Available tires

I just purchased an Avon Roadrider II 400-18 on eBay
 
concours said:
I like the idea.
Still searching for a replacement for the Avon Road Rider.
Ordered up two BT46's last night.
Be careful, a 100% price delta between the highest & lowest vendors. 🤡
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Are you unhappy with the Avon tire ?
 
Also, other than the Dunlop K81s, I can't see that any of the above are available in a Universal or rear in 100/90/19. The K81s seem like a backward step from the Avon Roadriders.
 
YING said:
Brian,
I dread changing my tires as they have always been a PITA. I went and got a Harbor Freight unit and then all the upgrades that are available for the unit.The only thing that worked well was the bead breaker. I ended up using my spoons on the floor.My Boranni WM-4 rims have a safety bead and I don’t know if that is my problem but I am seriously considering going to a shop to have my new tires installed as the rims are too pretty to disfigure.
Mike
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Sorry to hear that Mike.
I've done 9 tires now on the HF manual changer and it was going OK, then I hit one that was impossible.
This was for the Thruxton R. The tire changer worked great on the big back tire, a 160/17. Those are very tough to do with spoons.
It also worked fine to dismount the front 120/17.
The new front pushed on first side by hand ,but then I could not get the second bead on with the special bar, not even close.
After an hour of struggle I gave up and took the wheel to a friend's shop.
He has a very expensive, purpose built, Italian power tire changer with foot pedal control. It came from a Motorcycle shop.
I stayed back as I assumed he would pop the tire on in a few seconds with the power rig.
Half an hour later he was bathed in sweat and still fighting to get the tire on.
The amount of stretch needed to get the bead over the rim edge was ridiculous!
He had various tools for holding the bead, yellow thing etc, but none worked.
As the machine arm went around the bead went on at the arm while it kept slipping off about 180 degrees away.
Finally I helped and with four hands holding firm the arm forced the tire bead over the rim edge with a bang.
This was a Pirelli tire.
I've not had any great difficulty fitting the Avon RRs with the manual changer.

Glen
 
Deets55 said:
Feked in the UK still has Avon Roadriders, I had a set delivered to N.J. in under a week. AN shows them on their web site, but I don't know their availability.

This looks like a great tire machine if you want to spend the $:
us.rabaconda.com

Rabaconda Street Bike Tire Changer

Regularly switching between street tires and slicks? Fed up with regular trips to the dealership? Rabaconda Street Bike Tire Changer (Patent Pending) is the answer to your prayers: with this nifty tool, you’ll be able to throw on a fresh set of tires faster than it takes to get to the nearest...
us.rabaconda.com us.rabaconda.com

I use the HF bead breaker to break the tire off the rim and Shorty composite tire spoons (which I believe are not available any more) to dis-mount and mount the tires. I also use an old Ford F-250 deep rim with a moving blanket placed on top to hold the rim while installing the tire.
Click to expand...
+1 on using anything to raise and maybe secure the wheel, that makes tire changing waaaay easier especially if you are not a kid anymore. I made the crude fixture below and clamp it in my Jawhorse, also FWIW use zip ties when mounting tube type tires, it is nearly impossible to pinch a tube that way.

Available tires
 
gortnipper said:
I always get a professional to mount my tires. That way they fix the pinch flats for free.
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Me too!

It’s one of the jobs I stopped trying to master years ago. It was costing me too much in band aids and puncture patches !

I still check my own wheels for balance, and sadly I regularly need to re balance after the ‘professionals’ have done it…
 
I found that copious amounts of tyre lube is the answer. And it does help to use zips. In over 50 years of biking the only time I have admitted defeat and called in the pros was a 4.00-18 Avon Speedmaster. Sidewalls of Granite.
 
Onder said:
4.00-18 Avon Speedmaster. Sidewalls of Granite.
Click to expand...
Mine was also square profile with a chamfered corner, fine when upright but no grip if leant over, rapidly changed to an Avon Roadrunner which had not long been introduced.
 
Onder said:
I found that copious amounts of tyre lube is the answer. And it does help to use zips. In over 50 years of biking the only time I have admitted defeat and called in the pros was a 4.00-18 Avon Speedmaster. Sidewalls of Granite.
Click to expand...
Dave Degans tried to teach me. He was a master at it because of endurance racing.

Watching him do it, so easily, and then removing the skin from my knuckles in my attempts was, well, not very motivating. In fact, in the parlance of today, it was not good for my mental health ;). But I just couldn’t get the knack.

Now I think I should have persevered, but I didn’t (guess I could say that about quite a few things really) !
 
I learned the tyre changing 'knack' when I was cycle racing - if you didn't fix your puncture quickly on training rides, the other guys would be very quick to complain!

It's all about getting the bead of the tyre to sit in the well of the rim, and at the opposite side to the valve. I've heard some guys use cargo straps or zip ties to hold the tyre in place, but I've managed without - just.
Having three hands helps too...

That said, I'm fortunate to live close enough to a very experienced tyre supplier who always has stock, is super competitive on price and fits to loose wheels while you wait, not to mention they're always in perfect balance -SMD Tyres in Leigh, Lancashire
 
worntorn said:
Sorry to hear that Mike.
I've done 9 tires now on the HF manual changer and it was going OK, then I hit one that was impossible.
This was for the Thruxton R. The tire changer worked great on the big back tire, a 160/17. Those are very tough to do with spoons.
It also worked fine to dismount the front 120/17.
The new front pushed on first side by hand ,but then I could not get the second bead on with the special bar, not even close.
After an hour of struggle I gave up and took the wheel to a friend's shop.
He has a very expensive, purpose built, Italian power tire changer with foot pedal control. It came from a Motorcycle shop.
I stayed back as I assumed he would pop the tire on in a few seconds with the power rig.
Half an hour later he was bathed in sweat and still fighting to get the tire on.
The amount of stretch needed to get the bead over the rim edge was ridiculous!
He had various tools for holding the bead, yellow thing etc, but none worked.
As the machine arm went around the bead went on at the arm while it kept slipping off about 180 degrees away.
Finally I helped and with four hands holding firm the arm forced the tire bead over the rim edge with a bang.
This was a Pirelli tire.
I've not had any great difficulty fitting the Avon RRs with the manual changer.

Glen
Click to expand...
Glen,
I watched all the YouTube videos on using my setup and put the tire in the house over the heater vent for a few days,etc.Used some proper tire lube and still had to use spoons to get the final bead over the rim. I have no idea what I am missing.The “yellow thing “was useless as it doesn’t fit with shouldered rims. I called the guy at No-Mar and he told me that he takes his own tires to a shop with a good machine when he has wheels with the shouldered rims that he doesn’t want beat up. I finally got the tire on and then static balanced it and it didn’t need much weights.Now after 3,000 miles, I have a bald area and tread on the rest.Not where the weights were. I never noticed this until I couldn’t understand until it was time for a new tire.Air pressure checked before every ride and no feeling of hopping when running at high speeds.Any thoughts on this?
Thanks,Mike
 
worntorn said:
Also, other than the Dunlop K81s, I can't see that any of the above are available in a Universal or rear in 100/90/19. The K81s seem like a backward step from the Avon Roadriders.
Click to expand...
You might find Avons at Walridge Motors Ontario , Canada .. I just had an email from Mike and although i did not ask him outright if he had any in stock , he did say that he did not foresee issues with availability at the moment .
 
YING said:
Glen,
I watched all the YouTube videos on using my setup and put the tire in the house over the heater vent for a few days,etc.Used some proper tire lube and still had to use spoons to get the final bead over the rim. I have no idea what I am missing.The “yellow thing “was useless as it doesn’t fit with shouldered rims. I called the guy at No-Mar and he told me that he takes his own tires to a shop with a good machine when he has wheels with the shouldered rims that he doesn’t want beat up. I finally got the tire on and then static balanced it and it didn’t need much weights.Now after 3,000 miles, I have a bald area and tread on the rest.Not where the weights were. I never noticed this until I couldn’t understand until it was time for a new tire.Air pressure checked before every ride and no feeling of hopping when running at high speeds.Any thoughts on this?
Thanks,Mike
Click to expand...
That sounds like a flaw in the tire . Avons aren't always perfect. A few years ago they made a batch or two of Roadriders that just fell apart at very low mileage.

Glen
 
Fast Eddie said:
Dave Degans tried to teach me. He was a master at it because of endurance racing.

Watching him do it, so easily, and then removing the skin from my knuckles in my attempts was, well, not very motivating. In fact, in the parlance of today, it was not good for my mental health ;). But I just couldn’t get the knack.

Now I think I should have persevered, but I didn’t (guess I could say that about quite a few things really) !
Click to expand...
For a long time I did all of my tire changes. It wasn't too difficult just using spoons on the old bikes with their narrow tires.
When I got the Daytona I tried changing the 190 on the back but that wasn't happening with just tire spoons. I had them done at the tire dealer. It was so easy and civilized that I started having the dealer do all of the changes. That was starting to get a bit expensive but the capper was when they changed tires on the Daytona and managed to get some of the super slippery gel tire balancer onto the tire. I didn't notice this until I turned out in front of an oncoming car and gave it about 1/4 throttle to quickly get up to speed.
Next thing I knew the bike was gone and I was running down the road at 50 mph. That went OK for about 1 and a half steps.
The bike had a smashed fairing and I had a bit of bruising.
That's when I bought the same type of tire changer that Mike has.

Glen
 
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