Knock, Knock...AVON Calling (Tire's That Is)

[Boatguy3371]

Just wanted to get some opinions on a set of AVON tires I am looking at getting for my project 94 600. I've read alot of the posts here and saw plenty on metzler, conti's and so on but none on the avon tires. I am looking at an AV45 120/70/ZR17 for the front and an AV46 150/70/ZR17 for the rear. Thanks in advance for your input.

[damic]

I have that same set up except I have 160/70/17s on the rear my 98 and have had no problems. When I bought the bike used it had a worn out Bridgestone bt020 (120/60/17) on the front and the original macadam 90(150/70/17) on the back. It made a big improvement.

[JeffM]

Not sure about for the pre-98s, but I've got those exact tires on my 2000 Kat 600 and I love them. I had the previous generation AV 35/36 before these and loved those too (the front wore pretty quickly, but was very grippy). They're more of a triangular profile, at least up front, than the stock Michelins so handling improves (bike turns in better). I'm very happy, as my purchase of two sets testifies. Go for it.

[The CyberPoet]

I think they are a very decent tire, especially for colder areas and longer touring (they tend to not hold up as well in areas where the road-surface temps rise above 100 degrees F in the sun)... Not quite on par with the Metzelers and Pirellis IMHO, but definitely not very far behind.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[woobie]

PM Range, he was running Avons on his 98+.

[DooD]

The AV46 is great IMO....I have the 160/60/17 out back, and it's a very predictable tire to ride.....Great grip in the dry and wet alike.

I paired it to a front 120/70 Metzeler Z6, which is so far proving to be simply outstanding! I love how it tracks - doesn't tend to follow tar snakes like the macadams did....it's grip FAR exceeds that of the stock tires, and the wet performance is terrific......it really makes you feel comfortable and confident when those first drops hit your visor.

Now, I don't know if the gurus would recommend mixing the two brands like this, but I havn't seen a problem so far....Since I've switched to this setup, I've had my knee down a couple times and just generally felt a lot more confident about what the Katana can do.

[The CyberPoet]

The AV46 is great IMO....I have the 160/60/17 out back... paired it to a front 120/70 Metzeler Z6...

Now, I don't know if the gurus would recommend mixing the two brands like this, but I havn't seen a problem so far....Since I've switched to this setup, I've had my knee down a couple times and just generally felt a lot more confident about what the Katana can do.

There are a number of reasons every single motorcycle tire manufacturer recommend matching front and rears. The biggest one is what happens once the ground turns wet (rain, etc), since the front tire's tread is designed to work in conjunction with the rear tire's tread by sweeping the path for the rear (something you may well notice when you hit wet pavement, especially if there is more than about an 1/8th of an inch of water). The other biggie is frame-flex/fork-flex; if the tire arc shapes aren't very similar, the suspension and frame have to compensate, wearing them at faster than normal rates (something you won't notice from the driver's seat on a day-to-day basis).

Q: Why did you mismatch tires?

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet