There will probably be a lot of folks who have a hard time believing this is possible, but I'm here to tell you, it is. I recently changed out the tires on my '95 ST1100, and the old Azaros had just over 30,000 miles on them. Yep, you read that correctly, 30,000 miles. They were installed as a pair at the same time as my timing belt change, at 101,100 miles. They were replaced (with Avon Storm STs) at 131,573 miles. Here are pics of the tires upon removal:
The Pair:
Closeup of Rear:
Closeup of Front:
As you can see, the rear was still in pretty good shape, just on the wear bars. The front was cupped pretty significantly, which apparently was typical of this design. I would not have ridden this tire much further. The newer Storm ST front so far seem less prone to cupping, but then I've only got 6,000 mi. on it. My general impression of the new Storm STs is that they're better tires than the older version. They have good wet traction, very good dry traction, and very little tendency to follow road surface features.
The tires were always run on the high side on pressure, and my riding was pretty much 90% interstate (I commuted 208 mi/day for four years, then 170 mi/day for a year).
As a historical note, prior to the Avons, I had run three sets of Metzelers (ME-Z4) and got from 18k to 20k miles per set on them.
The Pair:
Closeup of Rear:
Closeup of Front:
As you can see, the rear was still in pretty good shape, just on the wear bars. The front was cupped pretty significantly, which apparently was typical of this design. I would not have ridden this tire much further. The newer Storm ST front so far seem less prone to cupping, but then I've only got 6,000 mi. on it. My general impression of the new Storm STs is that they're better tires than the older version. They have good wet traction, very good dry traction, and very little tendency to follow road surface features.
The tires were always run on the high side on pressure, and my riding was pretty much 90% interstate (I commuted 208 mi/day for four years, then 170 mi/day for a year).
As a historical note, prior to the Avons, I had run three sets of Metzelers (ME-Z4) and got from 18k to 20k miles per set on them.