My Avon Storms were terrible!

[twowheelnut]

How come I'm getting such good mileage on these tires?

Um, cuz you ride like my grandma?

 

[Feejer/Weejer man]

Just mounted the Storms and I like the way the tire feels on grooved highways, no start off wobble and no decel wobble at 40 or 50 mph or any other speed for that matter 1/4 oz. to balance the front, 3/4 oz on the rear. Less than what it took to mount my last two set of 45/46's. After scrubbing them in the grip and ease of turn is better than the Azaros. I guess I will deal with the mileage factor as i get there. I am a happy camper.

 

[bmwhd]

I stand by my original offer - I'll gladly take any un-used and un-mounted Storms off your hands. I love 'em and will ride them until Avon stops making them.

I've gone through a heck of lot of tires in the last 12 years on a lot of different bikes and the Storms are hands down the best rubber I've ever ridden. Wait a min. With this audience I better say "best tires I've ever used"...

 

[BobG]

Any one who thinks there isn't problem with some of the Avon storms, the one I have in my garage wobbles, I'll give it to who ever wants it.

It has 3000 miles on it.

I will be throwing it out soon.

I will not pay for shipping, so don't ask.

Bob

 

[crizyal]

39 psi front 42 back loaded side bags and a duffel strapped on the back. The front storm developed a slight wobble at 30mph that broadened to 5mph-50mph progressively by 3000 miles. By this time I was in Missoula, MT and they wanted $500 for a new set of skins for my ride. I told them I would do with out. Being a bit nervous about the wobble I rode a lot more conservatively and made it home. Needles to say I just ordered a new set of Bridgestones and will replace the Avons with tread left. I am extremely disappointed with the Avon Storms as they stick like glue. It is just not worth the wobble or possible quality control problems. The back tire seems to be getting fairly flat just getting to wear bars after 6000 miles (not too bad but the Bridgestones brought me to 8500 miles).

 

[v65]

39 psi front 42 back loaded side bags and a duffel strapped on the back. The front storm developed a slight wobble at 30mph that broadened to 5mph-50mph progressively by 3000 miles. By this time I was in Missoula, MT and they wanted $500 for a new set of skins for my ride. I told them I would do with out. Being a bit nervous about the wobble I rode a lot more conservatively and made it home. Needles to say I just ordered a new set of Bridgestones and will replace the Avons with tread left. I am extremely disappointed with the Avon Storms as they stick like glue. It is just not worth the wobble or possible quality control problems. The back tire seems to be getting fairly flat just getting to wear bars after 6000 miles (not too bad but the Bridgestones brought me to 8500 miles).

How old are your storms? Were they part of the early batch that had problems?

 

[crizyal]

These are the numbers off of the tires. I'm not sure what they mean though.

Front 48473-1 R-32826 AM55

Rear 48482-1 R-32845 AM56

 

[petey]

Well, I mounted Storms three weeks ago and have 4500m on them now. No problem with how they stick BUT, the front (39 lbs) feels like I have a nobby mounted on the front. It won't make the front wobble, but like I said, it's worn very uneven...never seen a front tire like it. :angry2: I was going to try another Storm front...but I see others had problems as well. Soooo, that's it for me with Avon Storm's (fronts anyway) <_<

 

[Nikk]

I was unimpressed with the Storm wear (5k), so I'm giving the BT021 a try. So far I've got the BT021 on the rear and fading Storm on the front. The mixed tread is giving me front end wobble. I never had the with Storm front and rear.

-Nik

 

[Derek]

chalk up one more with with the storm shimmy.

same deal, 40 -50 mph. tried different pressures. tried riding the shimmy off of them for about 1k. no joy.

i was so happy with many sets of azzaros. this sort of feels like my dog ran away.

i'll go see my dealer today have him try turning the rubber 180. if that fails i guess i'll start wading through the tire threads to see what the second favorite tire is. if anyone has already done that, you could save me some time.

i will of course be senting my complaint to avon.

derek

 

[James Burleigh]

I'm a Storms advocate. I had put two sets on and got good mileage (>10K). When I found a nail in my back tire a couple months ago, I told my dealer to put a new tire on, whatever he's got in stock. He put a Metzler M1, and now I'm having to replace the damn thing, with my front Avon still showing some tread.

Anyway, I just ordered another set to install Friday (so I can hopefully do an overnight on the weekend). And besides, they show my favorite bike on their brochure, so they gotta be good! [However, the first post in this thread has got me wondering about that pesky wobble if I take my hands off the bars.... :glare: ]

 

[KYFJR]

I put on a new set of Storms last week and had the wobble (between 38mph to 52mph) instantly. Much worse below 41 psi (some serious headshake) to the point that Avon and my local dealer said not to ride the bike. If the tire is inflated over 41psi, the wobble is ever so slight so I am still riding.

Avon is going to replace the front tire under warranty, however, I was told the tire is on backorder. I worked with Keith Ost, Avon Motorcycle Customer Serive, and he instructed me to have my dealer call him to verify all the details (such as weight added at installation, front wheel installation process, DAT#, and rear wheel psi?) and once the tire is available, Avon is going to send the new tire directly to my dealer and they will take care of installation and they want the old one back for inspection. This is Keith's information:

Keith Ost

Avon Motorcycle Customer Service

c/o Hoppe & Associates, Inc.

PO Box 5112

Lynnwood, WA 98036 USA

1-800-624-7470

I haven't given up on Avon because I really like their tires when compared to others I've used. With one phone call and two visits to my dealer, I should have a new front installed. Cumbersome yes, but not to the extent I want to give up on Avons!

 

[Feejer/Weejer man]

Finished riding WFO two up andsome triple digits and never felt so good on a tire. The storms are unbelievable in the twisties. Stuck like glue and no wobble @ any speed. I love em. Too bad some have experienced some trouble.

 

[SkooterG]

These are the numbers off of the tires. I'm not sure what they mean though.
Front 48473-1 R-32826 AM55

Rear 48482-1 R-32845 AM56

Look for the date code. It will be 4 numbers encircled. For example, 4306 would be a build date of the 43rd week of 2006.

 

[crizyal]

These are the numbers off of the tires. I'm not sure what they mean though.
Front 48473-1 R-32826 AM55

Rear 48482-1 R-32845 AM56

Look for the date code. It will be 4 numbers encircled. For example, 4306 would be a build date of the 43rd week of 2006.

Front 4706

Rear 3406

I'm not sure if this corresponds with the dates of other wobbly tires.

 

[bikerskier]

Finished riding WFO two up andsome triple digits and never felt so good on a tire. The storms are unbelievable in the twisties. Stuck like glue and no wobble @ any speed. I love em. Too bad some have experienced some trouble.

DITTO... I can see pretty significant wear on the rear after 3500 miles but I love the cornering traction and stability of my Storms.

 

[Coyote]

I'm having problems with my Storms. On the way to WFO I it started feeling like was running over low strips accross the road. Bumpy at low speed going to a vibration at higher speeds. 2K later, back home, I checked the rear tire and it has a spot about 1/16" lower than the rest of the tire. I was pretty anal about balancing the tires when I put them on and I have ABS (no skidding stops). I haven't jacked up the bike to check the front yet. Rear tire is now down to the wear bar on the low spot. Less than 3K on the tires.

Tire date codes are Front 4206 - Rear 3306

After living with the Azaro wobbles and now this. I'm not seeing complaints like about other brands. Does Avon have a quality control problem?

Also too. Southwest Moto Tires has instituted a No Phone policy. They will not talk to customers by phone. :angry: They seem to be great folks, but I really hate this policy. But they did agree to replace the tire and take a chance on avon taking it back

 

[tmassey]

I ordered my Storms from SW Moto. Good price, super fast shipping. I put them on at at the end of May to get ready for a trip out west from Michigan. When the tires went on there was a wobble in the handlebars. Most notable in the 40-50 mph range but it was always there to some degree (I read the Forum on this. Many seem to have this problem). I took it back to the shop and they tried to rebalance it. No change. If I took my hands off the handlebars they would shake badly. If I left my hands on the bars it wasn't as bad but still noticeable. Since I was leaving June 12th I decided to leave them on and just deal with it. I tried different suspension settings, riding loaded down and with just my weight. Nothing helped.
I rode from Michigan out to Yellowstone and picked up my wife at the Bozeman airport (she has masters classes she could not miss and could not go on the whole trip with me). At this point I have about 2000 miles on the tires. The front still bounces and the rear is getting very flat in the center. I know the rears will do this but it seemed to happen very quickly. Together we rode through western Montana, northern Idaho and circled back around so she could spend some time in Yellowstone, the Beartooths, the Tetons, the Windriver Range and finally to Casper, Wy, where she would fly back home and I would continue into Colorado then home. In Casper I now had 4500 miles on the tires (2500 miles 2-up). The wear bars on the rear were showing and the front was cupping terribly and its wear bars were showing in some places and not in others due to the uneven wearing.

I decided I did not want to deal with these tires anymore. I felt they were unsafe and that they probably wouldn't get me home anyway. I found a shop with a set of tires that would fit. They were able to fit me in that morning. It was a nice place to do business (Casper Mountain Motorsports). The only set they had to fit were Michellin Power Pilot 2C, which I knew nothing about. They were $400 installed. I felt any tire at almost any price would be better than what I had.

The mechanics in the shop said they had never seen anything like my front tire before and the rear was "flatter than a cow pie on a hot rock," the mechanics words, not mine.

I put on another 3000 miles before I got home and loved the new tires. No wobble and not nearly as much flattening as the Avons. I know I was not riding 2-up on the new tires but they are still not as flat as the Avons were at the 2000 mile point.

I know there are a lot of you out there who like the Avons and have not had trouble. For me, Avons were not the ticket.

 

[tmassey]

I had the same problem last year with Avons, if I took my hands off the bars at 45-55 the front end shook violently. When I posted this on the forum one of the replies I got was " Well, you should never take your hands off the bars". It made me wonder if some of the members really ride motorcycles. Anyway, I replaced tha Avons with Pilot Roads and have had no problems, even when I take my hands off the bars.

 

[snikr]

I absolutely LOVED the Azarros. So far for me in my limited experience, the Storms aren't hitting the standard the Azarros established.
I just replaced my first rear Storm. Only 4500 miles and was replaced sooner than I normally would (based on wear) because of upcoming long trips. It had worn pretty flat in the center. Far worse than any Azarro I had. It had a couple thousand left on it, but I never got less than 10k from the Azarros, and up to 14k+.

I only have 1500 miles on a Storm front, and so far no problems. Rides and sticks great. No vibration.

Me thinks Avon made the Storms a softer compound than the Azarros. More sticky at the price of wear life.

You hit it right on the head. Same with me. Front tire "squirmes" at 20 MPH and under (no big deal but the Azarros only did it under 8 MPH) and the balance SUCKS. I may talk to the shop that mounted them and see what they can do for me. Nothing bad enough for me to replace the tires but it's not looking like I'll buy Avon again. :angry2: Just my $.02 worth. YMMV

Tom