have the identical impression of the same tire.
So it matters not what kind of treadlife mileage you're getting, versus what I am seeing, versus what anyone else may/may not be able to see [or wear patterns - ed.]. One simply reports their own experiences, and readers can absorb the information as they see fit based upon the knowledge the reader has of the individual making the comments.

Pretty much sums it all up.

 

[Warchild]

Pretty much sums it all up.

Why, you're welcome!

 

[RoadGlide]

Pretty much sums it all up.

Why, you're welcome!

Hey guys, thanks for the info on the Avons. I've read this post with interest since I need tires again and was considering the Avons. Jeff and Sky, I've got to agree with you on this one...those Avons look as though they could have been engineered by a 1st year grad student. I've got 8500 miles on the Pilot Roads and they held up just fine as did the Bridgestones. I got over 8000 miles on each set. I think the Bridgestones will be back on soon. Thanks again for all the info.