Avon Tires

[Ari Rankum]

The metzlers worked as well as the Bridgestones and I wouldn't have any issues at this time with going back to the them. Except.... They seem to obviously have a belt seperation issue. So I will wait till they get that figured out.

My OEM Metzlers would prolly be okay, but there seems to have been an error in manufacturing. Instead of dead-dino rubber, the plant seems to have used dead-squirrel rubber. My Metzlers spin on hard take-off. What's worse, the rear tire seems to be made from dead-alpha-male-squirrel-rubber, as it always wants to come around and take the lead under acceleration leaving a sweeper.

With about 1500 miles on the OEM Z6s, I'm a bit disappointed in the lack of dry grip. I've got no experience in the wet, yet, but I'd be very surprised if the Metzlers are as good in the wet as the 'stone BT020s were.

 

[Windjammer]

My Concours used to have a fairly nasty headshake decelerating through 40 mph using the stock Dunlops, which I always used because they worked well in all other respects, and lasted long enough to satisfy me. After about 34,000 miles on that bike, I FINALLY put in a Progressive shock and fork springs. I never again had any front headshake at any speed, regardless of tire wear.

I just put Avons on the FJR, and installed Wilbers on both ends at the same time. No wobble, shake, or anything at any speed, even 5 mph it's perfect. Just a MUCH better handling bike than I had with the Metz tires that came stock. Credit to Wilbers for that too, I'm sure.

There's more to headshake than just the tire, usually. In my case, getting rid of stock suspension seems to help a lot. For others, this may not be so, or they may find a minor adjustment that dials the problem out. But I don't think it's accurate to say it's a tire thing when so many other variables are present. Even if you just change one thing, the tires, and the problem goes away, you may have made other minor geometry changes by switching tire brands (different profile, etc).

Just my .02

 

[tmassey]

Thanks for all the responses to my Avon tire problem. Sorry some of you don't understand the value in taking your hands off the the bars as a diagnostic tool, but then some people never get their heads out of their *** either. I'll see what the dealer has to say after he inspects the tire. Just bfor general info the wobble is not just at deceleration but a steady speed, and it is really bad. It can also be felt with the hands on the bars, but it is very muted. I cannot believe anyone would find this acceptable and want to continue riding with these tires. I never had this problem on any other bike I have owned.

 

[odot]

Sooooooooooooo.............if I go avon...I can't drink beer and smoke at the same time? I am looking for mileage, kids. I want to be able to down a 12 pack an a pack of smokes and not worry about wobble.....but, get the best mileage out of a tyre. ....NO I don't have spell check...but the brits will like that.

 

[FJRandy]

Oh baby I'm enjoying all this!

Right skooter and TWN?? If I'm not mistaken, you two work for Avon don't you?

unfrikkinbelieveable.

 

[odot]

I'll sign up for avon if I can get 12 grand out of my rear tyre. My stocker is showing cord at 7 grand. Nice and shiny, really....must be nice to see when you are riding behind me. lol

 

[FJR1300]

Thanks for all the responses to my Avon tire problem. Sorry some of you don't understand the value in taking your hands off the the bars as a diagnostic tool, but then some people never get their heads out of their *** either. I'll see what the dealer has to say after he inspects the tire. Just bfor general info the wobble is not just at deceleration but a steady speed, and it is really bad. It can also be felt with the hands on the bars, but it is very muted. I cannot believe anyone would find this acceptable and want to continue riding with these tires. I never had this problem on any other bike I have owned.

I just put on a new set of Avon's today and after 400 miles, no problems. They had great grip right out the door of the garage, but I took it easy the first 50 miles. After that I opened the bike up, which for me was around 100. No shakes at ANY speed and they seem like great tires.

 

[petey]

I have the 5th set of Avons ( went through 4 sets on my '03) in my garage ready to be mounted on my '06. I never had any problems, so far. I did however need quite a bit of weight to get one rear to balance.

 

[james1300]

I used Pilot Powers, and Avon st's but Ive NEVER taken both hands off the handle bars at the same time.

By the way, the Avons wear better for me than the Pilot Powers 9, 500

miles. 8,500 with the Powers.

Have the bikes in question had the recommeded steering head bearing maintance performed?

FJR's can be very sensitve to steering bearing neglect

 

[Windjammer]

I'll see what the dealer has to say after he inspects the tire. Just bfor general info the wobble is not just at deceleration but a steady speed, and it is really bad. It can also be felt with the hands on the bars, but it is very muted. I cannot believe anyone would find this acceptable and want to continue riding with these tires. I never had this problem on any other bike I have owned.

Based on your posts, you either have a defective tire, improperly balanced tire/tires, steering head problem or your suspension settings are FUBAR. Best of luck to you, I hope your dealer is competent enough to locate the source of the trouble.

 

[Bounce]

Thanks for all the responses to my Avon tire problem. Sorry some of you don't understand the value in taking your hands off the the bars as a diagnostic tool, but then some people never get their heads out of their *** either.

That may be the problem then. Trying to diagnose cranial-rectal insertion (while riding) can often lead to head shake when removing your hands from the controls while trying to resolve said insertion. :lol:

 

[Geezer]

Based on your posts, you either have a defective tire, improperly balanced tire/tires, steering head problem or your suspension settings are FUBAR. Best of luck to you, I hope your dealer is competent enough to locate the source of the trouble.

+1 I love my Avons and just ordered another set, but that doesn't mean they are all 100% defect free. Maybe a manufacturing defect or shipping/storage problem caused this particular tire to be out of round or something We expect an Avon to 'walk' a bit and some describe that as headshake and wobble, but if the shaking is severe then it's not normal.

 

[worldbound4now]

On my first pair of Avons. 8,000 miles so far and no wobble/shake. When at low miles (first 100 or so) I did notice the slow speed walk (parking lot speeds), but now they ride as smooth as a 20 year old whore. I love them and plan on ordering the Avons again when the time comes.

 

[bramfrank]

Had Avons on my Concours at one time. They were the only tires I ever had that suffered deccel wobble between 45 and 30 mph. They also always felt less 'planted' at very high speeds. I MUCH preferred the OEM tires that came with that machine over the Avons.

The Metz Z6s on my '06 are excellent (so far). No hint of any issue and the next set will be the Pirelli Diablo Stradas. I am taking advantage of their free front promotion. It will have cost me about C$300 for the full set, dealer installed. I couldn't put cheap tires on my old KZ550 for that money. Wodda deal!!.

No more Avons for me. Unless I have a blowout in the middle of the desert and the only thing available was from Avon. Even then, perhaps I'll wait a few days for a decent tire.

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

Ahh, finally back from my ride. From Sacramento to LA, from there a round trip to San Diego, then a stop in Santa Barbara. Lotsa fun, and the best thing? A brand new set of Avon Tyres...so much better than the stones.

 

[tmassey]

As it turns out I had a defective tire, it was out of round. The dealer replaced it at no cost. There is no longer any head shske or wobble at 50 mph with or without the hands on the bars. However, I did notice today that at around 100mph there is some vibration In the front tire, enough that I did not want to go any faster, The OEM Bridgestones did not cause any vibration at all at 100 mph or better. What's going on?

 

[SkooterG]

What's going on?

Tire balance.

 

[worldbound4now]

+1. Take it back yet again to your dealer and have it rechecked for proper balance.