Avon Tires Silly Cheap

The Mana needed a new front tire so I shopped the usual suspects and found this:

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The tire was just delivered and looks great. Just over a year old and made in the UK. I know Avons seem to get mixed reviews, but for the price, I had to give it a go. The Mana mostly sees leisurely 2-up duty, so it doesn't have to be top-notch.

By the way Pete, the Mana is approaching 8k miles and running sweet as can be. The only problem so far was a split gasket on the fuel cap. Fantastic and versatile machine!

They're cheap for a reason. lol
I wouldn't put that junk on my bike but then again, I ride kinda aggressively so I don't cut corners with handling...

You get what you pay for ...

Just my 2cents

Sven

I find that much like wine, quality and price don't always align predictably with tires. I won't put a cheap tire on my GRiSO, but I don't ride the Mana hard. This particular Avon gets pretty good reviews. I never had an Avon tire before, but I'm confident it can't be worse than the Metzelers that came stock on the GRiSO. Time will tell and I shall report, if anyone is interested. Anyone else tried Avons? Are UK made tires really that bad? What say you redcoats?

LBC Tenni wrote:

I find that much like wine, quality and price don't always align predictably with tires. I won't put a cheap tire on my GRiSO, but I don't ride the Mana hard. This particular Avon gets pretty good reviews. I never had an Avon tire before, but I'm confident it can't be worse than the Metzelers that came stock on the GRiSO. Time will tell and I shall report, if anyone is interested. Anyone else tried Avons? Are UK made tires really that bad? What say you redcoats?

Indeed. I'm loving the dirt cheap Shinkos on the Stelvio.

Metzelers suck donkey dick.

I ran Avons on the GRiSO before I got the PR4's. No issue with them other than the 180 rear actually measures 190. Steered like a barge.

I will agree that the Metzelers are bad.
The worse I've tried on the GRiSO so far was a Pirelli angel...Holy fuck Batman! I ended up going off the road one day on a ride with friends.
Didn't hurt the bike or myself but I found out that the mighty GRiSO is a handful on the grass. lol
Tire was brand new at only 200 miles but I should have known to be extra careful as it didn't feel right from the start...
I would hope that it was old (on the shelves too long) and dried out because if all of them are like that it's a real hazard, even if you don't push the issue. I locked the rear wheel upon light braking more than once and I run cheap rear pads that makes you push hard on the foot lever so you don't lock easily (a trick from my racing days)... that freaking thing would not stick to the road. Scary.

In the end, I'm sure the Avon is fine for normal riding...

Have put a few miles on the Avon and it's surprisingly sticky with a very nice agile feel. I'm guessing it may wear quickly, but it seems a very good value anyway. I'd consider putting a set on the GRiSO if I was close to needing it.

Good for you Tenni, if your comfortable with them, value for money wins
I usually go with what the crowd are using, but i think i'll stick with the supplied metzelers. People bag them , but it rarely rains here and they seem to stick well in the dry

tyres are such a subjective thing, i have been running Pirelli Angels on the back of my GRiSO and running rings around most things in the corners, but i respect GrisoNut's opinion. A friend of mine put some new Dunlops on his RSV4 and hated them, i took it for a ride thought it was great!

The only consensus is that the Metzelers were rubbish on the GRiSO

sidrat wrote:

tyres are such a subjective thing, i have been running Pirelli Angels on the back of my GRiSO and running rings around most things in the corners, but i respect GrisoNut's opinion. A friend of mine put some new Dunlops on his RSV4 and hated them, i took it for a ride thought it was great!

The only consensus is that the Metzelers were rubbish on the GRiSO

Maybe it was the Pirelli Diablo, lol. I apologize for the confusion.
I'll have to look at the old invoice but like I said, maybe this thing was dried out from being on the shelves too long.
I mean, that tire was unsafe.

If you believe reviews on the big tire seller websites, the angels are great and the diablos are terrible. Sounds like a conspiracy cooked up by the Vatican!

I've had good experience with Conti's Avons and Pirelli's, but my go to tire has become the Michelin Pilots. 15-20K of riding as hard or loaded as you want, great wet grip, NO cupping... This is a good deal on the Avons, but I'd be concerned about not matching F & R. That's my Pet Peeve.

f-man wrote:

You get what you pay for ...

Just my 2cents

Sven

politely, I disagree. That perception is flawed with any product. Expensive does not always mean "Best"

I just fitted today a maxxis supermaxx sport to my Ducati front wheel, I paid £59.00 inc delivery for it. Fitted it myself. I will be very lucky to get 2000 miles road riding from it (18 months) before it wears to 2mm. The same can be said for a Diablo Super Corsa which can cost up to £30 more. They are both single compound dry grip tyres, scary as hell in the wet (as if you would plan to do that). Both will square off  quickly with upright motorway miles. Both get excellent trackday reviews. Nowt wrong with Avons, Nowt wrong with Maxxis. It is a perception thing.

I am thinking such dismissive attitudes are arrogant and remind me of the emperor and his new clothes.

Mike Hailwood when asked what tyres he was using.... "Round and Black ones"  

Burt Munro boot blacked his to get through scrutineering.

Grisonut wrote:

I will agree that the Metzelers are bad.
The worse I've tried on the GRiSO so far was a Pirelli angel...Holy fuck Batman! I ended up going off the road one day on a ride with friends.
Didn't hurt the bike or myself but I found out that the mighty GRiSO is a handful on the grass. lol
Tire was brand new at only 200 miles but I should have known to be extra careful as it didn't feel right from the start...
I would hope that it was old (on the shelves too long) and dried out because if all of them are like that it's a real hazard, even if you don't push the issue. I locked the rear wheel upon light braking more than once and I run cheap rear pads that makes you push hard on the foot lever so you don't lock easily (a trick from my racing days)... that freaking thing would not stick to the road. Scary.

In the end, I'm sure the Avon is fine for normal riding...

Hey, Grisonut, I know that after the fact you're not positive about the age/model of the Pirelli"s , but I have to chime in on these tires, in case some poor slob
gets in on this convo looking to buy new rubber.  I purchased the Pirelli Angel GT's front and back at the end of last season,  after frustrating but non fatal slow wash out slides with the Metzelers.
I wanted to wait at least a month before reporting in on them, but now I have to say, they are AWESOME !
The handling of my bike has been totally transformed. It really feels like a lighter more nimble bike. I am way more confident carrying speed into corners
and throwing my weight around. Really happy with them. Debated about the Pilots, heard so many great things about those as well, but since my riding is
mostly dry weather, went with the Pirelli. Plus, I like to go Italian with the GRiSO whenever possible, just to appease the Guzzi Gods.....

Dave, it was the Diablo model in my case, not the Angel.
The Angel does have a very good review while the Diablo, not so much.
I still believe that my particular tire was bad, dried out or whatever... so you have a very average tire to begin with, and then when it goes bad from being stocked too long, you have a recipe far disaster.