[myk_edwards]

My 2001 LT is running Storms, and very happy with them, my buddy who rides a 2004 is being told by local dealer not compatible with 2004 and newer LT??

Why? the newer bike is close to 50Lbs lighter, is he just reading some out dated rubbish in a tyre compatiblity chart? Saving over other makes, Bridgestone, Metz, is close to £50.

 

[jzeiler]

That is a Radial type tire and BMW no longer recommends thany radial types for the 05 and up (your 04 over there). Now having said that I know several that have run and liked that tire on the newer bikes. It is more of a "the suspention geometry is not designed for the radial tire" than a load rating. There was an extensive post recently that delved into this very subject on how the bike must be "designed" for the radial tire.

 

[myk_edwards]

That is a Radial type tire and BMW no longer recommends thany radial types for the 05 and up (your 04 over there). Now having said that I know several that have run and liked that tire on the newer bikes. It is more of a "the suspention geometry is not designed for the radial tire" than a load rating. There was an extensive post recently that delved into this very subject on how the bike must be "designed" for the radial tire.

Thanks John, I did search but didn't find the post about steering geometry, I guess that explains it. I'll let my buddy know before he fits his bike with Avons.

 

[Bones1955]

So how is it that the older LT's are "designed" for the radial and not the newer ones?

 

[jzeiler]

They changed the rake angle of the front wheel for the 05 and up to improve low speed handling. Their engineers felt that this no longer supported the use of radial tires. ( I don't design bikes so I don't really have a say) Don't really see the big deal as I know several that have used them on later bikes - but that does not make it right, just means it has been done without consequence - so far.

Also here is the response Petevandyke got from Avon Customer service:

Dear Pete,

Thank you for your query on tire pressures. I have attached a pressure guideline for our tires. The Storm 2 is not a recommended fitment however for 2004 and up K1200LT bikes. It works fine on the earlier models but can encounter a stability issue on the newer models so we don’t recommend it.


Best regards,

Sukoshi Fahey (Ms.)


Avon Motorcycle Tyres North America
4600 Prosper Dr., Stow, OH 44224


800-624-7470 x 3135

Remember the 05s were built in 04 - and released in Europe as an 04.

 

[biknut]

My 2001 LT is running Storms, and very happy with them, my buddy who rides a 2004 is being told by local dealer not compatible with 2004 and newer LT??

Why? the newer bike is close to 50Lbs lighter, is he just reading some out dated rubbish in a tyre compatiblity chart? Saving over other makes, Bridgestone, Metz, is close to £50.

Just ran across your post, about a week after I put Storms on our 2000 year LT. I too questioned whether I should put them on, since the bike came out with bias plies and these were radials.

For the final word, I called the BMW dealership in Louisville, KY (the nearest to me) and talked with the Service Manager. He said that the Storms were OK on a 2000 model. I asked him how he knew that. He told me he had a chart from the factory that told him which bikes were compatible with radials and which were not. His words to me- "You can use the Avon Storms up to 2004, but after that you cannot." This is according to his chart.

 

[tips727]

When I bought my '00 model in '05 from the BMW dealer in Nashville, it had a brand new set of Metzler radials on it. I understood at the time that radials were original equipment on the pre-05's. When the first set of radials needed replacing, all the dealer had were bias plies so that is what I bought. I really could not tell any difference. I ran several sets of bias plies over the next more than 40 K miles and they performed excellently.

 

[14wntr]

Avon is running a $40 rebate right now on the Storm 2s

 

[CharlieVT]

My 2001 LT is running Storms, and very happy with them, my buddy who rides a 2004 is being told by local dealer not compatible with 2004 and newer LT??

Why? the newer bike is close to 50Lbs lighter, is he just reading some out dated rubbish in a tyre compatiblity chart? Saving over other makes, Bridgestone, Metz, is close to £50.

I researched this a few years ago and actually got a reply from an Avon representative.
Apparently the change in steering geometery with the 2005 model creates an increased risk for instability with radial tires. BMW stopped putting radial tires on the K1200LT (radial Bridgestones were OEM fitted on some of the early bikes, including my 2000).

Both the tire manufacturers and BMW say don't put a radial on a post-2004 K1200LT.
Instability is influenced by a number of factors like road surface, temperature, tire wear, inflation, wheel balance, etc. Many folks will report "no problems" with various tire combinations like mixed bias and radial, mixed brands, or running radials on a bike that the tire manufacturer says isn't "proper fitment" of their tire. In my experience, instability, head shake, tank slapper, wobble, or whatever you want to call it, happens unexpectedly. It is possible to ride thousands of miles, become very comfortable and confident, and then suddenly get spanked severely.

I figure the tire manufacturers know more than I do about it and I've decided to follow their recommendations. But that's just me, we all choose our risks, so to each their own.

Here's a summary from a thread I posted to a little while ago:
http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=592626&postcount=5

 

[Dick]

+1 here, Curtis. And I ride solo!!!!