So who's right here then..??

[bugjuice]

Got me some fresh rubber at last, and not with out mental and financial debate. I think I've got the right choice here, the new rubber 'kin rocks.. sticky as hell. LB can back me there (I think) from his gixer.

So last weekend saw the first ride I did on the new Avons, and they feel good. I've not really got too much to compare to, nor do I have the years on years of experiance most others have when it comes to reviews, so for the time being, I'll just ride these round, and may be fill in a little more on them later..

Anyway, my bike was parked up, and LB finally turns up on his gixer (lagging behind.. pfft...), and comes in next to my beast. Then I notice the tyre tread is the other way round to each other. I knew something didn't *look* right when they went on, but it finally clicked - the directional arrow on the side wall.. it's going round the wrong way. So asking around for comments, most I hear is 'only when it's wet, it'll be a problem..'.. So content, off I carry..

Got thinking about it tho, and also compared it to the back tyre. The best 'wet' type of tyre is one that takes the water from the inside line of the tyre, and force it out, right? So by following the way of the tyre pattern (and looking at the back which is the right way), the front tyre is on right. But the factory markings (ie the arrows) face the other way.. so what ta do..?? :spudwhat:

[vifferman]

Don't fret, Dude!

Take it back to Kerry and get him to sort it.

[crashe]

Go back to whoever put them on and get them to double check the tyre.

[bugjuice]

yeah, but the arrows say one way, but the theory is the other.. I am gonna go back to Kerry, just to chat it over at least

[Sniper]

Yea do that, but just think, at least your bike will have awesome handeling when you push it backwards

[bugjuice]

Yea do that, but just think, at least your bike will have awesome handeling when you push it backwards

lol.. yeah, had thought that.. "Dear Avon, your tyres are good for going backwards at 250+... just thought you should know"

[WRT]

Apparently its a common practice now. Something to do with high speed stability, they have the tread pattern on the front going in the opposite direction to the rear. It freaked me out when I first got some Avons on the TLR, took them back (to Kerry actually - he was the one that talked me into them) and he gave it the all clear. Recommend seeing him anyway just to set your mind at ease, but it is correct . . . just so long as the directional arrows are pointing the right way for your wheels rotation, then dont stress about the direction of the tread.

As for the Avons, keep us posted on what you think of them. I liked them when they were first put on, but soon went off them. Take too long to warm up, not so great in the wet, (making them lousey in winter) and they wore down unevenly. I swapped them out early (while they still had heaps of tread) and went to some Diablo's instead - huge improvement.

I forget which model of Avons I had exactly, but Kerry sold them as being pretty much the top of the line - his comment was that they were one model down from where you have to start hand-cutting your own tread. And they did seem good at first, but I really didnt like how long they took to warm up.

Incidentally, I got my one and only tankslapper while running them . . . but I think that was mostly my fault, and the tyres just didnt quite help. You know how it is, big roundabout, turning onto a motorway onramp, early morning, tyres cold and the roads a bit greasy . . . once the back end started to slide I thought it would be good fun to keep the drift going. It was when I ran out of revs and tried to hook another gear that things got messy . . . was lucky to pull that one back in.

[bugjuice]

Apparently its a common practice now. Something to do with high speed stability, they have the tread pattern on the front going in the opposite direction to the rear. It freaked me out when I first got some Avons on the TLR, took them back (to Kerry actually - he was the one that talked me into them) and he gave it the all clear. Recommend seeing him anyway just to set your mind at ease, but it is correct . . . just so long as the directional arrows are pointing the right way for your wheels rotation, then dont stress about the direction of the tread.

As for the Avons, keep us posted on what you think of them. I liked them when they were first put on, but soon went off them. Take too long to warm up, not so great in the wet, (making them lousey in winter) and they wore down unevenly. I swapped them out early (while they still had heaps of tread) and went to some Diablo's instead - huge improvement.

I forget which model of Avons I had exactly, but Kerry sold them as being pretty much the top of the line - his comment was that they were one model down from where you have to start hand-cutting your own tread. And they did seem good at first, but I really didnt like how long they took to warm up.

Incidentally, I got my one and only tankslapper while running them . . . but I think that was mostly my fault, and the tyres just didnt quite help. You know how it is, big roundabout, turning onto a motorway onramp, early morning, tyres cold and the roads a bit greasy . . . once the back end started to slide I thought it would be good fun to keep the drift going. It was when I ran out of revs and tried to hook another gear that things got messy . . . was lucky to pull that one back in.

These tyres have been in the UK (Avon is a UK company for those who didn't know) for 3 or 4 months now, so still fairly new. Kerry said he's had these for about 4 weeks now, and he's put them onto 6 bikes. Mine is the first 6 hundy he's put them on. The others have been 900s and thous, and early reports are apparently good.

They're almost sticky just sat there cold, so warm up times aren't too long, and they seem to retain the heat well when you stop for 10 mins or so.. The inside of the tyres seem to be a harder compound where as the outter edges are softer, which is great for me, cos of the bits of commuting I do, where as a hardcore racer would probably make a small mess. LB took them on Puke last Friday on his bike. I'll let him comment on what he thought, but I got a good impression.

I did get a few shakes, but my bike has been a bit prone to those under acceleration with the old tyres. The suspension needs setting up properly which I'm sure will conquor a few things (did start to play on the weekend with rebound and preload) which started to help. But it also showed me how grippy the back tyre wanted to be, cos the front was just loving the air under power. The 70 front is slightly higher than the 65 stock, so I'll drop the forks a few mm to settle it again.

but first impressions - impressive. These tyres have given me a bit more confidence than I had on the Bridgestones, and they were good. I know I'm not, but the more I pushed these Avons, the more feedback/grip I got. Some knee down stuff now.. 440kms last weekend, 480kms total on these tyres.

[Motu]

The arrow will have to face the correct way for a WoF,regardless of what you think.With a bike tyre sometimes it's because of the tyre construction,the tread my have a scarf joint and direction is important.As far as water dispertion,the water is pushed forward and out to the side with a directional tyre,with an off road tyre it's for self cleaning.With car tyres I often see them fitted in what appears to be the wrong direction,but the direction arrow is correct - obviously the tyre manufacturer knows more than me....the arrow is the key,specially in this day and age when you want to ''DO'' the guy who fitted them if something goes wrong....

[Quasievil]

The arrow will have to face the correct way for a WoF,regardless of what you think.With a bike tyre sometimes it's because of the tyre construction,the tread my have a scarf joint and direction is important.As far as water dispertion,the water is pushed forward and out to the side with a directional tyre,with an off road tyre it's for self cleaning.With car tyres I often see them fitted in what appears to be the wrong direction,but the direction arrow is correct - obviously the tyre manufacturer knows more than me....the arrow is the key,specially in this day and age when you want to ''DO'' the guy who fitted them if something goes wrong....

Yeah what he said, and the manuafacturer definately knows best young bug man.
By the way I was impressed with your riding yesterday, you passed ma twice and held a fucken nice tight steady line, lovin it, keep up the good work mate

[Suney]

Don't have anything to say about the tyres but dayum those are some nice pics. What camera did you use?

[WRT]

Bugjuice - sounds like Avon have sorted the issues I had with mine. I had them on probably a year and a half ago? Something like that - so they will be a different model. Have to admit tho, I ran Avons for a bit on my 400 probably around 8 years ago, and really didnt like them (as in REALLY - I still look back on them and shudder! The only other tyres that have stuck in my mind so much have been the diablo's, and dunlop D207's - but for the opposite reasons). Kerry talked me round for the ones I had on the TLR a year and a half ago - again, wasnt impressed. Would take some talking round for me to go Avons again, but having said that your initial impressions seem to be pretty good.

Keep us all posted on how they go as you start wearing them down, will be very interested to hear. Anyone else running them?

Cheers!

[WRT]

Don't have anything to say about the tyres but dayum those are some nice pics. What camera did you use?

Judging by the colour rendition, I would say a canon, maybe a Powershot Pro 1?

Bugjuice?

[sAsLEX]

Judging by the colour rendition, I would say a canon, maybe a Powershot Pro 1?

Bugjuice?

and that he needs to clean his chain

[bugjuice]

Yeah what he said, and the manuafacturer definately knows best young bug man.
By the way I was impressed with your riding yesterday, you passed ma twice and held a fucken nice tight steady line, lovin it, keep up the good work mate

ahhh.. nice, cheers evil dude.. I want to get some more riding done to improve my abilites. I'm still learning and ever so gently, pushing a little more at a time. These tyres have given me a fair bit more confidence. The BSs on there before are definately good, and I'd buy more again, but these just have something about the handling. Might just be me. Another confidence boost was watching Bruce pass me on the outside of a corner (wish I was pushing harder, but I backed off a bit), then dissapear before I could knock down to chase. Hell, if he can do that speed on that corner cranked over that far, then so can I since the only difference between the tyres his mine is 180 and his is 190 on the back. And yeah, abilites and suspension settings etc, but I could have at least gone a fair way faster. So it's just all about learning and trust.. We should do some nice rides again some time. Love those roads we did, and the weather.. I really need to get me leathers sorted too!