Final update "Finally Found" & Tire choices

[ChasRummel]

Great news! Thanks to the honest pros at Bromley's in Trevose, PA I now (at a fair price) have a new chain, front sprocket better clutch feel and some answers.

On the head race bearing, as luck has: The mechanic ( a Bromley himself) tells me it's ok and does not need replacement right away.

You gotta love finding

a mechanic with the dealer's last name (has to be a good thing for quality repairs)

& honesty like that.

The handle bar wobble is due to the rear tire being worn

AND The mechanic made my day by saying that the bike is in really good shape and looks to have been treated well.

:-) :-) :-)

TIRES TIRES TIRES

That makes the bad new not bad at all I picked up a screw in the back tire and need a new one only one day with the bike back.

I intend to ride as far into winter as heated gear will allow. Even though I would love to say "What is the tire for racing guys that want to stick like glue with one knee down" I would rather say "Hey I'm not in the hospital because I was tooling down the road in the rain.

What do you guys THINK OF MICHELIN POWER 3S?

THANK YOU TO E V E R Y O N E WHO LENDED THEIR ADVICE, COMIC RELIEF AND FRIENDSHIP IN RESPONSE TO MY FIRST POST.

Edited September 16, 2015 by ChasRummel

[cecome]

that is really great news.....I am sure you feel much better just knowing the issue is manageable. I'm no authority on rubber but I am confident the crew will chime in. Did you ask the shop about rubber? FYI pretty sure rubber is much better now than the stock tire in 2003.

[John01XX]

Michelin Pilot Road 4

[XXBirdSlapper]

Some here will advocate using a car tire. They really last compared to cycle specific shoes.

[rockmeupto125]

Good. Now get your ass up to NeXXT this weekend.

The Michelins are a good tire.

[The Krypt Keeper]

Pr3 are good, pr4 are good but pricey

I personally don't mind tire life being sacrificed for stickyness

Never buy Avon's

[superhawk996]

I have the Power3 on mine and love them. I haven't done many miles, but occasionally hit a tight canyon and while I don't drag knee I do get on it pretty decent and they seem to stick well. I talked a buddy into them for his and he loves them too. He's put on a bunch of miles, many on low air cuz he's a 'tard, and they're holding up well. I don't know why the Kript says no to Avon, but Swamp ran them exclusively on his and loved them, I ran them on a different bike and loved them-both were many years ago so maybe things have changed or others have advanced to be better than the Avon.

[The Krypt Keeper]

I hope Avon burns down and goes bankrupt and is never able to produce another tire ever ever again.

Will never say anything positive about them, will never recommend them and will warn people till I die.

[CBR-RR-XX-CESS]

Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP​ Hard to fall down with these on, love them!

[vincer]

I've had the power 3's for around 1500 miles.

They're great. I run it hard and they are solid.

I dont ride in the rain, so I dunno about wet characteristics. Wear seems pretty good.

[ChasRummel]

that is really great news.....I am sure you feel much better just knowing the issue is manageable. I'm no authority on rubber but I am confident the crew will chime in. Did you ask the shop about rubber? FYI pretty sure rubber is much better now than the stock tire in 2003. TY

Thank you Yes she rides great and the feeling of knowing there are no pending problems that could do damageto the bike is priceless. I can fully enjoy the ride now.

Pr3 are good, pr4 are good but pricey

I personally don't mind tire life being sacrificed for stickyness

Never buy Avon's

Do Avons come in different colors? kidding.

I have the Power3 on mine and love them. I haven't done many miles, but occasionally hit a tight canyon and while I don't drag knee I do get on it pretty decent and they seem to stick well. I talked a buddy into them for his and he loves them too. He's put on a bunch of miles, many on low air cuz he's a 'tard, and they're holding up well. I don't know why the Kript says no to Avon, but Swamp ran them exclusively on his and loved them, I ran them on a different bike and loved them-both were many years ago so maybe things have changed or others have advanced to be better than the Avon.

Wow I'm glad to hear some of the members have owned and like them for the bird. They are in stock at fair internet like price at my local shop so I can have one tomorrow. I wish I could get a set but for now just the rear.

Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP​ Hard to fall down with these on, love them!

I can believe that. At this point I dropped more cash than I can in a time frame by buying the bike having recent repairs then fixing my Intruder for sale. I really needed to sell the Intruder to buy the XX, but it was a time thing. They prob run $200 each here.

that is really great news.....I am sure you feel much better just knowing the issue is manageable. I'm no authority on rubber but I am confident the crew will chime in. Did you ask the shop about rubber? FYI pretty sure rubber is much better now than the stock tire in 2003.

they sell the ones I mentioned so I assume they would say those.

that is really great news.....I am sure you feel much better just knowing the issue is manageable. I'm no authority on rubber but I am confident the crew will chime in. Did you ask the shop about rubber? FYI pretty sure rubber is much better now than the stock tire in 2003.

TY I think I will go with the P# one now and the front is good but I may get a matching one just so it's fresher. The frt tire may be very old.

[IcePrick]

I would sooner run a matched pair of old, worn-out tires than mismatch an oldie with a sticky new tire. Asking for trouble there.

[redxxrdr]

Pilot roads have always been good to me. I cut a rear once at speed. One inch gash. It went bang, and I slowed down. Still had pretty good control.

And they were sticky enough for Zero at racer XX.

[EVLXX]

The handle bar wobble is due to the rear tire being worn

cough&BULLSHIT@cough!! Ahum..... Sorry for that.

It would be the Front Tire.

As for tires... You live in PA, gets cold, if you ride in the cold, go with Michelin Pilot Road 3's or 4's. You do not need Powers for the Road. Now if you're going to do some track days....

well anyways, you get the picture.

[superhawk996]

I hope Avon burns down and goes bankrupt and is never able to produce another tire ever ever again.

Will never say anything positive about them, will never recommend them and will warn people till I die.

Will you share your reason or just want to keep yelling about them with no substance?

[Zero Knievel]

I know Avon's earned a pretty bad reputation for making cheap grade tires.

If they're under new management and are making good quality now, perhaps they should have changed names to try and shed the negativity associated with the history of the company.

[The Krypt Keeper]

I hope Avon burns down and goes bankrupt and is never able to produce another tire ever ever again.

Will never say anything positive about them, will never recommend them and will warn people till I die.

Will you share your reason or just want to keep yelling about them with no substance?

Sure, I will grab my brush and paint you a pretty picture. No Happy little trees here.

Avon use to make the ST series tires 45/46, they were ok for slabbing but so/so great anything with a turn into them. Would get about 4500 miles out of them, not so good or bad. Then on a warm summer day I went on a ride into the Virginia mountains with my brand new ST tires and put them through the paces of me playing follow the leader with a few buddies. They held pretty good for an ST tire, running a few pounds lower psi in the twisties and would air them back up to 40 for the ride back home. Next day I look at my bike and the tire has all these pretty blues and purples all over. Opps.. and they never heated up again. 500 miles and done.. my fault for cooking them. Awesome in the rain as well.

Avon had some SP tires I got those spooned on, bars shook like shit, took off the weights, back to the shop, remount it and balance it (I even marked where the old weights were at and new weigh matched up) still shook like crazy. contacted Avon. Its my fault it seems, so after telling them the runout of my rotors, wheel not bent, head bearings, blinker fluid ect ect are all perfect and they finally believe me. I get shipped another tire and get to send the shitty one back to be looked at. Pay once again to mount this tire on.. Worked smooth as butter, amazing just like a tire should be "round".. They were ok tires after that, lasted about 3500 miles.

Here we skip ahead, Once again I change tires to a Metzler M3 which were shit tires for grip and life. I moved on to Bridgstones and ran 5 or 6 sets of BT016's hands down one of the best tires I have ever used. Stick like liquid nails to the road, and still get 3500 miles. Only time I ever had the BT016 slip out was on some 15mph turns going uphill and a wonderful asshole blew all his fresh cut grass into the road. Think this happened at WVXXT handful of years ago.

I needed a new set of tires and while looking someone here posts a link about some Avons on sale, what the hell. Its been years and maybe they got their shit together. These are the Avon 3D Ultra sport tires, get them spooned on and even my tire guy mentioned the ridiculous amount of weigh to balance them out. Without any weights on the wheel it sunk like an anchor, finally getting it to level with several Oz. of weights. The tires are more triangle profile and turn in is nice getting them scrubbed in.

Take a trip west to Warps, front end it shaking like all hell again. don't even think about resting your hands. Warp took it down the road and wondered how in the hell I rode it all the way to his house. We yanked off the weights and the shake was far less but still there. Hit some serious twisties finally getting a feel for the new tires and seemed ok and slip goes the rear. Slip there is went again. No gravel, even Johnny Warps friend saw it slip out and not really leaned that far over. Lower some air pressure (even asked a member here who does trackdays if going down to 33/34 psi in the tires would help or cause too much flex for a heavier bike)

So the next days riding adventure over Back of the Dragon that is from Tazwell to Marion VA. 33 miles and 3 mountains worth of turns. Running lower pressure to flex the tire get some kind of heat and grip into these tire. Rode an hour or so getting to this area come up on the first set of switchbacks and fail. Ass end slipped way out, continue on for the next 30 plus miles and slipped multiple times. We parked at the Ranger station and I am picking seat cushion out of my ass and pissed I cant do more than tip toe around. Hell my buddy on his GTL 1600 was all over my ass and he is slow. I feel the tires of the bike and mine are warm but not really hot or sticky, Warps on his XX are toasty with rocks stuck to it from the parking lot around. Hell, even the GTL stock tires are hot and sticky. Somewhere on this forum I even made a post of these tires being the biggest pieces of shit I have ever been on. Hell the stock D205 dunslops didn't suck this much.

They are shit tires, and will never ever use them ever again. Don't care how cheap, how great people claim. If I were to go buy a brand new bike right now I would have the dealer yank off the tires and either put something else on if it had on Avons.

I hope they fail as a company, and all the people there are infested with mutated zombie slugs.

[ChasRummel]

Some here will advocate using a car tire. They really last compared to cycle specific shoes.

And a far better tree swing for your yard when you do wear it out.

Pr3 are good, pr4 are good but pricey

I personally don't mind tire life being sacrificed for stickyness

Never buy Avon's

I feel the same on the later and will have $ recouped by then. Is the p3 at least slightly sticky? I really should get a set for best confidence in the twistys huh?

I've had the power 3's for around 1500 miles.

They're great. I run it hard and they are solid.

I dont ride in the rain, so I dunno about wet characteristics. Wear seems pretty good

cool

I would sooner run a matched pair of old, worn-out tires than mismatch an oldie with a sticky new tire. Asking for trouble there.

I am aware and planed to buy the match in short time, but as mentioned to Krypt I think I better just shell for the pair now

[IcePrick]

Some here will advocate using a car tire. They really last compared to cycle specific shoes.

And a far better tree swing for your yard when you do wear it out.

You will fit in well here, grasshopper.

I would sooner run a matched pair of old, worn-out tires than mismatch an oldie with a sticky new tire. Asking for trouble there.

I am aware and planed to buy the match in short time, but as mentioned to Krypt I think I better just shell for the pair now

Ah, I missed that part. My comment was only in your best interests, we don't want you leaving too soon.

[blackhawkxx]

At the time Avon was popular around here, there were many complaints about quality control. I will never buy them.

[The Krypt Keeper]

Pr3 are plenty sticky depending on what you are looking for out of them. Your average mix of riding they will serve you well.

I wouldn't do a track day on them though.

[John01XX]

Pr3 are plenty sticky depending on what you are looking for out of them. Your average mix of riding they will serve you well.

I wouldn't do a track day on them though.

Depends on what you expect out of a track day!

I would much rather spend a day on the track on Pilot Road III's than not get on the track at all!

There are a few of us that have ridden JenningsGP track on PR3's - ride the Bird to the track, tape up lights, do over 150 miles on the track, remove tape, ride the Bird home all on Pilot Road III's.

Not competitive with the dedicated track bikes but still brings a smile from ear to ear at the end of the day. There has only been one "off" while riding a Bird at JenningsGP but was missing a foot! That is another whole story!

Edited September 19, 2015 by John01XX

[redxxrdr]

But John,

That bike was sold later as never down.

Also, remember that tires have load ratings. The XX is on the high end of the weight and speed range for most tires.

We talk about twistys, and track days. But most of us don't get to ride the fun rides every day. PR have treated me right in all weather. And I rarely need weight balance them.

[superhawk996]

I hope Avon burns down and goes bankrupt and is never able to produce another tire ever ever again.

Will never say anything positive about them, will never recommend them and will warn people till I die.

Will you share your reason or just want to keep yelling about them with no substance?

Sure, I will grab my brush and paint you a pretty picture. No Happy little trees here.

Avon use to make the ST series tires 45/46, they were ok for slabbing but so/so great anything with a turn into them. Would get about 4500 miles out of them, not so good or bad. Then on a warm summer day I went on a ride into the Virginia mountains with my brand new ST tires and put them through the paces of me playing follow the leader with a few buddies. They held pretty good for an ST tire, running a few pounds lower psi in the twisties and would air them back up to 40 for the ride back home. Next day I look at my bike and the tire has all these pretty blues and purples all over. Opps.. and they never heated up again. 500 miles and done.. my fault for cooking them. Awesome in the rain as well.

Avon had some SP tires I got those spooned on, bars shook like shit, took off the weights, back to the shop, remount it and balance it (I even marked where the old weights were at and new weigh matched up) still shook like crazy. contacted Avon. Its my fault it seems, so after telling them the runout of my rotors, wheel not bent, head bearings, blinker fluid ect ect are all perfect and they finally believe me. I get shipped another tire and get to send the shitty one back to be looked at. Pay once again to mount this tire on.. Worked smooth as butter, amazing just like a tire should be "round".. They were ok tires after that, lasted about 3500 miles.

Here we skip ahead, Once again I change tires to a Metzler M3 which were shit tires for grip and life. I moved on to Bridgstones and ran 5 or 6 sets of BT016's hands down one of the best tires I have ever used. Stick like liquid nails to the road, and still get 3500 miles. Only time I ever had the BT016 slip out was on some 15mph turns going uphill and a wonderful asshole blew all his fresh cut grass into the road. Think this happened at WVXXT handful of years ago.

I needed a new set of tires and while looking someone here posts a link about some Avons on sale, what the hell. Its been years and maybe they got their shit together. These are the Avon 3D Ultra sport tires, get them spooned on and even my tire guy mentioned the ridiculous amount of weigh to balance them out. Without any weights on the wheel it sunk like an anchor, finally getting it to level with several Oz. of weights. The tires are more triangle profile and turn in is nice getting them scrubbed in.

Take a trip west to Warps, front end it shaking like all hell again. don't even think about resting your hands. Warp took it down the road and wondered how in the hell I rode it all the way to his house. We yanked off the weights and the shake was far less but still there. Hit some serious twisties finally getting a feel for the new tires and seemed ok and slip goes the rear. Slip there is went again. No gravel, even Johnny Warps friend saw it slip out and not really leaned that far over. Lower some air pressure (even asked a member here who does trackdays if going down to 33/34 psi in the tires would help or cause too much flex for a heavier bike)

So the next days riding adventure over Back of the Dragon that is from Tazwell to Marion VA. 33 miles and 3 mountains worth of turns. Running lower pressure to flex the tire get some kind of heat and grip into these tire. Rode an hour or so getting to this area come up on the first set of switchbacks and fail. Ass end slipped way out, continue on for the next 30 plus miles and slipped multiple times. We parked at the Ranger station and I am picking seat cushion out of my ass and pissed I cant do more than tip toe around. Hell my buddy on his GTL 1600 was all over my ass and he is slow. I feel the tires of the bike and mine are warm but not really hot or sticky, Warps on his XX are toasty with rocks stuck to it from the parking lot around. Hell, even the GTL stock tires are hot and sticky. Somewhere on this forum I even made a post of these tires being the biggest pieces of shit I have ever been on. Hell the stock D205 dunslops didn't suck this much.

They are shit tires, and will never ever use them ever again. Don't care how cheap, how great people claim. If I were to go buy a brand new bike right now I would have the dealer yank off the tires and either put something else on if it had on Avons.

I hope they fail as a company, and all the people there are infested with mutated zombie slugs.

I guess I got lucky. I put Avon SPs on my SuperHawk and loved them. Carlos loved the STs on his Bird. You had solidly sucky Avon experiences and your story would sway me away from them.

[RC Randy]

I've never had a bad experience from Avons. The only time they have been taken off early is because of a puncture. They have all been different generations of the Storms, except for two sets which were the 3D Ultras, and I didn't like those because of the short life. Usually get about 8-10K out of the Storms, and it doesn't matter if they are on a XX, Busa, or ZX14.

Looking at my maintenance records I have just mounted my 14th set of Avons, and they were the newer Storm 3D XM's going on my Busa. After about 2K miles so far, I can say I will repeat when it comes time to replace tires on one of my other bikes. I have tried 2 sets the PR 2's and liked those, and also two sets of Pirelli Rosso's, but only got about 5k before cords were showing.

Obviously not the tire of choice here, and maybe I would change my mind if I didn't ride the flats most of the time.