AVON - The love affair is over

[Bill144]

Since April 2010 and Aug 2011 I have had 3 sets of Avon Storm 2's on my bike. I have had flats on all three of the rear tires. The mileage on each set was 7578, 8125 and 7000 miles. Only one of the tires was close to the wear bars. On the first two sets, I could not locate the fault. On the last tire I had an ugly L shaped cut about 1 inch from the dual compound line so it was in the softer rubber area. I tried to plug it with sticky worms but it would not seal.
Two of the flats were on the road and the other in the garage. This last flat I was out of the free 100 mile tow range so I had to cough up a few bucks.

So, Why has it taken me so long to change my mind about Avons??? The tire work so well on dry and wet pavement. I felt very secure going through many turns and that makes you forget about the pesky flat you had on the old tire.

We ride two up all the time so I guess the load rating on the tire isn't good enough.

Getting a flat at 3 pm and standing on the highway in 86'F for 2 1/2 hrs makes you change you mind about tires. We were safely home at 8 pm.

Now I have to wait until Thurs for a new rear tire. Michelin PR 2's will be the next choice.

 

[dduelin]

PR2s have the same load rating as Ultra IIs unless you swap to a 180/55 size.

 

[sennister]

I agree that the Storms are great tires. I run them on the 1100 still. I won't put them on the 1300. There are too many other good options out there that don't have issues.

 

[wjbertrand]

My experience exactly. I like the way the Avons feel but I've yet to get through a rear without a flat. Something about them makes them puncture susceptible somehow. I've had half a dozed flats on STs all but one were on Avons.

 

[steve3b3]

I've never tried Avons, but I have to say that my PR2s have never given me any problems in the rain, and I've never gone flat with them either.
I've got 93K on my '04, and except for the OEM Bridgestones and a pair of PR1s, that's all I've ridden on.

Steve

 

[seawalker]

I should have some P R 2's on the porch tomorrow from Keel Bros. Im replacing my Z6's They lasted 11,500 miles, 5000 I put on the rest from the previous owner. He ran 2 sets of of them. I hope I like the PR 2 as much as I liked the Metzeler's

 

[billo]

I just dumped a pair of the old Storms at 5000 miles because of a bad head shake on hard braking. I'm on the (new and improved!) Dunlop Roadsmarts. After a few hundred miles I'm in love with them. Hope to live to tell about it. Better handling than the Avons. Have tried the Pr2's but too much sport bias for me. YMMV

Bill

 

[okckeith]

I'm on the (new and improved!) Dunlop Roadsmarts. After a few hundred miles I'm in love with them. Hope to live to tell about it.

Your a brave man.
I'm going to give up on Avon also. I've run them for 22 years and have never had a problem.

 

[Bigmak96]

Originally Posted by billo
I'm on the (new and improved!) Dunlop Roadsmarts. After a few hundred miles I'm in love with them. Hope to live to tell about it.

I'm in the same boat. I picked up an 01 that had the dreaded Road Smart front and rear. They were both made in the recall years too. I figured that if the front didn't self destruct on the PO in the desert I would go ahead and wear it out. I did that and got my new one. i like it so far. It is wearing evenly and not too fast as far as I can tell.

 

[genehil]

My ST1100 came with new Avon Storms and I got 15k highway miles out of them but there was a terrible front end wobble during deceleration if you didn't have a hand or two on the bars. My research here at the time told me that this might be common among the Avon Storms. I lived with it for two years and just replaced them with Bridgestone Battlax BT-023 tires and some Dynabeads. Three weeks and about 400 miles later, I'm happy with my choice. Granted... not a lot of curves to blast through in my Northwest Florida area... but I'm way happy with my new Bridestones.

 

[SteveST1300]

I just gave up on the Avons as well I had a flat for no apparent reason while riding in the Smokies this past spring had to get o tow of I 40 to Kodak power sports for a new tire. I am on the Z6 Interacts now and they feel as good as the Avons. I loved how the Avons handled but I did develop the 35-40 MPH head shake it never really bothered me but it was always there. The Z6's are very nice I may try the Z8 next time round.

 

[Byron]

It's not the load rating of the tire that caused the flats, it's whatever it was you ran over and punctured the tire. When I 4-wheeled more I avoided BF Goodrich tires because they were known for having thin sidewalls and would puncture more easily, in the sidewall. Last thing I wanted was a flat that couldn't be patched in the middle of nowhere. PR2's may be constructed a little heavier but you're still going to pick up the random punctures, at least I do. It's just a matter of when.

 

[Rossi]

I have Avon Storm Ultra II on my ST1100. I do have a slight headshake at around 40-50 mph, but overall the tires are good. But I think I will try the Metzeler Z6 next.

To those that have the ST1300, and have had issues with the rear tire, why not try the tire that fits the 1100, which has a higher load rating and is "reinforced"?

ST1300 - 170/60ZR-17, 170mm wide with a diameter of 24.9", load rating 72W.
ST1100 - 160/70R-17, 166mm wide with a diameter of 25.7" load rating 79V.

So, in summarizing, the tire for the 1100 is only 4mm narrower, but 0.8" bigger diameter, so it should work OK and hopefully prevent some of the failures that have occurred.

 

[STPaulK]

It's not the load rating of the tire that caused the flats, it's whatever it was you ran over and punctured the tire.

Hmm, well I had a tire develop a leak after the cords separated on our van. There was no visible damage but at rolling speed the tire would deform enough to start allowing air to work it's way out (or so it was explained to me by the tire guy.)

 

[bygdawg]

I was very impressed with them on the Concours, and I will probably stick with them. However, Indy had a bad experience with his rear one while in Alaska. As we entered the border headed toward Tok, he started to lose pressure. Upon inspection, we found a bulge in the rear tire that appeared to be a complete failure of the integrity of that area on the rear tire. In my opinion, he was lucky that it did not go all at once. If I remember correctly, these tires are not recommended for the ST, right? I'm not sure why, but it seems as if I recall seeing that somewhere.

 

[SteveST1300]

If I remember correctly, these tires are not recommended for the ST, right? I'm not sure why, but it seems as if I recall seeing that somewhere.

Thats right Jay but I ran the Storms with no problems at all the problems started with the Storm II Ultras. And after Ravens incident I just felt better not running them. But I loved the tire and how it performed. I think that some of these punctures are caused by something internal going bad.

 

[Byron]

Hmm, well I had a tire develop a leak after the cords separated on our van. There was no visible damage but at rolling speed the tire would deform enough to start allowing air to work it's way out (or so it was explained to me by the tire guy.)

Exactly, this is a manufacturing defect and is not connected to load rating. For this to be load rating related think of a tire rated for, and I'm just pulling numbers out of the air for the example, 300 lbs and then mounted on a 1,000 lbs vehicle. The tire was not designed to carry the weight and would likely fail. This is not the case with the Storm's as they are the same load rating recommended by Honda.

 

[barto]

I've only had one flat on my 1100 - but it was on a New Avon Storm II with less than 1,000 miles. Picked up a nasty looking nail but the gummy worm handled it okay.

Several people mentioned the Z6's - I Loved those tires but they wore out really quickly for me.

 

[nhdiesel]

Exactly, this is a manufacturing defect and is not connected to load rating. For this to be load rating related think of a tire rated for, and I'm just pulling numbers out of the air for the example, 300 lbs and then mounted on a 1,000 lbs vehicle. The tire was not designed to carry the weight and would likely fail. This is not the case with the Storm's as they are the same load rating recommended by Honda.

Yes, they are the same load rating...but how much margin of safety do they have? My rear Storm 2 lasted great when riding solo, even when I had clothes and supplies for 8 days on the road. But as soon as my wife got on it with me the tire burned off at an alarming rate. In fact, so bad that I can only compare it to dropping pressure to 20 lbs. and doing a 200 mile run on the highway. What was the difference? Our weight exceeded the GVW of the 1300. We aren't small people. Combined we are in the neighborhood of 500 lbs. While I won't blame the tire for wearing quickly when we overloaded it, I do know I won't run another Storm 2.

So maybe, while multiple brands may be rated for the same weight, its possible that some have a larger margin of safety and deal with the heavier loads better than others.

I haven't seen the conditions other owners have had their Storm 2s fail under, so I don't know if weight played a role in their tire issues as well, but I strongly suspect weight was the primary cause of our Storm 2 failure.

Jim

 

[Byron]

Yes, they are the same load rating...but how much margin of safety do they have? My rear Storm 2 lasted great when riding solo, even when I had clothes and supplies for 8 days on the road. But as soon as my wife got on it with me the tire burned off at an alarming rate. In fact, so bad that I can only compare it to dropping pressure to 20 lbs. and doing a 200 mile run on the highway. What was the difference? Our weight exceeded the GVW of the 1300. We aren't small people. Combined we are in the neighborhood of 500 lbs. While I won't blame the tire for wearing quickly when we overloaded it, I do know I won't run another Storm 2.

So maybe, while multiple brands may be rated for the same weight, its possible that some have a larger margin of safety and deal with the heavier loads better than others.

I haven't seen the conditions other owners have had their Storm 2s fail under, so I don't know if weight played a role in their tire issues as well, but I strongly suspect weight was the primary cause of our Storm 2 failure.

Jim

The tire wearing away quicker two up has to do with the rubber compound used in the tire and not the load rating. They have a softer compound so yes with more weight the rubber wears off faster. Load rating has more to do with the internal structure of the tire and how much weight it will handle. The rubber compound determines how it will grip in the turns, how it will grip in the wet along with the tread pattern, and how long it will last. I run them when I want the extra handling in the curves and I run the PS2 when I want more miles. It's all a balancing act for the tire companies.

I have Goodyear tires on my truck that last 75K miles and I have Goodyear performance tires on my Corvette GS that I will be lucky to get 10K miles out of. As much as I like the fact the truck tires last forever I would not like the way they make the Corvette handle. On top of that because the Corvette is a purpose built performance car none of the tire manufactures even manufacture a 4 season tire in the size I need so those that live in areas with snow are forced to store their cars for winter.