Is there a problem with Avon Storm II rear tires?

corky51

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I just replaced my rear AV56 Storm 2 on my 07 ST after picking up a nail at 12,000km, there was still some tread left. I just got back from Oregon to
Edmonton after 5100km trip in all weather conditions and speeds fully loaded at about 800lbs. I love my Storm 2's, I hope the Ultra stands up the same.
 
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Good news there, Dace, not that it'll do you any good... Might save someone else down the road tho.
 

wjbertrand

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It's good that the NHTSA is following up, but wouldn't Avon's defense be simply that they do not recommend and have never recommended fitment of the the Storms for the ST1300? In fact, according to Avon's on-line fitment guide, they have no tires at all recommended for the ST1300

http://www.avonmoto.com/fitment-results
 

Raven

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Apparently there have been issues with the Storm Ultra II's on other fitments so there's a concern beyond the ST1300. There's also the stance that speed and load ratings are speed and load ratings and are a tacit fitment endorsement regardless of an overt fitment endorsement.

Never-the-less, the NHTSA is interested in the Storm Ultra II's in general and the 170/60-17's specifically.
 
Last edited:

Raven

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Duh, TYPO - the rear is the correct one, I just dashed down the wrong one in the above post (but have edited to fix it).

Correct size is 170/60-17

As far as I know, the problems have been with rear tires.
 
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Raven, was the any followup on this from the NHTSA? I ended up wearing out my Storm II Ultras and loved those tires. But I replaced them with PR2s. The PR2s are OK, but I don't like them as much as the Ultras.
 

Sixstring

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Oh dear...........have got Avon Storm Ultra 2's on my modded ST1100 and "push the envelope" occasionally on them, and strangely enough, I like them a lot! BUT, I live 60 miles from where they are made, and its obviously in the UK so we don't get to do hundreds of miles in straight lines very often. However, grip is excellent, 8k on the pair so far, no issues, and no real signs of excessive wear or flat wear marks either. 36psi front, 42 psi rear, checked often..

Should I be worried???
 

Mark

Gotta make tracks
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SixSTring,

I have 2 Avon STorm II tires which failed on the highway at speed in the side yard.
I will not run them again because I had to throw away the shorts I was wearing both times.
 

Firstpeke

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Oh dear...........have got Avon Storm Ultra 2's on my modded ST1100 and "push the envelope" occasionally on them, and strangely enough, I like them a lot! BUT, I live 60 miles from where they are made, and its obviously in the UK so we don't get to do hundreds of miles in straight lines very often. However, grip is excellent, 8k on the pair so far, no issues, and no real signs of excessive wear or flat wear marks either. 36psi front, 42 psi rear, checked often..

Should I be worried???
No.

Our ambients are lower, our wear rates higher, never had any issues or heard of anyone else in the UK with any.

When I used them on my Pans, they were great, and with Dynabeads and a little more wind in the front on the 1100 (38psi) they handled well and wore evenly with good mileages.

We also tend to take them off before they get down to the base rubber....
 
Joined
Mar 28, 2014
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North Alabama, USA
Finishing up a set of Avon 2 Storms right now. Got about 5,000 miles on them, always 40-42 psi, mostly highway ... but with three all-day curvy, mountain road sessions at high speed. The softer compound to the sides of the center are starting to wear faster, creating a double concave profile (profile dimple on each side). Not a huge deal yet ... the bike falls in a little easier until mid lean, then more effort to lean harder. Also starting to skip out slightly in hard lean, but if you are smooth, you can feel it and ease up. Didn't know about delamination issues last weekend when I hit 140mph indicated (closed track, undisclosed location, yada yada). Guess that I won't do that again until I get new tires mounted!
 
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OK Folks - I'm a St noob, but already got my own story. Bought "Candy" ('93 standard model) a few weeks ago off eBay. I've ridden a little over a thousand mostly highway miles on what looked to be pretty new Avon Storm Ultra 2's. Noticed a little vibration, but thought maybe the bike, maybe a slight imbalance,but nothing worth fretting over. Today, however, when turning in to work, I noticed a LOT of vibration- especially around 45 MPH. On the return home, I damn near had my teeth shaken out - thankfully, they're still my own. My first thought was the internal belting was separating on either the front or rear tire. Stopped and did a pressure/visual/tactile check and found nothing really obvious, so continued the remaining 60 miles home - on side roads,just in case. At one juncture, the sun was positioned so that I could see the shadow of the rear end of the bike, and Good Golly Miss Molly! Candy's rear end jiggling would have made a pole dancer proud!
Made it home, pulled into the garage, put her up on the center stand, and with some good light and time to more carefully examine, there was evidence of some magnificent cupping.
Now to be honest, I have no idea how many miles were on the tire - front looks perfect, BTW- and the previous owner was not much of a bike person, from what I could tell. He had allegedly ridden the bike 50 miles in the last two years, so there may have been some age issues, as well as UV damage from being stored outdoors.In Tennesee.
All told, It may well be different lots of Avons wear better than others and may be adversely affected by negative factors, especially age.
I know from my previous riding experience to expect to go through 2 rears and 1 front tire per year, so I'd say most of us would never see 2-3 years go by with the same tires mounted.
I'll say "You're Welcome" in advance for muddying the water further.
 

970mike

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OK Folks - I'm a St noob, but already got my own story. Bought "Candy" ('93 standard model) a few weeks ago off eBay. I've ridden a little over a thousand mostly highway miles on what looked to be pretty new Avon Storm Ultra 2's. Noticed a little vibration, but thought maybe the bike, maybe a slight imbalance,but nothing worth fretting over. Today, however, when turning in to work, I noticed a LOT of vibration- especially around 45 MPH. On the return home, I damn near had my teeth shaken out - thankfully, they're still my own. My first thought was the internal belting was separating on either the front or rear tire. Stopped and did a pressure/visual/tactile check and found nothing really obvious, so continued the remaining 60 miles home - on side roads,just in case. At one juncture, the sun was positioned so that I could see the shadow of the rear end of the bike, and Good Golly Miss Molly! Candy's rear end jiggling would have made a pole dancer proud!
Made it home, pulled into the garage, put her up on the center stand, and with some good light and time to more carefully examine, there was evidence of some magnificent cupping.
Now to be honest, I have no idea how many miles were on the tire - front looks perfect, BTW- and the previous owner was not much of a bike person, from what I could tell. He had allegedly ridden the bike 50 miles in the last two years, so there may have been some age issues, as well as UV damage from being stored outdoors.In Tennesee.
All told, It may well be different lots of Avons wear better than others and may be adversely affected by negative factors, especially age.
I know from my previous riding experience to expect to go through 2 rears and 1 front tire per year, so I'd say most of us would never see 2-3 years go by with the same tires mounted.
I'll say "You're Welcome" in advance for muddying the water further.

You are a lucky man that you made it back without a major incident! I would not put those brand of tires on anything I own. Do the research here there is a big problem with those tires on ST's.
 
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OK Folks - I'm a St noob, but already got my own story. Bought "Candy" ('93 standard model) a few weeks ago off eBay. I've ridden a little over a thousand mostly highway miles on what looked to be pretty new Avon Storm Ultra 2's. Noticed a little vibration, but thought maybe the bike, maybe a slight imbalance,but nothing worth fretting over. Today, however, when turning in to work, I noticed a LOT of vibration- especially around 45 MPH. On the return home, I damn near had my teeth shaken out - thankfully, they're still my own. My first thought was the internal belting was separating on either the front or rear tire. Stopped and did a pressure/visual/tactile check and found nothing really obvious, so continued the remaining 60 miles home - on side roads,just in case. At one juncture, the sun was positioned so that I could see the shadow of the rear end of the bike, and Good Golly Miss Molly! Candy's rear end jiggling would have made a pole dancer proud!
Made it home, pulled into the garage, put her up on the center stand, and with some good light and time to more carefully examine, there was evidence of some magnificent cupping.
Now to be honest, I have no idea how many miles were on the tire - front looks perfect, BTW- and the previous owner was not much of a bike person, from what I could tell. He had allegedly ridden the bike 50 miles in the last two years, so there may have been some age issues, as well as UV damage from being stored outdoors.In Tennesee.
All told, It may well be different lots of Avons wear better than others and may be adversely affected by negative factors, especially age.
I know from my previous riding experience to expect to go through 2 rears and 1 front tire per year, so I'd say most of us would never see 2-3 years go by with the same tires mounted.
I'll say "You're Welcome" in advance for muddying the water further.
Same thing with my front... rear is fine other than being a square now (6K on it and its gone) I'll be swapping out to t30's asap. Storm 2's worked great on my zzr in 120/70 and 200/50 but the US tires are seconds I think lol. I had death wobble set in @ 35mph from a bump in the road, rattled the fairings so hard I thought it broke something. With everyone swearing by the ST2's I'm going to completly redo my front suspension and steering stem bearings and wheel bearings and upgrade to progressive springs. This tire has destroyed my confidence in the front of my bike... even though I'm 95% sure its the POS tire.

Not mine, but posted the same day as my incident, and oddly not far away. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=927634527253297
this is my front, the camera minimizes the issue though. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152282390532116
 
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Update/ post mortem on Avon ST2 on rear of my bike. Preparing to remove the tire, I gave it a slow spin and discovered a large-ish distended area on the surface of the tire. Removing the tire from the rim, I found there is a matching concave circular area on the interior surface. Belt separation?
The most disturbing aspect is the rapid deterioration of ride quality; literally, one day nothing of any significance- the next, "WHAT the Hell is violently vibrating the whole bike? Is a wheel actually going to fly off?"
What I take away from all the flap is Avon seems to have QC issues.
 
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