First ride on new Avons..

[Blake]

So yesterday the M/C here are school got a ride together for about a 70mile loop through the Blue Ridge Mountains..

the lineup of bikes.

a NEW (about 2 weeks ago) 600rr
about 2 600f3's
a yzf6
an r6
Me and a 50cc aprilla race replica (guy said he could keep up..he was horribly wrong)

Anyway, i had the tired mounted a few days ago but only rode it back from the dealership, so i only had 5 miles on it, and even all the thin slices of rubber from the mold were still on. REAL slick still.

first thing i noticed about the tires is wow.  i havent cheked what tire pressure the guy gave me, but its like this thing is on ice.  i can whip it over with no effort-it feels like its just going to slide out from under me.  Now im not sure if its the new rubber, or what but defiantely a nice/scarry feel(since i never had that before)

we leave and take off into the mountains and i was 3rd from the back of the pack.. i didnt want to be upfront because i wasnt going to push it hard with the new tires, but the two behind me were the 50cc guy and one who knew the route.. at the beginning there were a few turns where they gunned it and so did I, nothing incredibly sharp, but thanks to Rick G for teaching me about seat position last year, it was quite easy to keep up with them.  THEN we hit the back 2 lane road, running right next to a creek..separated by barb wire (something you always want to see when your riding with sportbikes)  they were all pretty bunched up, and i stayed about 30 feet behind the last guy infront of me (r6).  it was quite a nice road.  I believe the speed limit was about 40 or 45..but when i did get a look at the speedo it was anywhere from 60-70... and I was keeping it in either 3rd or 4th, not sure which was in the rpm range..but i was keeping it around the 7-10,000 mark so i could get that power band.  There were some REALLY nice sharp turns there, and nice hard cutbacks with elevation changes, giving you a little bit of everything.  Now when i was riding i was paying attention to everyone elses brake lights because i had never rode this before, but there were a few, that i just wasnt ready for, a couple of turns that were more than 90 degree hard cutbacks that i WASNT quite ready to flop hard to the side with these new tires on.  (did i mention they were slipping..but predictably..but slowly were getting nice and stickey)  so those few turns i was QUITE happy i was the last one and the two guys behind me i couldnt even see.  But all in all, beautiful day, great road with nice scenery, (except for that big dump truck that nearly caught the guy infront of me, and myself on that right turn..he was a good 1-2 feet over the line, and then the f-150 right after that on the left turn that was RIGHT on the line, and we were riding the line too. guess that was a conflict of interest there.

My whole reason for going, (becides wanting to ride) was to wear my new tires in (which now have 70miles on them, and wear up to about 1/2" from the edge) because friday the m/c here at virginia tech is going to take a trip to deals gap and i REALLY dont want to be riding that with non worn in rubber.  but one things for certain, i WONT be riding their speed there.  definately dont need to crash.


But as for the tire report, all i can say is excellent, but its going to take me a while to get used to the nibleness of the tires.  Before i had 100 and 110 cheng shins on.. not a bad tires for riding myself and not pushing too hard, but compared to the new avon supervenoms with 100 and 120 in back, all i can say is this feels like a new bike.  like i said before..feels like its gliding on ice, and once i slowly started getting a little used to it..it was great-VERY nimble...and in the turns-near the end of the ride when the edges were slowly starting to wear in, excellent grip handling with predictable slippage(which could be from the new rubber)

as for the trip to deals gap this weekend...weather doesnt look to be cooperating..supposed to rain parts of this weekend.. a joy since we'll be camping.. but i havent heard anything about cancelling it.  so you guys can expect lots of pictures of the vision there.




Blake

[Walt_M.]

What you experienced was 'mold release compound' and all new tires have it but you should have it worn off by now. Have you checked your air pressure? I'm running 32-33 in front and 34-36 in back. Adjust it up or down until it feels good to you but don't go too low. Mine gets really 'skatey' if I get sloppy and go too high, which I think is your problem now.

[Dave T.]

Deal's gap! That would be fun. Sounds like you had a nice ride. Get a digital camera! Pictures are even better. We just gotta get Ron to be able to get pics off our computer instead of uploading them to our own space.  ;D

[kiawrench]

that release compound does muck up a good lean,,, i used stripping solution to clean tires down before riding on them first time ,, just to get it off the pirrelli set. darn things slid like fat girl on her first ice skating attempt , all over the place and sloppy to boot.
   once i ran it up the sides a bit, could lean it way out ,, have heard a really great rider can take a vision to the pegs,,,, but i guess will have to just file that,,, i can get mine over,,, but not quite that far,, i dont think i am ready to raise my skills that far yet. am liking the tour mode,,,, lol

[Per]

Hi Blake!
I'm planning to change both my tires and would like a follow up on the Avons. Handling and wear. They are a bit more expensive, are they worth it?
/Per

[Blake]

Hey Per,

The Avons still are working great.  I maybe have about 600 miles on them and its wearing nicely.  After i slowly started leaning over more to wear more of the tire, now if i want to almost "drop" to one side to quickly turn, threre is no problem with the sticking.

in my first post i mentioned them feeling REALLY nimble, almost like on ice.  That feeling is still there, and its gone away some, but ive actually learned to love it.  it feels like the tires just slide from side to side if your weaving back and forth (effortless), but they really do stick well.  the hardest thing for me was to not trust the feeling that the tires were loose (if you push it hard enough to get a little tire slide in the corners you learn its a big difference).  But all in all i really like the avons more than the bridgestones i had on my spare vision that i used for a season.  I'd definately spend the few extra bucks and buy avons again. (mainly because i try to push my limits a little..last tire i had were cheng shens-not bad at all, but definately had some sliding in the hard corners.  the difference between those and the avons are like night and day.)


but like i said, i definately love the avons.  And it suprised me because all of the guys i know that ride modern sportbikes, none of them have ever used avons.  Even the parts guy at the bike shop was going through the entire tire catalog and saying "what about these" for all the other  "major" brands before he finally got the clue that i wanted the avons. (he even tried to get me to put a set of bridgestone CRUISER tires on the vision. i laughed at him)

all in all, a great set of tires.


Blake


oh also,   im running 100 front and 120 rear.

[Per]

Hi Blake!
Thanks. You convinced me. I'll go for the Avons.
/Per

[MotorPlow]

I have a set of Avon Super Venoms on my Vision.  100 front 110 rear.  I love 'em.  Very sticky.  Only problem I have is if you hit the smallest amount of gravel in the curve, you will feel it slide.  I have the tires worn pretty close to the edge of the tire.  Also, I found that these tires suck in the rain.  I think the amount of gravel slide is from the smaller tires, however, I found that the 110s in the rear handle a lot better on clean pavement than the 120s.  Then again, the 120's that were on the bike were Dunlop something or others.  I got my Avons from http://www.swmototires.com/ Less than $100 a tire and free shipping, 4 days and they were at my door.

Chris
Callaway, VA

[Rick G]

We installed a lot of Avon super venoms at MMS  in Salem OR. there awsome !  We scuffed them with a strip of emery cloth , before we let them out of the shop as it can take up to 100 miles to scuff in a tyre.
I  have  a set of Dunolp Eletes on my bike now (price was right 40.00 the pair)  there much more pointed than the Bridgestones I had previously and are VERY sand sensative. I put it sideways coming out of a slow corner. I put my TT experence to use let me tell you!! LOL  

[fiddlesticks]

We are also running Avons on our bike now. Road runners 90 on the front and 110 on the back. They are great tires. A zilllion trillion times better than the original bridgestone tires that came with the bike.

[Coil Coyle]

Fiddlesticks, how do the Road runners work in the wet?
Its drizzly or  dewy a lot here in the redwoods.