Keep an eye on the Avon RoadRiders tread seperation

Is there a bad Bavarian beer? A shame Feldkirchen is no more. Andechs is a nice stop.

chasbmw said:

worntorn said:

Re the earlier mention of weight ratings and overloads-
The only Avon Roadrider that is recommended for the standard Commando WM2 rear wheel is the Roadrider Universal 3.25x 19. It has a 54V rating. This means it is rated to carry 467 pounds. This will barely cover the weight of a 200or so pound solo rider let alone a passenger and gear. With passenger and gear on there is a gross overload to the rating. Whether it is an early Commando or a Mk 3 with an extra 20 pounds of starter and gear is of no consequence, two up, all Commandos will be overloaded at rear with the only approved Avon tire on there.
For this reason, and because my front rim is damaged, I ordered new wm3 rims for the Commando. Actually I ordered a WM 4 for the rear, to be safe, however a WM3 was sent as the WM4 flanged Akronts were weeks off. The WM3 x 18 allows fitment of an Avon Roadrider rear only 4.00 x 18, which is a big beast of a tire with a 64v rating and a 4 3/4" width, similar to a 1.20, which is intended for WM4 or wider rims.
So with our stock rims and following Avon's numbers, our bikes are all rated solo only (average sized North American or UK people)

Glen

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2x467= 934

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Yes 2 x 467 = 934 but this is of no consequence unless you run dual rear tires or carry your passenger on the handlebars.
Checking the loads on a scale, I learned some time ago that the bike loaded two up plus luggage carries about 650 lbs on the rear axle. Riders are (me) 260 lb with gear, passenger 170 lb with gear plus two 40 lb panniers.
The rear wheel unloaded carries about 235 lbs, however about 410 pounds of the 510 pound total load goes to the back wheel.
Glen

Getting PROPER warranty support for tires is all down to who you bought them from. Good distributors will always work with you to keep you buying tires from them regardless of the brand

After having a couple of crappy k81s I always used Roadrunners. Since this thread is about Avons.....
Way back I lived about 30 miles away from Bradford on Avon, where Avon (strange way to name your firm, after the local river!) had their factory. I had a 4.10 Roadrunner on the back that was getting a bit thin , certainly not up to a long ride. I checked around all the local dealers, no-one had a tyre. Since I was entered in a Rally in Belgium a few days away, I was keen to get a tyre, so I phoned up the Avon factory. Got through to a guy in the development department, explained my situation, he said that he would make me one! Very apologetically he said that he would have to charge me full retail, with which I had no problem. So on the appointed day I rocked up at the gate, and asked for Fred. Fred duly arrived with a nice shiny new tyre! On the way home I called in to my local dealer for some cables and bulbs, the salesman saw the tyre in its brown crepe paper, recognised it for what it was and said "Where did you get that, we can't get them!"
Can't argue with customer relations like that!
Back home fitted the tyre, did the Rally, got drunk, came home....a good couple of weeks!
cheers
wakeup

hobot said:

Alrighty if Bernard is correct then send em to me and I'll fix em up with shoe polish and run em to the cords.

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Only Burt Munroe could get away with that.

kerinorton Burk wasn't the first to use shoe polish and shave tires for higher speed ratings nor use up an old tire to cords as long as held air for some hours. Old tires ain't as safe nor puncture resistant as fresh but you'd have to be pulling some silly stuff beyond just flowing with traffic to run into trouble. If I didn't wear mine to cords it wouldn't be cost effective. There's only two times I ever kick up my heels on THE Evil Gravel, is first ride out on new tires to remove any molding release and last ride in on it last legs. Bald spots show where tire is most out of round. I'd forgot about this Avon fault thread and got about 1000 miles on Peel on last version Roadriders in 120 rear and 110 front but was in full winter + wind screens after an over rev event cut down power so never got to really heat press em before decided to bury about everything really Norton on Peel. I used em up on Trixie and liked em a lot better than the old hard tires that mostly tended to onset hinging easier but did allow some more secure rear skip out spins in special spots. I put a front 100 on WM2x19 rim, still on '72 Trixie but lost distinct brake grip and mileage so I'm done with that combo & back to 110 next time and likely a Bridgestone. I like the slightly rounder profile as sort of feels like ya never get to the edge before fouling noises heard.