I skimmed through all the pages but could have missed it. Was anything mentioned about varying weight of the bikes having different effects on the tires? The Storm 2 I put on in Ohio on my way to Moonshine in April wore great the 3000+ miles I rode solo until I got home, and hundreds of miles of solo riding after that. At the 4k mile mark, it looked virtually new, with just the slightest wear evident. It wore evenly, even though almost all the miles were on slab. No flat spot, feathering, or cupping.
Then we started doing a few 2-up rides. After a couple hundred mile ride it looked like someone had lowered the pressure to 10 lbs and did a 2-minute burnout. The center was worn. But the most apparent wear was on each side of center. There was a strip about an inch and a half wide to each side of center that looked like it had gotten hot, as if I had done a burnout. The same section was visibly worn much more in those couple hundred miles than it had in the previous 4000 miles. We did a couple other trips of about the same length with similar results. Any solo riding I did didn't cause noticeable wear, but a couple hundred mile 2-up ride did. The first ride was done at 42psi. I bumped up the pressure to 45psi for the other 2-up rides, with similar results.
Even though the tire looked like new at 4000 miles, it was toast at 6000 miles. The ending of it was when belts broke somewhat similar to the other photos I've seen with broken belts. In all honesty the tire was very worn at those spots, so whether it wore through and broke the belts, or the belts broke through, I can't say.
The only thing I can say for sure, is that even casual (not spirited) 2-up riding caused significant, and uneven, wear of this tire. I strongly believe that if we had struck out on a long trip, starting with a brand new tire, this tire would have heated up and caused serious problems within 1500-2000 miles.
While it was upsetting to see wear like that, now that I know this tire wasn't approved for the 1300, I can't very well blame Avon for my particular issue. If I were riding solo 100% of the time, even with my touring gear on, it looked like the tire would have lasted fine; and it handled fine. I probably could have "gotten away" with using it. It was the heavy load of two larger than average riders that pushed it beyond what it can handle.
Jim