Avon Storm II @ 6255 miles

A few threads baxk somwe one said it maybe a bad baych of tires. I bought my set from Two brothers right here on the forum. If the vendor on this forum does not know what he is selling then we are in trouble. He did replace the tire the first time i had a issue but on the second one left me for dead with check with the manufacture gibergab..i had to buy new and choose pilot2s and now the pilot3s,,very pleased.. I do understand theat Mellow cant come out and say Ban the tire. Gents all i am saying is there is enough info out there to pass the word to another ST1300...every one of you guys are apart of this family. There is enough crap we deal with cagers with txing and people that dont like bikes for one reason or another..I had them on my st11 and they worked great .no complaints from me on that bike..But if i had heard that there could be an issue i would listen. tires are a your best friend and you must trust them...If i see another st1300 ill pass the word to join the forum and get some info on this topic..

Are the tires everyone is talking about going bad just the Storm 2 or both Storm 2 and Storm 2 Ultra? Just curious as I haven't tried an Avon tire for a long time.

STArnie13 said:

Are the tires everyone is talking about going bad just the Storm 2 or both Storm 2 and Storm 2 Ultra? Just curious as I haven't tried an Avon tire for a long time.

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If you go to my post back on the first page (I think) there is a link to Avon's web site. If you go through the bike selector to the ST1300 you will find that Avon does not make a tire that they recommend for the ST1300 period. Not any model. This discussion comes up every time there is another Storm failure and their website has always said the same thing. They do not make a tire for the 1300. Many people run them and are happy. I won't harp on them. It is their decision. There is no difference in that Hankook, who makes car tires, says that they do not make a tire for the ST1300. I have a Hankook on my rear rim and am happy. It is my decision just like it is the decision that someone can make to put a Storm on the 1300. I won't harp on them. Just like with the Dunlop Roadsmarts I have seen way too many of these tires fail on a 1300 to trust them. For those that want to run a MC tire I would say go with a Bridgestone or a Michelin. They both make tires that many members here are happy with and the manufacturer states that they have a tire that fits the 1300. They want to support us, give them our business. Help make up for the lost sales from us darksiders. It isn't like there is a drastic cost difference between a Storm and one of the tires that is recommended.

Rear tire costs
Storm $160
BT023 $120
PR2 $150
PR3 $160

So it looks like it is on the high end of cost. I would take a PR2 any day over a Storm if I were to mount a MC tire. They don't have the history of failures around here. But that is me.

As an ex-Michelin technical sales rep I will say this, I run Storm 2's on my ST1100 and they are great,one of THE best tyres I have ever run.

However, if I ran an ST1300, they would not be fitted as they are not approved for fitment. I know some of the testing that Michelin does on tyres and always fit Michelin on my car.....

The price point is back to front over here, the Avon's for the 1100 are a great deal, everything else is WAY more expensive.

As to any car tyre manufacturer's product being "recommended" for fitment, well we've visited that conversation far too many times already.

So, for an ST1300, fit whatever tyre is recommended and that suits your riding and your pocket, just not an Avon.

Oh and regarding rear Avon Storm tyres with failures on ST1300's.... I wouldn't hold out hope of a refund of any kind given the tyre is not recommended for the bike..... sorry.

Call Avon 1-800-624-7470 Warranty Dept. they will tell you that the tires are not approved and there is nothing they can do.

I'm on the fence about it. I won't hold out hope of any kind of reimbursement from Avon, and I won't fight for one. The shop sold and installed my tire, not Avon. And if its not suggested for the 1300, then they kind of leave themselves an out, from a legal standpoint. I hold no ill will toward Avon. In fact, I bought a pair after this for my wife's bike (lighter bike, different model tires, etc.)

On the other hand, from a strictly curiosity and engineering standpoint, I would really like to know what it is about the 1300 that isn't compatible with these tires. As I've pointed out all the specs indicate that they should work fine. What is different about an St1300? It seems like an easy way out to cover up for a possibly bad product...if there are failures on a particular bike, simply recommend not installing them on that bike, rather than finding out WHY they are failing. Is it the bike? The tires? A combination?

It isn't just about load and speed, pressure and grip, it's also about torque, stress, and many other parameters.....

I have seen such damage caused by what looked like minor fitting damage to the beads allowing high pressure air infiltration into the casing structure, not saying this is the case here, but it can also occur from minor puncturing objects as well as potential manufacturing defects.

On the flip side, I have had what was effectively a large pile of casing cords still attached to bead wires, sent back to be forensically examined and the resulting report found metallic residue in the casing cord structure in the crown ply area which would have been left by a penetrating object made from a type of steel commonly used in the manufacture of bolts....

The user was making out it was a faulty tyre..... of course bolts were not used in manufacture of the tyre casing so.....

Another occasion when a hydrogen gas transport tanker had an accident and the tyre was blamed, I carried out the initial visual exam and photographed the point on the remains of the tread where the bolt had gone through.... right down to the shape of the head of the bolt imprinted on the rubber..... of course, no sign of the bolt after the tyre had failed......

Tyres, UNlike some other products, are a personal choice, which, unless listed by the manufacturer should be seen as a risk not worth taking.... a bit like using the wrong engine oil which was intended for cars and having friction modifiers incorporated.. not something many of us would install on a wet clutch equipped bike.....

Ok Guys,

I realize that Avon does not show the ST1300 as a fitment tire on their website. But my lawyer would have a field they with them when in their testimonial section of the North American Website it shows 2 ST1300 owners testimonials which one of them is mine. This is the first issue I have had with 4 sets of Avons Ultra IIs. I check my tires before every ride. If they decide not to warranty my tire, than that will be the last time I buy a Avon tire. I will go back to Metzeler, & ride on the new Z8. The only reason I started on the Avon tires is because I met the North American Sales & Marketing Manager for Avon Tires. As we both hold the same Job title with different companies, I was supplied with a free set to try out & report back. Yes, I was & still impressed with the product. But if it not the tire for my bike than so be it.

Jay

I wouldn't think the testimonials would mean much. It wasn't Avon writing them. Like I said in an earlier post. I was told by their reps that the Storm would work on a 1300. They clearly don't know. There have been lots of threads on this over the years and in one someone kept pushing them for a straight answer. It finally went up to the engineers if I recall and they said no.

nhdiesel said:

I'm on the fence about it. I won't hold out hope of any kind of reimbursement from Avon, and I won't fight for one. The shop sold and installed my tire, not Avon. And if its not suggested for the 1300, then they kind of leave themselves an out, from a legal standpoint. I hold no ill will toward Avon. In fact, I bought a pair after this for my wife's bike (lighter bike, different model tires, etc.)

On the other hand, from a strictly curiosity and engineering standpoint, I would really like to know what it is about the 1300 that isn't compatible with these tires. As I've pointed out all the specs indicate that they should work fine. What is different about an St1300? It seems like an easy way out to cover up for a possibly bad product...if there are failures on a particular bike, simply recommend not installing them on that bike, rather than finding out WHY they are failing. Is it the bike? The tires? A combination?

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Now that I am on a computer I did a search for a post that I remembered reading a long time ago. Remember I said I was thinking it had to do with the stability issues of the 1300 in the UK. Remember Avon is a UK company so they were very close to this. Byron was investigating this back in 07 and talking with them here is a post with the response.

https://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?22913-Reply-to-Avon-Tyres-Fitment-For-ST1300&p=242144&viewfull=1#post242144

You can see he kept talking about stability issues with the 1300 and trying to fix them with the tire. Good luck with that is all I have to say. That is likely why they haven't recommended a tire. That doesn't explain why there are the failures but it does point to why nothing has ever been recommended.

If one were to do a quick search here you will see this is nothing new for this site. These discussions have been going on for a really long time. Longer than I have been a member here and I have been an active member for almost 5 years now. There are a few topics that pop up like they are something new every year or so. Avon tires, Oil, Ethanol. That is why the people that have been around for a long time will just post a reply with Here we go again with the same old threads that keep coming up. Not that the information shouldn't be posted but it always ends the same. In this case the fact remains it isn't recommended by Avon. There are a few people that swear by the tire and ignore the lack of a recommendation. In the end it is your life, do what you want. I wouldn't expect Avon to honor a warranty claim beyond when they hear you had it on a 1300 no more than I would expect Hankook to honor a warranty claim that I tried to file for the CT on my 1300. We do these things at our own risk. It is just a heck of a lot safer with a CT. We are really racking up the miles on them and I have yet to hear of a failure. The same can't be said for the Strom. We have had way too many riders hurt, bikes totaled, riders stranded, and trips ruined.

Remember I am not saying Avon is a bad company or tire. I have said it a couple times in this thread. I love my Avons on my 1100.

I've been contacted by NHTSA and asked for more info on my Storm 2 delamination. I've forwarded my info to them.

They asked me to ask those of you that had issues with the Avon Storm 2's to do the following:

NHTSA representative said:

The most helpful thing the other owners could do would be to log a complaint with the Office of Defect Investigation by going to the form on the Agency?s website http://safercar.gov, specifically https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/online.cfm.

The tire won?t show up in the dropdown menus so each person should put all the tire information, size, model, and TIN (all as they appear on the sidewall) in the text of the complaint description.

If each person did this it would give us our batch of data we need to proceed.

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So, if you still have your old tires or you have the information from the tires, please take a few minutes and share that info with NHTSA. Also, feel free to cross-post the call for info on any other motorcycle forums you may be on.

Thanks!

Thanks Raven.

I can't do it until the end of the week; but, I'll list the info from the 2 tires sitting in the side yard that failed.

Re: Avon Storm II @ 6255 miles (response from Avon)

The dealer that I buy my tires from received a credit from Avon for $75.00 for the tire that was about to fail.

I wrote Avon and thank them, and also mentioned that I would take the credit and buy a pair o f Metzeler Z8.

No more Avon tires for me. It a shame, because thet are a great tires, but the risk is not worth it.

Jay

My Avon rear blow out happened away from home a year ago and I don't have the failed tire, so I guess I don't have enough info to file a complaint.
Tire only had 600 miles on it.

If you happen to have the date code from it, you have enough info.

To find the date code, look for DOT on the side of the tire and you'll see an oval with four numbers in it. The first two numbers are the week the tire was made, the last two are the year. So, 4810 would be a tire made in the 48th week of 2010.