Got to test ride my new Avon Radial Tires

Twinstar Joined: Jun 16, 2007 Posts: 56 Location: Dorr, MI

I removed the wheels on my CB1100F and had an Avon Azaro AV46 140/80-17 rear tire mounted as well as an Avon Storm 2 Ultra 110/80/18 front tire mounted.

Here are a couple pics of them installed.

I road with them for almost 300 miles this past weekend and all I can say is wow!! The bike has never handled better and corners nicely with this combination.

I'm not a knee dragger but they seemed to have a lot of grip. Don't let anyone tell you not to try radial tires on your old Honda Laughing

Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 4:51 am

I have themon the Hurricane - older models of Avons - but I really like them.

Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 5:27 am

grimmace4 wrote:

I removed the wheels on my CB1100F and had an Avon Azaro AV46 140/80-17 rear tire mounted as well as an Avon Storm 2 Ultra 110/80/18 front tire mounted.

I road with them for almost 300 miles this past weekend and all I can say is wow!! The bike has never handled better and corners nicely with this combination.

I'm not a knee dragger but they seemed to have a lot of grip. Don't let anyone tell you not to try radial tires on your old Honda Laughing

I'm curious, did you have to bend the rear torque link to get them on?

I just installed a 130/90 Shinko Tour Master on the rear and there's no way a 140 would have gone on without some bending. I think that Sono has pointed out many time that the way tires are measured is not the same between MFR's.

Twinstar Joined: Jun 16, 2007 Posts: 56 Location: Dorr, MI

Quote:

I'm curious, did you have to bend the rear torque link to get them on?

No modifications were necessary. There is about 1/8 inch between the tire and the torque arm.

Twinstar Joined: Jun 16, 2007 Posts: 56 Location: Dorr, MI

Here is a pic of them on the bike during the trip to give size perspective. Its hard to tell from the crappy pic but they look "right" on the bike.

The size difference from stock is not noticable.

Posted: Sun May 23, 2010 3:47 pm

Avon tires are indeed, awesome.. Took mine to a track day at Pacific Raceways back in 07, stuck like glue. Not bad for a "Sport Touring" type tire. Got them hot enough to get them "Scuffed"up...

As for the rear brake stay arm, I use a 3/4" x 3/8" aluminum bar and bolt it on the outside of mount. This clears my 160/60ZR18.

Posted: Mon May 24, 2010 4:48 am

Hard to describe how much more "stable" the Avons feel. Called radials but fit up to rims the stock 1100 size. The 140 110 is a match to the rims and to the actual size that was on the bike. It is the 130/90 100/90 that is fictitious.

Something about a reactive foot print that "flattens out" and maintains the tire contour as it wears.

We've tried that Avon,ie Azarro or Storm on a variety of bikes. Hayabusa,GSXR 750,ZRX Kawasaki and they all give that same surefooted feel. The front tread is defintely correct to disperse rain and other mfgs are finally getting wise to it.

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 8:01 pm

Put Avon Storm 2's on my '92 st1100 and then went on the northeast Spring ride last weekend. 1300 miles of riding in 4 days. Much of it in twisties in the Adirondacks. These tires are awesome. Very surefooted. Love um!

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 8:48 pm

I had a set of AVON Cobras on my Wing and loved how they stuck like glue and were great in the rain, however with less than 5K on them the entire left side of both front and back wore almost bald. Shocked

The right side still measured brand new! The crown on my roads are not that bad and no one could figure out why.

Avon sent me a new set of Venoms at zero charge to me, (except I had to pay to have them re-mounted and new Dyna beads added), first ride down the road the front tire felt like I was riding on rough gravel, not like slipping, but the nasty vibration up through the bars. It was really bad, even the guy who did the tires thought it felt like crap.

Contacted AVON again and they said they would send me a new front tire again, but it would take some time because they were moving there warehouse. I said to hell with them and got a new set of Bridgestones for half price. Vibration was gone.

I've been hearing a lot of complaints on the Cobras/Venoms with the Wing and HD crowd. Hopefully their problems are only with those model tires.

Good luck and keep an eye on those AVONS!

Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 9:47 pm

I am thinking of trying the Avon AM26 bias ply in a 120-70-18 for the front and a 150-70-17 for the rear. ('83 11F)
Anyone have any experience with this combo?

TIA, Dave

Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 12:19 am

I think the 150 would be too big for a stock 1100F rim.
I used a 140 AV45 on my '83.