Avon Storm St's

[Guest ElementalG20]

Hello all, I've seen some pretty high praise for the Avon tires here, and thought I'd ask about them directly. I've considered the Pilot Power, BT0210's, M3's, Conti Road Attacks and these. I've got dunlop D208's now and dont especially care for them and the rear wore out really fast, and the front isnt that far behind. I'm wanting a tire that will inspire confidence in real world conditions, I dont drag my knees, nor do track days but I am a fairly aggressive rider needing a tire that will last a while if at all possible Looking for input on these, and also considering suggesting them to a friend of mine who rides an 04' Ducati S4R to replace his worn out Pilot Sport.

So, is the Avon for me, and has anyone bought anything from compacc.com as they have a great package price on the Avon's, why not replace em both and enjoy if the price is right

[enzed_viffer]

Feedback from TheLandOfTheLongWhiteCloud(AndRain) has it that the M3 is marginally better (but here it's also about 10-15% more expensive).

The only real negative I've heard about the Storms is that there can be problems getting them balanced correctly so you don't end up with headshake.

[ASU-VFR]

i was looking at getting the avons untill a nail forced me to get a new rear the i said i might as well get a set and no one had the avons in stock. i ended up with pilot powers because they had them in stock and on sale. personaly i couldn't be happier with the PPs around town i run them at 1 or 2 psi higher then recomended i think it helps with the wear issue then drop the psi when i hit the canyons and mountians

[Guest]

The Avon's having a balancing issue is a definite concern, likely not something that's a huge deal, but why not avoid with with all these good tires around Sounds like I'll be either an M3 man or join the Pilot Power club. Honestly, I've been itching to run some Pilot Powers mileage be damned and being a hair cheaper(even if not per mile) why not? $232.79 from bikebandit for a pair seems totally reasonable, compacc is slightly cheaper, but I've dealt with Bike Bandit before and have some amount of faith in them that is worth the extra $3 lol.

[ASU-VFR]

go for the powers and if you ::cough:: don't like them::cough:: you can always get the avons next time

[turtlecreek]

PPs and M3's are equal in my opinion. both hold wonderfully, both get bad mileage (3kish with lots of twistie riding) only difference is m3 is more neutral feel while PP tends to drop over much quicker. cant go wrong with either

[Chev]

I've had the Storms for about 5500 miles. They still ride as smooth as glass.

Dyna Beads

I used these Dynabeads and I will never put metal weights on a finely finished wheel again.

The tires are pretty exceptional. I need a new rear tire at about 5500 miles, but my setup and riding habbits make that pretty good. I was also commuting 100 miles a day on the tire absolutely straight for a good part of the summer. I'll be ordering a new rear since the front looks almost new still.

I have yet to have a scarey moment on the tires that were not caused by dirt on the road, and they are pretty confidence inspiring. They are not as quick to dive as a more sport oriented tire, since they have a fairly shallow curve, but I feel like they are pretty solid once cranked over.

I'm sure there is not a bad tire choice these days. I've liked these and will go through another rear before I try out the PR2ct or Stradas.

I would highly suggest the dynabeads, if you plan on keeping your tires for more than 2500 miles either way.

[fuldogg]

What are dynabeads ?

[snake]

:thumbsup:+1 for the storms after getting 3000miles out of my pp's with cupping in the front tire i dont think ill go back to anything but the storms.

[Guest Jonchilds]

I've been quite happy with the Storms on my '02.

Never managed to wear a set out due to nails and stuff, but they've stuck very well to date.

Can be a little scary until they've warmed up (3-5min), but in summer we get 45-50'c road surface temperatures, so they're plenty soft then.

But yeah, there's over 50g of weights on one tyre.

[Guest]

I replaced my Metzler Z6 Roadtecs with Avon Storms a few months ago. I was considering getting the Roadtec's again because I really liked them (I am not a knee dragger but I do like twisty roads) but the price of the Roadtecs have gone up considerably since I purchased the last set . So I thought I'd try the Storms which were more in line with what I payed for the Roadtecs ($235 shipped) and now, with about about 2K on the Storms, I am very pleased. I cannot tell the difference between the two. I also used the Dynabeads for balancing.

Hoping the Storms last as long as the Roadtecs (about 8K).

Bill

[Guest]

I ran the Storms for about 5k miles this spring. I thought they were great for just about every riding situation I find myself in. BUT, there have been some quality issues. The first front I bought I had to return almost immediately. It developed a warp for no apparent reason in less than 100 miles. When we removed the tire, there was a spot about 2 inches across where the rubber was noticeably different in appearance, texture, density, etc. This was not from a front end lock-up and seemed to run fairly deep into the rubber. It was returned as a defect and I got a replacement without issue. Subsequent conversations with riding partners who work/own dealerships and shops have revealed that for some reason there are an inordinate amount of quality issues with Avon tires across the board. One shop manager, who is not prone to exaggeration, commented that they have returned more Avons than all other brands combined. If you can get a quality set, they are great. But I'm starting to think Avon has some manufacturing problems. I've asked about feedback from the company, haven't heard anything negative as far as service, but the trend is to just stay away. There is no doubt that thousands of Avon tires are perfectly fine and make a lot of riders happy (even me), but I won't be going back to them.

[Guest]

I have not had the first problem with my Storms. Nor were there any balancing problems (this thread is the first time I've heard of anything like that). They are plenty sticky as I regularly run off and leave both of my brothers on their RC51 and ZX10R through the twisties on 116, 129, and other places, here in east TN... I also have a few thousand miles on them and haven't really noticed much wear at all. We rode from Knoxville TN down to Bike Week this year and they were great! I had PP on my last bike and really liked them, but for the kind of riding it sounds like you'll be doing, I couldn't recommend a better tire than the Avon Storms. That's my experience and my $.02... Good luck.

[RolandHTG]

I replaced my Storm rear at 6000, it should have been replaced at 5500 but I was on a trip. I am disappointed in that I expected more mileage than the ols Azaros but got less. Other than the mileage disappointment it was a great ST tire.

I just orderd a Bridgestone 021 to replace it.

[Jon28]

My friend swears by the Storms. He had pilot roads before. I haven't tried them yet. I will say the M3 is a great sticky tire. I will most likely end up with Diablo Stradas again. They are fantastic tires for all weather conditions and get good mileage unlike my M3. As somone else said it's hard to go wrong with today's tires.

[spud786]

As far as Sport touring tires, that last Magazine test pretty much summed it up, the Z6's and pilot road 2's take your pick, everything else is second rate.

[Bent]

If you ride moderately aggressive, Storms are a good tire IMHO. I have a set on my 1999 with about a thousand miles on them and they have NO balance problems, have had everything from leisurely cruising to hard cornering done on them. At a thousand miles, for me, they're wearing pretty good. If you only ride moderately aggressive, I think you'd be disappointed with the life of an M3 or PPower.

I have M3's on my snob bike and they do grip great and turn in very well like Turtlecreek said. They're a very predictable tire. They also have about a thousand miles on them but I don't see them lasting as long as the Avons. They also have 64 more HP going to them at times so that might have something to do with it.... :unsure:

The Storms won't turn in as well as a more sporty tire. It takes a little more effort to corner them hard but, depending on what you want, that's not always a bad thing. I'm into trying different tires because I feel fortunate to get 3000 miles out of any tire. FWIW.

[enzed_viffer]

If you ride moderately aggressive, Storms are a good tire IMHO. I have a set on my 1999 with about a thousand miles on them and they have NO balance problems, have had everything from leisurely cruising to hard cornering done on them. At a thousand miles, for me, they're wearing pretty good.

That's good to know.

In the past, I've counted myself lucky to get a year to 18 months from a set of tires. The VFR currently has an AV49-SP (the forerunner of the Storm front) and an AV46-SP (the Azaro sport-touring tire). They've been on the bike about 2 years, and the front one is just about done, especially on the RH side. The rear still has plenty of tread left, and has worn better than any tire I've ever had on any bike, with the exception of the Avon I had on my VF500, which was still on the bike when I sold it, 4 years after it was fitted. However, unlike that tire, the current Azaro has never had any problems with grip apart from when it was contaminated with a wheel cleaner containing silicone, which made it spin up in the wet. However, I never felt confident enough in the feel of the bike to get rid of the 'chicken strips'. While I'm sure a track day, or ride day on twisty roads would've had me pushing the bike to the very edges, I still have around 1/8 to 1/4" of virgin rubber at the edges of the rear tire. To be fair, I don't think this is a comment on the feel and handling of the Avons so much as to do with my own overactive imagination and the way the bike is set up. Hopefully, the new Elka shock, some new front springs and some judicious fettling will give me more trust. :unsure:

Regardless of all this, I'm pretty sure I'll get Storms next, as if nothing else, my 'tire guy' gives me a 1000km "if you don't like 'em, I'll fit whatever else you like at no cost" test period, and free puncture repairs for the life of the tires (used three times so far, on three different bikes and sets of Avons).

Plus they're about 10-15% cheaper than M3s.

[spud786]

dyna beads are something I havent tried, they are tiny ceramic balls that supposidly rid the need for mechanical balance or any in between balance after tire wear.

Not many seemed to have tried them, which makes me suspect, its important to pay attention to the Herd.

Come on guys try the DYNO Beads and let me know?

[Chev]

Come on guys try the DYNO Beads and let me know?

I'll vouge for them. 5500 miles, no cupping, smooth ride, and no weights. If you search Dynabeads......

Linky

Linky2

I'm still trying to mill it over with my fellow students on how they work, but I think they do.

[wgnorman]

i did the unimaginable and put storms on my gsxr a bit ago. 2000 miles and the rear shows almost no center wear. the grip is excellent. they are awesome in the florida deluges we always get. they have never slipped on me wet or dry and handles the Hp the 1000 puts out with zero issue

Another GSXR thread hijack on the VFRD :thumbsup: ....Glad to hear this - I bought a set of Storms for my FZ1, but on closer inspection, the FZ1 OEM Pilot Roads are still good at about 5K so tomorrow, I'm putting the Storms on my GSXR1000 since I noticed the Bridgestone OEMS are about gone at 2.3K....

If they work well on the GSXR, I'll get two more sets - a set for the FZ1 and a set for the C14 - surprisingly, everyone also wears the same size shoes 120/70-17; 190/50-17

[Bent]

i did the unimaginable and put storms on my gsxr a bit ago. 2000 miles and the rear shows almost no center wear. the grip is excellent. they are awesome in the florida deluges we always get. they have never slipped on me wet or dry and handles the Hp the 1000 puts out with zero issue

WOW...now that is impressive. Hope mine hold up like that. They do seem to grip very well. :thumbsup:

[Guest]

I've gotta say I feel like I'm back at square one lol. Sounds as if the Storm is a good tire, but so are the Z6's and Diablo Strada (similar tires I gather). The pilot powers are sort of a tire I lust for but I dont think I can justify the mileage they provide even being priced pretty well, baby on the way and 3.5k vs 6k could make the difference of riding or not riding

I guess I'm seriously considering 3 tires right now, Diablo Strada, Bridgestone BT021, Avon Storm ST. The Z6 but the Pirelli seems to be very very similiar and slightly cheaper so I figure what the heck, I'll cross that one off the list. I've found this thus far for pricing.

Avon Storm ST set $225.99 shipped (compacc.com)

Bridgestone BT021's $221.90 Shipped (swmoto)

Pirelli Strada's, $233 shipped. (motorcycle-superstore.com)

[Bent]

I've gotta say I feel like I'm back at square one lol. Sounds as if the Storm is a good tire, but so are the Z6's and Diablo Strada (similar tires I gather). The pilot powers are sort of a tire I lust for but I dont think I can justify the mileage they provide even being priced pretty well, baby on the way and 3.5k vs 6k could make the difference of riding or not riding

I guess I'm seriously considering 3 tires right now, Diablo Strada, Bridgestone BT021, Avon Storm ST. The Z6 but the Pirelli seems to be very very similiar and slightly cheaper so I figure what the heck, I'll cross that one off the list. I've found this thus far for pricing.

Avon Storm ST set $225.99 shipped (compacc.com)

Bridgestone BT021's $221.90 Shipped (swmoto)

Pirelli Strada's, $233 shipped. (motorcycle-superstore.com)

IMHO...avoid Z6's. They cup badly in the front, and wear in a three sided fashion in the rear. They're also way to easy to spin when putting power to the rear in the twisties. To me, they're an accident waiting to happen when riding aggressively...same with PRoads... :goofy:

[Guest]

Wow, a strong opinion against the Z6's. Now my concern is how similar are the Z6 and Diablo Strada.......perhaps they should both be avoided? Well, being there are still choices left(BT021's and the Avon Storms perhaps I should stick with one of those two? Seems as if the Storm barring any QC issues is a tire I'd really like, good mileage and grip/performance. Suppose I'll read around a lil' more about the BT021's and go from there.