Tyres

I use 100/90 on front and back. Rotated last season and this season just replacing the back. Getting my bike to turn a little easier seems a bit redundant and I really doubt I would notice. I think that these bike, even when they're handling averagely, are better than most.

I've been hearing complaints about Avon's tire compounds lately. This is mostly from the adventure touring bunch. They are claiming that the Avon rubber is cracking /weather checking within about 2 years. Anyone else hearing of premature rubber fatigue, or is this just in the adventure tourer/dual sport camp?

B

The Avons on my Combat are at least 2 years old, they look great so far. No problems with cracking.

When I brought my 74 Commando new it came with K81s 410 both front and back, these were British made tyres and has soft compounds they handled pretty good and stuck like glue but the wear factor wasn't good about 6,000 miles if you were lucky on the rear and doubled that on the front, the next set of tyres I ran with the 410 on the back and 360 on the front and notice a big diffrents with the way the bike steered better into the corners, after a few years of riding it was harder to get the British made K81s here in Aussie land, you could still get the K81s but were made in Spain and other countries but they were a harder compound, got a bit better milage out of them but they didn't grip as good as the British made K81s, the ones made in Japan were also good for grip, I ran the K81s for over 30 years but since changing to the Avon RR the Norton is gripping the road pretty good (hot 850 in a Featherbed frame) and have pushed them right to the edge without any lost of grip, they handle great in the wet and pretty good milage out of them, better that the K81s, I have also run the Avons RR on my Triumph Thruxton which has a lot of suspension upgrades to the front and rear end and also push it to the edge of the tyres.

Ashley

pantah_good said:

I'm also pondering tire choice for 19's at both ends. It would be easy to go with the Avon's if they only made a dedicated 19" rear. Complaints about poor mileage with the "universal" at the back end is putting me off. I'm really leaning toward a set of the ContiClassic Attack's. Has anyone tried them yet? They do have a rather modern look, but that's ok if they work good.
Bill

Click to expand...

That is true Bill. The Universal has 5.6mm tread depth against the 7.5mm of a dedicated rear. That's approx. 25% less depth... so 25% less mileage...

Any problems with Avon Roadriders with heavy steering etc. are purely caused by having rims that are too narrow. They are designed for 2.5 " rims. I run 2.5" x 19" both ends and they track beautifully. The only issue is with wear, but, let's face it, they are not expensive. Mine definitely get nowhere near two years old!