Poll - Avon Storm Tire - Please rate + or - feedback

[skyway]

Thought I would throw this out there, just to see what others are experiencing with this tire.

This poll stems from riders experience of the storm tire, as described in this thread.

Avon Storm AV55 Front, Very disappointed after only 500 miles

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

I will buy the Storm again. It is clearly the best performing tire I've had on the FJR.

That said, I got my set of Storms and the front has already been replaced under warranty. It developed some kind of bump in it that could not be detected by touching or feeling the tire with the hand. However, anyone that rode the bike felt the light thump-thump-thump. Based on what I see as options in the poll, I might not be the only one to experience this.

To me, the performance of the storm is so much better than anything else I tried that even if I have to bring 1 out of every two back for warranty replacement, it's worth it. Seeing me type this seems strange to me! I am the master of laziness so usually I would buy another brand to prevent the hassle. I strayed away from Avon looking for something as good and was so disappointed with the Roads and the Battleaxs that I'm done trying other options. Avon it is.

 

[camera56]

Guys

I've been following the thread this is in reference to. I just had a set put on this week in anticipation of a 2500 mile ride from Seattle to Death Valley and back starting this week. I did a 200 mile run yesterday on them and thought they were fabulous. I love the quicker turn in than the Metzlers and felt very solid on them up to 100 mph which is as fast as I went. So I'm keen to hear what others have to say. From what I can tell, we've got two members with really bad experiences and so far more than that that like them. Given the numbers of Storms Avon has made . . .

 

[skyway]

I will buy the Storm again. It is clearly the best performing tire I've had on the FJR.
To me, the performance of the storm is so much better than anything else I tried that even if I have to bring 1 out of every two back for warranty replacement, it's worth it.

I added another option based on your feedback. Very interesting decision Andrew, given how important tires are to a motorcycle, and the extra level of hassle involved to get them switched out.

Given the numbers of Storms Avon has made . . .

Hence the reason of the poll.

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

I will buy the Storm again. It is clearly the best performing tire I've had on the FJR.
To me, the performance of the storm is so much better than anything else I tried that even if I have to bring 1 out of every two back for warranty replacement, it's worth it.

I added another option based on your feedback. Very interesting decision Andrew, given how important tires are to a motorcycle, and the extra level of hassle involved to get them switched out.

Yeah, it's not the kind of path I would usually take. I have to tell you though, even with the thump in the rotation, this tire sticks to the road. The Bridgestones, and the Roads (Roads were worse) slid off of tar snakes like they were oil on glass. The Avons seems to go over tar snakes in the turn without any ill effect at all. There were numerous times on the Roads that I got enough front tire slip that I thought I was going to lowside! I hate that feeling! Therefore, Bridgestone and especially Roads are out of my list of options. While I hate replacing tires that have some kind of defect and it would seem that Avon has more than their share, what I hate even more is putting a crappy tire on and having to live with it for the life of the tire. At least with the Avon, I can get rid of the deffective tire under warranty and get to my next good set faster.

 

[Toecutter]

I don't feel qualified to vote, as I only have a Storm on the rear, and the problems I'm aware of have been related to front tires. If the rear Diablo Stradas had tread groove across the middle, making life expectancy easier to judge, I never would have even tried a Storm in the back.

 

[warsw]

IMO the storms are the perfect tire for the FJR. The ones that are on the bike now perform flawlessly.

That said I am a little nervous about buying the storms the next time around. I don't think that those that are having problems are making it up and I do feel that there is a flaw in the tires that they got. If Avon’s quality control is that poor, the odds are I could be going through the same hassle on my next set. I just don't want to waste a lot of time playing with tires. I just want to ride

 

[Rogue]

I don't have the Storms but have had two sets of the previous Avons and I think they have Quality Control problems.

I had the low speed "Head-Shake" problem with my first set and figured mine was just one of the FJRs with this problem with Avons. I replaced them with Avons because thats what I could get at the time and have had no problems with the second set.

 

[I'mAllIn]

How timely.......I just returned home from (4) days & 1,400 miles of riding in East TN, Western NC and Northern GA with freshly mounted Storms. Tires performed very nicely overall, BUT, the front is definitely squirly over tar snakes and painted lines. Also, the front end felt "heavy" when I first began to ride in the mornings and then felt "normal" after 10 - 15 miles. Not sure what that's all about.

Grip was impressive, with my chicken strips no wider than 1/8". I'll try something else when it's time, if for no other reason than curiosity.

BTW, the Dragon, BRP, Cherahola, etc, etc were perfect this week-end..........!

 

[FJRandy]

Just got back from putting the first 200 miles on the Storms. Impressed is an understatement. These tires are incredible! I FINALLY...after all this time I have to give abolutely NO effort into the bars to get it to track perfect in the corners. I'm already to 1/4" chiken strips, and that's only because the turns just weren't tight enough for full lean.

front balanced out at 3/4 oz and rear went 1 oz.

OTOH......(just to be fair here) I DO see the "wobble" around 40mph or so, but to be honest I can only see it slightly and CANNOT feel it in the bars at all. I don't even realize it's doing anything like that until I specifically take my hands off to look. I tried everything to get it to wobble any worse. Never happened no matter what I tried.

Also.....I think I too am getting a little "hopping" in the front tire. BUT......I did notice a high spot before putting the wheel back on. I was going to ask the guy that mounted them if anything could be done, but I was dying to try them out first.

I got it up to 125 with the front tire twitching slightly, but not bad at all. What I noticed was that the tire didn't seem quite seated on the bead in that spot.

[uPDATE 5/14/07 950 miles] NO wobble, NO bouncing, NO hopping, NO nothing! Front and rear are working perfectly!!!!!

THESE TIRES STICK LIKE GLUE!!!! PERIOD!!!!!!!

My take on all this? If I get at least 5k out of both tires, or at least the rear, I'm definitely buying another set.

I thought the Stradas were excellent peformers, but the front cupped way too soon at 6k, and the rear went 6k until the chords just started to show. Just for the fact that I can now SEE when the tire is well worn I'd buy them again! The Z6 and Strada give little to no indication when the're going into the chords.

The hardest part of all this is having to relearn the steering technique because it turns so well now. I kept purposely turning in too much all day, having been drilled to to that with the Z6 and Strada fronts. This front tire stuck wherever I put it in the turn.

I would HIGHLY recommend these tires to anyone now. I guess you just have to check for high spots on the tires, and make sure they balance with relatively little weight.

Not much more to report until I put some good miles on them.

 

[Toecutter]

THESE TIRES STICK LIKE GLUE!!!! PERIOD!!!!!!!

BUT, the front is definitely squirly over tar snakes and painted lines.

:blink:

Can you say NEPRT?

I knew you could....

 

[bluejag]

I cannot give an accurate review as of yet as they were just mounted last week not enough miles yet but they do feel very different from the stone's (last) solo and two up this weekend they felt great, no ill effects I will pay close attention and return a better review.

 

[Fencer]

+1 to what Orangevale has said.

3,000 + so far and anothe 2,000 this next weekend. SFO here I come.

 

[extrememarine]

Avons get a +1 from me, very happy at 2500 miles and a trip to DealsGap and surrounding area. Changed from Pilot Roads, the bike feels very different with the Avons, feels "lighter" on it's feet, less handlebar input = lighter turn in. For me, the bike feels solid and planted at full lean at speed.

 

[tontofjr]

I had my front Storm replaced after 10k miles on it , the new one had to be replaced after 300 miles as it just wasnt round. The fitter reckoned nearly 1/4" difference .

The bike was bouncing along the road made my eyes wobble.

The next one is good 15grams weight on it and smooth . I do like these tyres ,its just the QC that worries me.

But its worth chancing me arm on them ,they turn :yahoo:

 

[Baz]

I have run several sets of Avon's on my old Bandit & observed that every set had to have excessive weights installed. I never had this problem with other brands.

I am suspecting Quality Control is lacking at Avon.

I did love the way they stuck to the road, but always had headshake issues and cupping on the front.

 

[drc32-0]

I guess I should check in more often-I didn't know the Avons had a QC problem.I bought a set about a month ago and had a significant front end wobble and choppy turning on left turns.I replaced it with another Storm and everything is fine now.

 

[BobG]

My Avons have the wobble problem.

There is no local Avon dealer here so I decided to ride the tire with the problem.

The shipping back and forth is not cost effective.

I have ordered another brand.

 

[v65]

I don't have the riding credentials of many on this board, so you can take what I say with a grain of salt, but so far I love my storms. They seem really sticky and hold a line better than the stock axes (although thats a tough comparo, the stockers were getting a bit long in the tooth when they were replaced).

I am wondering about the difference in profile between the front and the rear. The chicken strips on the front are 1.5 times (maybe twice) as wide as the rear. I am still breaking mine in, but from the profile it looks like that the gap between the two will close quickly as you get closer to the edge.