Avon Storm belt seperation over the weekend.

[jackd]

I have a had a nagging problem for the last few thousand miles starting at the end of last season. I was getting a very slight wobble on a slight acceleration. and I was thinking it was shocks, rear BT021 (considerable mileage) or steering damper.

However the culprit was my front Storm.

I left home on a 900 mile run last Friday and about 200 miles out, coming off a three hour interstate run, I got a deceleration wobble in addition to my acceleration wobble. Both the acceleration and deceleration wobble where now noticeable. I feared that my rear BT021 was getting a bubble so I inspected it very intensely and gave my Storm a quick look over and everything looked OK.. I decided to go and see if I could get a better handle on the problem. Another 20 miles and I was again checking tires and this time I did a big time inspection of both tires and I noticed a bump about the size of a nickel just off the center of the tire.

I decided that I needed to get the tire off so I started looking for a M/C dealer. I was on US 6 in northern PA and there was not much out there. About 20 miles later I found a HD dealer in Mansfield via a billboard and although they did not have the tire, the parts girl started calling around and found me another HD/Kawa/Yama/Suz dealer that had a front I could use. They would mount it for me IF I could get there. Was about 40 or so miles away.

Well I made it ... barely.... and the tire was toast. Got it swapped out with a Dunlop radial that is the same size, load, and speed rating that we use..

Bottom line is.. I have not heard of a Storm failure like this and if you are running Storms and you have a wobble like I described then you need to inspect.

I have no picture.. I forgot, sorry.. It was after hours and I was happy to be on my way. The wobble is gone and my new Storm rear is waiting to be mounted..

I will mount the Storm rear that I have.. and I probably will put another Storm on the front. Had about 10K on that tire and it looked about 60% gone so it was wearing very well. I'm not sure what the issue was however I had a pretty good pothole incident last year with a marginal front shock.. they are possibly related.

[LAF]

What tire pressure are you running?

I could see the pot hole incident blowing a belt or weakening it. How many miles from the pot hole to the bubble?

Man I just got done mounting two of theses tonight!

[UncleMark]

What tire pressure are you running?

I could see the pot hole incident blowing a belt or weakening it. How many miles from the pot hole to the bubble?

Man I just got done mounting two of theses tonight!
If your on an '07 LT, and just mounted AVON's, I don't think they are weight rated for the bike... The BT021's are not weight rated for ;05's and up either.

my $.02 :cool:

[jackd]

Well, I posted just so that everyone has heard of the problem. Since I had not, I was not looking for a problem with the Avon Storms. I only heard good things about the Storms, so I was happy to have another choice since the stones were out of production. I do not like Metzlers. I have wanted to run radial tires for years but every other bike I have had did not support radial mounting. I have had Metzlers on three different bikes and I was only happy with them on my Venture Royal. That was 20 years ago.

I do expect that I will replace the my new Dunlop 'emergency' front tire with a Avon Storm when it becomes necessary or if, for any reason, I am unhappy with the performance. I would not have picked this tire under any normal circumstance. I would have mounted a new Avon on the front again if this defective tire had worn out 100 miles before it separated. Last weekend I had some rain riding with the Dunlop and it seemed OK so far, but the tire will go when I am no longer satisfied with with it's performance. I used the radial stones because I was happy with the performance even though they had known blister problems. I had 4 or 5 Bridgestone tire sets and I finally got them to start wearing well after I installed Smartire so I could monitor the pressure every riding day. I had very poor performance mileage wise up front but I felt they were worth the money I was paying.

Now back on point... knowing that the radial stones had blister problems caused me some tunnel vision working this problem. I had plenty of warning I just kept focusing my attention on the wrong end of the M/C.. ;)

I had about 10K on the front use 42 lbs of pressure and had lots of great looking tire left with no cupping or wear indication. I did have this wobble.. very slight with light acceleration over the last two or three thousand miles. It was getting worse that is why I bought a new rear Avon. I have been so busy I did not have a chance to mount the new rear. The stone is still serviceable and has about 3MM of thread with minimal cupping and 20K on the clock. In fact it's replacement Avon is on the shelf in my local Cycle Gear shop, all paid for. I will put it on hopefully this Friday.

The pot hole was late last year. I put both mirrors back on I looked at the tire and rim expecting damage but none to be seen. So I promptly forgot about it. I only remembered after I was nursing the defective tire.

Use your Storms. I will mount another but I will be more alert.

Bottom line is that this is the first tire issue I have had on the road in 35 years of riding and I will not let it happen again. I exposed myself and I am not happy about that. Rear tire issues are a problem but front tire issues can be fatal.

[jackd]

The BT021's are not weight rated for ;05's and up either.

my $.02 :cool:

The BT021 was a mistake in my post.. I had BT020s mounted. Yes BT021s rears are not weight rated for the LT.

[zippy_gg]

Our Tony (Deputy5211) had the exact same issue on his last trip to California a few months back. The Avon had that bump just off the center. The tire was new, minus the distance from Dallas to Los Angeles.

Tony called the tire dealer in TX who made good and gave full credit for the defective tire while we scrambled here to get Tony back on the road. I believe he ended up with a Dunlop front tire.

[jackd]

Interesting.. I must not have been paying attention..

[LAF]

If your on an '07 LT, and just mounted AVON's, I don't think they are weight rated for the bike... The BT021's are not weight rated for ;05's and up either.

my $.02 :cool:
Yes the Avon's are rated for the LT as the rear is reinforced for proper weight and I think a higher speed rating.

What the confusion is why they don't list them for 05 and up. Speculation is the rake change on the LT.

I wanted to try radials and Avon's as I have run them on ALL my Harley's and loved them.

Just not getting a warm and fuzzy feeling from all the issues being reported on them.

Have a trip to NC coming up and the worse is I will burn them off and have to go back to the Metzler's when I get home.

[ez_rdr55]

Many of us are experiencing issues with the front Storms. I will not be putting Storms back on until Avon has said yes there was a problem and yes we have fixed it. Not likely to happen!

[Sofitel505]

Yeah, I agree. No more Storm for me. This is what mine looked like in San Jose, CA after 2700 miles. Their dual-compound is not ready for primetime IMO.

[LAF]

Yeah, I agree. No more Storm for me. This is what mine looked like in San Jose, CA after 2700 miles. Their dual-compound is not ready for primetime IMO.


What PSI was that run at?

I am wondering if they expand or get hotter then other tires and need a more traditional pressure or if they also need the 42/48 so recommended?

Those JP cycle Avon's for 49.00 bucks are looking better and better. Happy to have two on the way.

Is the rear holding up?

My front Metzler went that way in a very short time, like from 7500-8000 miles and it was unbearable in turns.

[Zeke]

Hey all;

I keep seeing these posts on the Avons lastin less than 5000 miles.
Run your pressures at 42/48 and I get over 10k on front and rear.
Dont worry about what the tire says, 42/48 you will be fine.
The last set I got 14k front and 16k rear. Now that it is HOT in Florida I might get 12 on both. The first set, I hit a pot hole and the front was toast. But in normal riding no issues.


Zeke

[Sofitel505]

What PSI was that run at?

I am wondering if they expand or get hotter then other tires and need a more traditional pressure or if they also need the 42/48 so recommended?

Those JP cycle Avon's for 49.00 bucks are looking better and better. Happy to have two on the way.

Is the rear holding up?

My front Metzler went that way in a very short time, like from 7500-8000 miles and it was unbearable in turns.


40 PSI front 44 rear (BT-020R). And I check it prior to every ride. The Azaro's lasted 12K at 40PSI and no evidence of uneven wear. This issue is happening on multiple bikes at 40+ PSI pressures.

[jackd]

Hey all;

I keep seeing these posts on the Avons lastin less than 5000 miles.
Run your pressures at 42/48 and I get over 10k on front and rear.
Dont worry about what the tire says, 42/48 you will be fine.
The last set I got 14k front and 16k rear. Now that it is HOT in Florida I might get 12 on both. The first set, I hit a pot hole and the front was toast. But in normal riding no issues.


Zeke

The Avons that you got the good performance out of, were they 'Storms' aka AV55 and AV56 'model'? I ran my front Storm at 42 and I had about 10K when the belt separated. I had very good wear till everything went to hell. That is why I didn't think the front was the problem.

I mounted the rear today and I was surprised to see that they were rated at 42 LBs PSI MAX.. I don't remember what the front was. Or maybe I didn't look that hard.

Not sure that I want to run 10% cold above the rated load Max pressure.

[jackd]

Yeah, I agree. No more Storm for me. This is what mine looked like in San Jose, CA after 2700 miles. Their dual-compound is not ready for primetime IMO.

Your picture looks almost like mine when it failed. I could have taken that picture.

Did you hit anything on the road..? Did it go that way real fast?

[motorhead]

Yeah, I agree. No more Storm for me. This is what mine looked like in San Jose, CA after 2700 miles. Their dual-compound is not ready for primetime IMO.

http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=18193


Your funky wear the result of using the brakes while leaned over in the corners !!

Here is a picture of my first set of Avons when I just got my LT and had no clue the weight of this beast will DISTROY tires if using brakes while leaned over.

Now worn out 3 pairs sense then and due too changing my riding habits, have not had this funky wear pattern happen again.


http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/6503/cameradump11105060tf7.th.jpg (http://img46.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cameradump11105060tf7.jpg)
http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/1740/cameradump11105064qc7.th.jpg (http://img45.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cameradump11105064qc7.jpg)

[Sofitel505]

Your picture looks almost like mine when it failed. I could have taken that picture.

Did you hit anything on the road..? Did it go that way real fast?

Nope. Nothing was hit. Noticed some low speed headshake after pulling off to re-fuel in Redding, CA (from Seattle). I thoroughly checked the bike before we left and all pressures were normal and wear was even.

Looked at the front at the Chevron and it was slightly tweaked, but nothing too serious. By the time we got to San Jose, the headshake was noticable at all speeds and scary. So yes, it went south in a hurry. Personally, I think it has to do with the higher road temps. We don't see 80+ very often up here, but in the southern states, the road temps are a magnitude higher.

I just don't think the Storms are a warm climate compound. Didn't go bad until I took it out of its Pacific Northwest element (Stormy and wet).

[Sofitel505]

http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=18193


Your funky wear the result of using the brakes while leaned over in the corners !!

Here is a picture of my first set of Avons when I just got my LT and had no clue the weight of this beast will DISTROY tires if using brakes while leaned over.

Now worn out 3 pairs sense then and due too changing my riding habits, have not had this funky wear pattern happen again.


http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/6503/cameradump11105060tf7.th.jpg (http://img46.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cameradump11105060tf7.jpg)
http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/1740/cameradump11105064qc7.th.jpg (http://img45.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cameradump11105064qc7.jpg)


I have to disagree in my case. The tire went bad super-slabbing it on the I-5 interstate. Certainly not a corner braking scenario.