Avon Azaro ST AV45 / AV46

These tires impressed me a lot yesterday, so I felt I should share the experience...

I lead a couple of riders through my favorite twisty roads around here. What were they riding? CBR1000RR's wearing Pirelli Diablo Corsa tires (very sticky!). I was on my "little" SV still wearing the Avon sport touring tires. The conditions weren't necessarily favorable - the temperature was around 90 degrees and the roads were somewhat warmer I'd imagine.

Nonetheless, these tires reached operating temps correctly and kept me railin' hard in the corners. The two 1000RR guys complained of slipping and sliding through the tight turns that I had no problem with. Now, I can't say that they are accomplished riders, so their opinion of what is going on may not be exactly true. Sure, 150 hp to the rear wheel is a good reason for the rears on those bikes to slip, but at the temperatures those tires are designed to operate on, they really shouldn't be experiencing any sliding (they weren't draggin' knees).

I came into a turn a little hot and leaned the bike way over. I felt my jeans barely scrape the ground, so I knew I was over hard. As the turn was a decreasing radius turn, I still needed to scrub off some speed, so I was on the binders through much of the turn before powering out. I was quite surprised the Avons continued to grip, even at the very steep lean angle I was at. For a sport touring tire, this is pretty impressive in my opinion.

However, I would say I was nearing the limit of the tire's adhesion. I hang off quite a bit on the bike, and after looking at the rear of my tire, there is no unused portion - at all. If I were to give any more lean angle, I'd be concerned about running out of tire. But, what do I know, I could just be paranoid about this. I guess I'll have to crash to find out .

After 1200 very hard ridden miles, these tires are showing very little wear. In fact, the little extra bits of rubber from being molded are still on the tire! I'm quite impressed with these tires and their continued excellent grip. I wish I could run the Z6's and the Avon ST's back to back for comparison, but my feeling is that they Avons perform just as well as the Z6's. This is a great tire for the majority of riders out there. :P I plan on purchasing another set (or the lastest from Avon) whenever these wear out

I like these too, I'm in the same situation as you, currently tight on money, and using the bike to commute.

The bike originally had an AV45 front, and an AV36b rear. The rear was hideous, even in the dry, stepped out a couple of times in the dry on the road, and once or twice at a hot cadwell park. The rear was really ****e in the wet also. I never experienced any problems with the front, which allways served me well. The rear was cooked, and I wanted to put a pair of tyres on, so 014's were the order of the day. The front AV45 was mothballed for time being.

I then went to Bridgestone 014's. The first year did about 3000miles, (winter riding), then the second rear did about 1000-1200 miles (summer riding). I simply don't have enough money to replace a tyre that frequently (works out to just under a months use with my mileage). So I have now put an AV46 on the rear. Initial impressions are good, but It's still running with a front 014, which will be seen out soon, and replaced with the part worn AV45.

When I get the pair on, obviously I can report more accurately, but so far I would say the rear feels good in the dry, and the front was allways ok too. Hopefully I will get decent mileage out of the tyres.

Don't write them off.

Danno.

Small update.... The rear tyre can be spun up at will in 2nd on a wet road (you do have to provoke it a lot, and it is quite funny) the rear can also feel a bit sketchy in the wet generally.

Still don't think I have found my ideal compromise, but these will have to do for the Summer.

Danno.

I have read this thread and I am windering if I am running the same tires.

I am on my 4th set of Azaro STs, they have excellent wet grip, good dry grip (for a sport touring tire) and no flat spot in rear or scalloping in front, I get 10,000-13,000 miles per set(I change tires in pairs)

I wonder if the posters with lesser results are running the right air pressure.

Avon uses a variable belt technology that requires a higher air pressure than what suzuki recommends, 42psi rear and 36 psi front, not 36/33. an email I recieved from avon stated that for every 2psi you drop from their recomendation, you will loose 10% of tire life, rubber might overheat with agressive riding and get greasey

also note that they do not use a dual compund like other tire manufacturers, the denser belts in the center means less flex and less heat, towards the edges, the carcass flexes more for more heat and a stickier tire

36 and 42 for me, haven't worn em out yet so cant report on longevity. Bear in mind that in the U.K. wet usually equals cold, and that means less grip. A hot wet road supposedly has more grip than a cold dry one

Also British roads tend to get very greasy when they are wet, so this could also be contributary to the lesser amount of grip.

This is all speculation though. One things for certain, they have a nice profile and feel nice in the dry, and also have plenty enough grip for an SV in the dry. In the wet, they could be better.

Danno.