Avon

Established in 1904, Avon is owned by the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company.

Having sustained an irreparable puncture on the rear Bridgestone, I decided to replace the tyres on the ST1100 with Avons. I was pleasantly surprised when the dealer told me about their "Road Hazard Warranty", which provides a free replacement tyre in the event of a puncture or irreparable damage being sustained within the first millimetre of tread wear.

Here's a summary of mileage travelled:

Rear Tyre: (160/70 R17)

Front Tyre: (110/80 R18)

I really liked the Avons. Apart from the longevity, they provided excellent grip and braking ability in both the wet and dry. I can testify to their wet-handling ability through the following incident:

On the way home from work one evening, I became aware of a Porsche Cayenne tailgating me. I was in the left lane and the right lane was free, so there was plenty of room for him to get past. The speed limit on this particular stretch of road was 40mph, and that was the speed I was doing.

After a mile or so of this, I was debating on whether to speed up and lose him, or change into the right-hand lane. At this point the road approached an overpass. The road itself was straight, but sloping from right to left. There were normally puddles of water in the right lane, as the inadequate road drainage couldn't cope. And as it had been raining fairly heavily, sheets of water were flowing down the hill and gathering in a pool at the bottom.

Right at the start of the overpass, the Porsche decided to overtake. He pulled alongside and got ahead, then suddenly slowed. At this point I was concentrating more on what he was doing than the road ahead, and before I had time to question why he had slowed down, I discovered that the puddles were no longer just in the right-hand lane but extending across the entire road, well over a foot deep.

The "bow wave" from the front wheel was spectacular. In almost slow motion, the water arced gracefully away on both sides, reaching an estimated height of over 6 feet. I was paying more attention to the right-hand side, as the fountain was covering the bonnet and windscreen of the rapidly-slowing Porsche.

Possibly due to the narrow width of the motorcycle tyre, no aquaplaning occurred. The length of the puddle was also fortunately not too great; by the time I'd considered slowing down, I was through it. And although I was wearing waterproof boots, my feet did get wet.

I'll admit I was fortunate that I hit the puddle straight and upright, and did not change speed or direction whilst doing so. I certainly wouldn't want to do it again. The nice thing was when I checked my mirrors at the top of the overpass the Porsche had dropped back some considerable distance.

This incident was probably the cause of the electrical problem that I experienced shortly afterwards.

The Storm-2 Ultra has now replaced the Storm-ST. The footprint changes size and shape depending on the bike's lean angle. This means you get high grip through the corners, yet in a straight line have a footprint which increases the Storm-2 Ultra's lifespan.

Unfortunately there have been several poor reviews of the Storm-2 Ultra regarding handling - see below. I have now replaced the Avon Storm-STs with Metzeler Roadtec Z6.

Visitor comments

Avon Storm ST2 Ultra

by Murray
(Scotland)

How on earth did you manage to get those miles from a rear am lucky if i get 6,000 miles from an st2 ultra!

Rob, Feb 27, 2012

I suspect it depends on the road surface you're riding on. I was mainly commuting on motorways when I got that mileage.

Avon tyres have good grip and handling, but...

by Ali Finlay
(Scottish Borders, UK)

I have fitted a pair of Avon Storm Ultras and found the grip is exceptional and inspires confidence.
The only drawback is that I now have a low to medium speed head shake which only appeared the minute I started to ride with them fitted. The other down side is the road noise from the front end has increased considerably, so much so that I now have to wear ear plugs.
The bike was fitted with Metzeler Lazer tec with no head shake, so it can only be the tyres.
Disappointed about the noise and head shake issues, but good other than that.

Rob, Oct 2, 2010

If something's good, why change it?

It's not the first time I've heard of this. Others have now also reported a headshake issue. Why oh why do companies insist on changing things in the name of progress?
The Storm ST was a great tyre; I never experienced any headshake, and the longevity is great. I think a letter to Avon is required...

Fitted to Honda NTV650

by Alan
(Slough)

I now have a ST1100 - replacing a 110,000 mile old trusty Honda NTV650. I am looking for advice/recommendations from other riders.
I used Bridgestone Battleaxe tyres on the NTV650 with reasonable life span and good grip, wet or dry. I used to use Dunlop and Avon frequently in the 70s/80s on various bikes with normal (for those days) performance.
I decided to buy a pair of Avons for the NTV650.
These were correctly and professionally fitted and balanced. I rode to work for a couple of days to scuff them in a little before using the bike "normally". I could not believe how inferior the grip was compared to the Bridgestone tyres.
On a familiar road in damp conditions I ended up completely sideways on a roundabout that I had ridden dozens of times - often faster - without any mishap. The small slips and slides I felt after fitting them insired no confidence at all and I was never at ease with these tyres on that bike.
Maybe they didnt "work" for that model - I know some machines only perform decently with certain tyres; a BMW boxer I had was great on OE Metzelers but horror stories put me off trying others.
But I digress.
I see that the Avon tyres get good reports for the ST1100 on here. Can any riders confirm this - or should I try BT23 Bridgestone to replace the BT21 that are currently on the bike?
Ride safe. Alan

Ian McF, Jan 29, 2011

Avon Storm:
I have Avon Storm fitted F&R to my faithful Pan and they're great. I originally wanted Bridgestone because (ironically!) that's what I had fitted to my NTV.
I think I can appreciate your concerns about the feeling of lack of grip, but this may be the weight and handling characterstics of the mighty Pan. Learn to trust her and acquire the new feel for handling, she's a lot more sure footed than people think, the scuff lines on my tyres are testimoney to this!
Could the state of the roads and the low temperatures be a factor too?

Alan, Feb 17, 2011

thanks Ian
Hello Ian- I think you may have mis-read my comment. My st1100 has bt21 tyres on it and I have only ridden it with them. The avons I had problems with were replacments on the ntv650. My Pan - up to yesterday - hasn't given any heart stopping moments, had 1st rear end step out yesterday cornering on white lines in damp on M4 sliproad at about 60mph. Guess Ive got 12-1500 miles left in them to make up my mind about replacments. Thank you for the comments though. I will take it on board. Quite a saving in cost too I believe.
P.S. With ref to tyre temperature etc, I had ridden approx 28-30 miles at over the limit speeds on the Fosse Way and this was the first roundabout I took at "normal" speed. Should have been warm enough and had done 300 plus miles since fitting -wasn't wet enough that I would normally adapt riding style - could have been petrol - didn't see any tell tale diesel spills. Take care. Alan

Not as good in the heat, possible quality issues

by JP Kalishek
(Alvarado, Texas, USA)

I have used the Storm II twice, They came on my first ST when I purchased it (1991 bought with 38,000 miles on it).
When the first set needed a redo (the front was older than the rear so a set was needed) I went with them again. I took my first long trip on them and on my return I was in a heat wave (Live in Texas, went to Michigan) and the life was far shorter in the heat (over 90F/32C). Also, several of the folks at ST-Owners have had issues with failures of the tires at speed. One failure caused a woman to ride out a locked rear wheel from 70mph until it finally tossed her down the median. All the failures I have heard of were in the summer and at higher temps.
I liked the handling while I had them, but if they had no failure issues, would still use something else during the summer.

Tyre swap from Z6s to Avon storm 2 results in front end wobble on ST1100

Anonymous

Hi I got a new storm ultra 2 on my 2002 none abs ST1100 two weeks ago and got a terrible head shake.
After returning to the garage they said it was probably due to the rear tyre Z6 was getting old and squaring off. Both tyres had done around 9,000 miles or so but I was hoping to get another 12 months from the rear as it looked ok and my bike had just passed the MOT when I had the front tyre replaced.
Anyway I really could not live with the head shake and got the garage to replace the rear tyre, unfortunately it did not solve the problem.
Anything over 30 mph if eased grip on the bars the head starts to shake especially when throttling off. I checked the internet and tried a few suggested fixes and mentioned the chances of a bad tyre to the garge who just laughed.
They rechecked the balance on the front tyre but made no difference. Unfortunately my old front tyre Z6 had been thrown. Anyway I called in again today as I am really not happy and things need to change with regards to the tyre.
My mechanic has contacted his supplier and other tyres have been replaced but Avon UK are being a bit vague on responsibility but the supplier is sending me a new tyre sometime in the next 7 days and the garage and supplier and Avon can sort out liabilty amongst themselves.
So for me hopefully all will be well. I did e-mail Avon uk but they were totally non-committal and just said return to the supplier and tell them about your problem but they would not comment.

Fred, Mar 15, 2012

I think Avon are losing customers by pretending there isn't an issue with the Storm 2 Ultra.
Perhaps you could find some Avon Azaro online somewhere - they had great longevity and didn't have any wobble issues reported.
From what I've read I would certainly think twice before fitting the Storm 2 Ultra.

steve c, Mar 16, 2012

st1100 avon storm tyres:
be careful what tyres you put on your st1100. i have a st1300 pan and have heard similar stories about the same issues. stick to the tyres Honda reccomend for your bike, as the st 1100 and 1300 are heavy bikes and need tyres specialy made for them. supension set up can be quite critical as well refer to your hand book. or visit www.stownersclub.com.
hope you get it sorted as when properly set up the st is one of the best handling bikes you can get

Ali Finlay, Mar 16, 2012

Re Tyre swap Z6 to Avon Storm 2:
I had the same issue with the Storm 2, they are not good on the Pan, the Z6 is about the best I have tried. I have had BT023 and these were good as well. Dunlop Road Smart II will be available soon for the Pan, I am going to try them next.

gaskinsrus, Apr 2, 2012

st1100 z6 front tyre swap to avon storm s2:
Hi I had the same issue, all well with the z6 but terrible head shake with the storms. Tried two Avon tyre with same result. Had steering bearings and wheel balance double checked and recent MOT. That's why I swapped the tyre. Just had new steering head tapered bearings fitted and the forks serviced.. now my bike has no wobble at any speed. This was just a hope shot before changing the tyre back to a z6. All I can think of is the avonss are sensitive to head bearings etc. I was ready tovswap the bike as I believe z6 tyre are being phased out on a 110 rim size. Two techs said a wobble was ok and the head bearings were fine. At least the problem is now sorted. Hope this helps any other frustrated pan owners with a wobble, especially the none abs riders with the narrower front tyre. All the best

Do you have any comments regarding Avon tyres?