What didn't you like about the Avon Storms?

[dyzio]

I know this is a popular brand on here and as I'll need new tyres sooner than later I've asked for a rough price at a few places.

One place politely said they'll fit the bike with what I want but advised to go with something different (Angels, my second choice) whilst the other were a bit more direct in their opinion on the tyre They on the other hand insisted I needed to go with sports rubber.

I'm surprised at that as the Storms seem to be a popular choice on here, so for those of you that didn't like the Avon, what exactly didn't you like about them?

[rictus01]

for road use you don't need anything more than sport touring rubber on an SV and anything that makes a significant difference you have lunched them in half the mileage.

I change about 3-4 rears and a couple of fronts each year minimum, I can't afford to have "bubble gum" tyres and they need to work in all weathers, I've tried the Bridgestone 023's and the PR2's, the major difference between those two and the Storm's is feel, whilst both feel safe and solid they also feel a little numb to me, on the flip side the Stroms give better feedback, although for those who can't use it; it can feel "twitchy" or so I'm told.

I had 4 sets of the original Storms and am currently on about my 11th set of the Storm 2's, but then I buy tyres to ride on; not the ones that sound gucci and hold up well in the shed....

[dyzio]

I know Mark, I've seen you ride - at least for a moment before you disappeared into the distance- an the Yorkshire AR.

I'll be definitely going for sports touring rubber, I'm just surprised that these have such poor reputation with the sellers I asked.

Do I remember correctly you've had them on the Duke as well?

[NTECUK]

If you read feed back as twitchy.
It makes sense why some don't like like it.

[Luckypants]

The original Storm I found hard to fault. Like Rictus I like the feedback, but some would interpret that as 'twitchy'.

The Storm II (aka Ultra) is a dual compound tyre. I didn't like the hard centre band that could spin up easily on wet roads / white lines / grids, a bit disconcerting. I didn't get improved mileage from the Storm II which is what Avon's blurb said was the reason for going dual compound, so I switched away to Michelins. The jury is still still out as to whether I'll go back to Avons....

[rictus01]

Originally Posted by dyzio

I know Mark, I've seen you ride - at least for a moment before you disappeared into the distance- an the Yorkshire AR.

I'll be definitely going for sports touring rubber, I'm just surprised that these have such poor reputation with the sellers I asked.

Do I remember correctly you've had them on the Duke as well?

yeah I had them on the superduke, 3 sets in fact, not quite the mileage, but still respectable (front 9.5k, rear 8k on average over the three sets), I rode them back to back with some PR3's, and although the PR3's are a stage on development wise, they still have that numbness (or solidity if you like), where as the readable nature (or twitchyness) of the Storm 2's, just allow me to use more of the tyre.

Feel is a very personal thing and no two riders are the same, I'd rather have access to 90% of a less developed tyres use, than push beyond what I could read on a more modern one and use 60%, I get my confidence from knowing what the tyre does, not trusting what it will do.

Cheers Mark.

[christopher]

Originally Posted by Luckypants

The original Storm I found hard to fault. Like Rictus I like the feedback, but some would interpret that as 'twitchy'.

The Storm II (aka Ultra) is a dual compound tyre. I didn't like the hard centre band that could spin up easily on wet roads / white lines / grids, a bit disconcerting. I didn't get improved mileage from the Storm II which is what Avon's blurb said was the reason for going dual compound, so I switched away to Michelins. The jury is still still out as to whether I'll go back to Avons....

This. The original Storms felt awesome but the Ultras didn't fill me with confidence (although they're extremely capable as Rictus's riding shows).

Either way I'm now on my 4th set of PR3's and won't be switching away any time soon. A 5th set will go on before heading abroad in July.

[rictus01]

what's the average mileage from the PR3's you've found over the previous 3 sets ?

Cheers Mark.

i have ridden on a few sets of different tyres now, and that in my opinion the storms were very good, but i didnt like the storm 2 ultras, i always felt the rear to be vague in the wet and spin up far to easily the front wast to bad, for me i felt the hard rubber in the center of the rear was to wide

my personal choice is PR3's they give huge grip in the wet and dry, and good feed back and so far had 4mm left on the rear of my FZ1 after 8K miles and thats with 150bhp thumping through the rear, the only thing i didn't like is they have a very hard carcass so can be harsh over small bumps

what ever you do dont go with road attack 2's last about 5 min and are poor in the wet (very good in the dry though)

[christopher]

Originally Posted by rictus01

what's the average mileage from the PR3's you've found over the previous 3 sets ?

Around 5,200 miles and the rear is done. Reckon the front could have another 500 miles pushed out of it at that point, but I've always changed them as a set as it's not worth my time back and forth to my tyre guy for the sake of that little extra mileage.