Avon - The love affair is over!

[KoroJ]

I’ve done my dash with Avon tyres, after wanting to use nothing but Storms on the ST, but ever since using the Storm 2 Ultras, I’ve had 3 rears and all failed miserably.

The 1st at 5,000Km... http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/en...1942-Bugger-It! (30/1/11)

The 2nd at 8000Km... http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/en...-the-Truckload! (2/5/11)

And the last in dramatic fashion at 7000Km... http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/en...h-a-Big-Finger!! (10/10/11) With the results pictured below.

Needless to say, I was pretty slutted and couldn’t understand why this only seemed to be happening to me, but fortunately a troll through the ST-Owners forum revealed this seems to be a problem with ST’s... http://www.st-owners.com/forums/show...affair-is-over

The worst part about this seems to be that Mr Avon won’t accept or recognise there is a problem and after the 2nd one went, I wrote the attached pdf report and gave it to my repairers to pass on, but got no response. Well, as per the ST Forum, for me the love affair is over. It’s always been a problem getting Stock of the Storm tyres, with big gaps in availability...and now this! You can piss off Mr Avon!!

[Kickaha]

From the photos it looks like an impact fracture, have any others had the same type of failure or is it mainly punctures?

Is that rust on the steel belts? that could be another reason for the failure but there would have to be a cut or hole to allow water in

[Hopeful Bastard]

As they say in restaurant business.... 1 good review, 10 people know. 1 bad review, 100 people know..

Thanks for your links!

[AllanB]

Don't want to sound rude, but if you had 2 tyres fail of the same brand why put a third on?

[Hopeful Bastard]

Don't want to sound rude, but if you had 2 tyres fail of the same brand why put a third on?

Like paper scissors rock..



Best outta 3??

[KoroJ]

From the photos it looks like an impact fracture, have any others had the same type of failure or is it mainly punctures?

Is that rust on the steel belts? that could be another reason for the failure but there would have to be a cut or hole to allow water in

Yes it is rust, which was noted within 24hrs of the blow. Who know how or why, but it had to be there before the tyre blew. I don't believe the tyre was damaged before I started the 1300Km day or I wouldn't got that far before it did blow. I hit the train crossing at Mangaweka at about 100kph and that was about 20Km earlier??

Don't want to sound rude, but if you had 2 tyres fail of the same brand why put a third on?

Because I'd tried other tyres, been disatisfied with them and I'd had 5 Avon rears that were great, before the bad 3. Benefit of the doubt....dumb bastard....both I suppose! One doesn't expect and finds it hard to believe that an upgrade is a backward step. I still can't believe how a manufacturer can get it so wrong.

[tigertim20]

As they say in restaurant business.... 1 good review, 10 people know. 1 bad review, 100 people know..

Thanks for your links!

yep, never a truer word spoken!

[Owl]

You can piss off Mr Avon!!

Fair enough too!

I quite liked the original Storm ST, but found the 6500km lifespan relatively poor, especially when the PR2 would last me over 9000km.

[paturoa]

A friend from up norf runs Pilot Road 2s on his ST1300 and raves about them. We did a 15,500 km trip in oz earlier this year and it was right on the limit at the end, with no problems.

Edit: raves about the rears only, he has issues with the front cupping and wearing out before the rear.

[p.dath]

Wow those are pretty impressive tyre failures. They are definitely not suited for the purpose you need them for (maybe they are good for people just wanting to leave the bike in the garage!).

[ducatisl]

I’ve done my dash with Avon tyres, after wanting to use nothing but Storms on the ST, but ever since using the Storm 2 Ultras, I’ve had 3 rears and all failed miserably.

The 1st at 5,000Km... http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/en...1942-Bugger-It! (30/1/11)

The 2nd at 8000Km... http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/en...-the-Truckload! (2/5/11)

And the last in dramatic fashion at 7000Km... http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/en...h-a-Big-Finger!! (10/10/11) With the results pictured below.

Needless to say, I was pretty slutted and couldn’t understand why this only seemed to be happening to me, but fortunately a troll through the ST-Owners forum revealed this seems to be a problem with ST’s... http://www.st-owners.com/forums/show...affair-is-over

The worst part about this seems to be that Mr Avon won’t accept or recognise there is a problem and after the 2nd one went, I wrote the attached pdf report and gave it to my repairers to pass on, but got no response. Well, as per the ST Forum, for me the love affair is over. It’s always been a problem getting Stock of the Storm tyres, with big gaps in availability...and now this! You can piss off Mr Avon!!

firstly, who is mr Avon that you are refering too ? secondly , why do you think its a problem with the tyre? thirdly, I know of hundreds of happy punters that only have great comments to make about storm 2 ultras so it sounds to me like you need to stay away from sharp objects that would damage any brand of tyre!!

[KoroJ]

firstly, who is mr Avon that you are refering too ? secondly , why do you think its a problem with the tyre? thirdly, I know of hundreds of happy punters that only have great comments to make about storm 2 ultras so it sounds to me like you need to stay away from sharp objects that would damage any brand of tyre!!

!!...sigh!! Mr Avon can be whomever you want that has any responsibility at the 'Cooper Tire & Rubber Company' that make Avon Tyres, be it the CEO, Board, Shareholders or any of the decision making management.

I think it's the tyre because I have had three in a row fail, then find other ST riders are experiencing the same problem, whereby it appears the belts are collapsing and/or rupturing. It would seem the tyres are fine with ST1100's and other lighter bikes but they can't hack the loadings placed on them by ST1300's. The other side of this problem, is that Mr Avon doesn't appear to acknowledge or recognise there is a problem....and we can't still get the Storms, that were fine.

I am very sure there have been no sharp, blunt or other objects involved with the failure of my Storm 2 Ultras. It's the tyre that I need to stay away from.

[scracha]

firstly, who is mr Avon that you are refering too ? secondly , why do you think its a problem with the tyre? thirdly, I know of hundreds of happy punters that only have great comments to make about storm 2 ultras so it sounds to me like you need to stay away from sharp objects that would damage any brand of tyre!!

Sigh. Sounds to me like you need a lesson in customer relations and litigation. Blaming an end user for puncturing 3 tyres after such low mileage is just ridiculous. I'd be taking the feedback on board, investigating further and perhaps advising dealers that these tyres possibly have issues with ST13's (or ST13's have issues with these tyres ). You should be throwing the guy some heated grips instead of bloody flaming him.

[Kickaha]

Blaming an end user for puncturing 3 tyres after such low mileage is just ridiculous.

Punctures can happen at any stage in a tyres life, mileage is irrelevant

Although one study I read a decade or so ago reckoned something like 90% of punctures happened in the last 10% of the tyres life mainly due to less rubber as the tyre was worn down so stuff was able to penetrate the tyre easier

[cs363]

It would seem the tyres are fine with ST1100's and other lighter bikes but they can't hack the loadings placed on them by ST1300's.

I can't see why there would be any big difference in loadings on the tyre as there are only relatively minor differences in weight/power/torque etc., between an ST1100 & 1300 or is there something I'm missing in that regard?

Seems really weird that a specific brand/size of tyre would be prone to puncturing specifically on one model of bike for no apparent reason. Are you sure there's nothing else going on?