Avon Storm front tire rotation appears wrong - is it????

treemuncher

treemuncher

Vegetation Terrorist
Joined
Oct 7, 2008
Messages
877
Location
West TN
Bike
'07 ST1300A
STOC #
7712
I just put my new Avon Storms on the bike today but as I am finishing up the front tire, the direction appears wrong. As I look at the water grooves with the noted tire rotation direction, they lead to the center of the tire and should force the water to the center of the tire into a narrowing gap thus producing the fun effect of hydroplaning.

Although I've changed hundreds of tires in my day, from bicycle to semis, I'm no tire guru, especially on these newer tread designs. This is the first set of new motorcycle tires I've had to do in many years and in my thinking, things don't look right. We want to get rid of water towards the outside ASAP.

I need some help here from more knowledgeable members in this matter. Please let me know if I am wrong in thinking the direction appears backwards or if I just don't know enough about my tires.

Thanks. :07biker:
 

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You are not the first person to feel this way. I actually contacted Avon when I mounted my first Azaro that had a similar tread pattern. It has been several years ago so I don't recall the particulars but suffice it say that there is nothing wrong with the tire or its' design.

Trust me, you'll enjoy the tire just maybe not the mileage. :)
 
Thanks for your input, guys. It just does not look right to me. If I take a hydroplane ride, I'll let you know if I live through it!

During today's tire event, I decided to use the bead method for balancing.

I put in the balance beads and I have some suggestions for any other "frugal" riders out there who want to recycle their beads. Mine used to run in one of my truck tires but I saved as much as I could. I have an old lab vibratory stirring plate that I used to circulate the beads around in styrofoam cups to separate most of the foreign matter. The foam builds up static and holds a lot of the dirt as the beads are transferred to another cup. By constant recirculation and vibration of the beads, most all of the foreign material can be separated leaving fairly clean, re-useable balance beads.

Maybe we can get freebies from the tire shops? Chances are they just throw away the old beads anyway.
 
Believe it or not, I put almost 11,000 miles on a front BT020F that was mounted backward. It actually was very well behaved until about the last 2,000 miles, when it started to wear funny.

But yeah, if the arrow on the sidewall that says "direction of rotation" is pointed the right way, you're good to go. The idea behind the tread design is to channel the water out and back behind the contact patch. Look at it from the rear near where it meets the ground and you'll see it.

--Mark
 
Yep I don't know how many times I checked mine thinking one or the other was backwards because I thought they should be the same.

They do handle great in the rain. I commute on my bike pretty much rain or shine. I have hydroplaned on my old Dunlops but never on the Storms.
 
Consider this:
The contact patch on your tire is traveling zero mph. Rolling up on water forces the water away from the higher pressure in the center. The direction the grooves channel the water (forward or back) doesn't matter. The higher pressure in the center of the contact patch will always force the water away from the tire (the water is not being "scooped towards the center"). Hydroplaning happens when the grooves can't channel it away fast enough. I believe the groove orientation has more to do with braking power. This is all total made up B.S. (second beer) so feel free to shoot holes in it.:D
 
Also, I think when you are leaned over, the water is channeled effectively away from the tire more than it would be if the tread was oriented the way your logic would see it.
 
I agree with the others in regards to wet weather performance. The Avon Storm is a great wet weather tire. I agree they look to be backwards but they work!!!!! I am on my third set and will be installing another soon.
 
Imagine painting the tire with some ink and rolling it over some paper. If you look at the orientation of those grooves when they are at the bottom, in contact with the road, you'll see that they sweep rearward. That is the intended design in order to channel water encountered in the middle of the tread outward and rearward. I first ran into this question with the old Metzeler ME33 Lasers, which looked backward when the contact patch was upside down.
 
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