Anyone Have Any Experience With Avon?

[downhillhunter]

I think we're going to order a couple of new tires for our K75:

Both are by Avon

AM52 HKM 130/70 17
and
AM20 Road Runner 90/90 18

Does anyone have any experience with these tires or with Avon in general?

Thanks,


Downhill Hunter

[kurt1305]

I put Avon 45/46 on my Bandit and was very impressed. They had more grip than I had nerves, handled well in the rain, and lasted longer than the Pilot Road's they replaced. At 530 lbs and 130hp, the Bandit was rough on tires. What I like most about them was the rounded profile. They turned in smoothly unlike some of the triangular profile tires I had used previously.

[MEWAYBRIGHT]

I think we're going to order a couple of new tires for our K75:

Both are by Avon

AM52 HKM 130/70 17
and
AM20 Road Runner 90/90 18

Does anyone have any experience with these tires or with Avon in general?

Thanks,


Downhill Hunter

I had the road runners on my K100RT once upon a time and would still run them except I sold the bike and couldn't find them last time I needed tyres. I currently run AVONs on my R12RT and love them. I like the longevity and traction. Smooth running well handling tyres, well worth the money spent.

Mike :thumb

[GSTom]

I am a big Avon tire (more correctly TYRE) fan
I used Avon Roadrunner tires for years on my old Harley. I use Avon Distanzias on my R100GS. My son runs Avon Azaro STs on his Ducati ST2.
I have a pair on Avon Roadrunners on my /5 project bike. I have a pair of Dunlop 491s on my K bike, and will be looking at a set of Avons if I can ever wear the Dunlops out. The Dunlops wear like iron, but don't give me a feeling of confidence when cornering briskly.

[jwhite518]

I switched to AV45/46 on my R11RS a couple years ago. Can't beat the grip or mileage compared to similar tires. I was tired of getting 6-8k out of Metzelers and Dunlops. Now I get 10-12k with no reduction in performance. Love 'em!

[eric2]

I ran a couple sets of the 45/46 on my k12rs and it seemed like it lost 100 lbs
after the switch. I've also run the d/s distanzias on my r12gs and get great mileage out of them too.

[stealthrider]

I had Avon’s on both my ST1100 & Valkyrie and loved them.. As stated by everyone else in this post, great handling and longevity.. I’ll be putting them on my R1200RT when I need new tires.

[rlswim]

I am frustrated with the lack of tire selections for our old K's. I am not a tire size expert. Can anyone out there tell me (or others) how the sizes that downhillhunter had in his message relates to the original sizes of 100/90 18 and 130/90 17?

Thanks in advance.

[jwhite518]

I am frustrated with the lack of tire selections for our old K's. I am not a tire size expert. Can anyone out there tell me (or others) how the sizes that downhillhunter had in his message relates to the original sizes of 100/90 18 and 130/90 17?

Thanks in advance.

Let's see if I can get this right.

Tire size A/B C

A = the width of the tire in millimeters
B = the ratio of sidewall height to width as a percentage. The higher the number, the "taller" the tire.
C = the diameter of the wheel in inches

100/90 18 means the wheel is 18", the tire is 100mm wide, and the sidewall is 90% of 100, or 90mm.

When choosing tires for your bike, if deciding to go away from stock size, you can only play with A and B. C is a fixed number. You can only play with A if there's clearance in your fork/swingarm and the other fixed parts of the bike. Usually people like to go wider for a bigger contact patch. You can also play with B, that will affect the way it feels when steering. I personally stick with stock sizes.

[rlswim]

Jerry, thanks for the explanation. I too would rather stay with the stock sizes trusting that the engineers had it all together when they designed it. As a change from my stock Metzlers, I think I am going to try some Pirelli Sport Demons next. I would try some Avons if they had the K75 stock sizes available as I have heard some good things about their tires.

[downhillhunter]

Thanks for the vote of extreme confidence in the Avon Tyres, guys!

Frankly, I didn't expect that large of a positive response!

I am going to order the Avons, if I can find the sizes that I want.

Both tires will have a shorter sidewall, which will lower the seat height and
I expect, change other things as well.

Will it work out okay?? I don't know, but I'm willing to give it a try and see what the results are.

We need to lower the bike as much as possible for my wife.

I'll let you know the results.

Thanks,


Downhill Hunter

[GSTom]

I am going to order the Avons, if I can find the sizes that I want.
I'll let you know the results. Thanks, Downhill Hunter

Keep us posted. I would like to switch to Avons for my K and am extremely interested in how this works out for you.