Preliminary Avon AV45/46 Report: Cold and Rainy Riding

[DRB NW WA State]

Based on comments from the forum, I thought I’d try some Avon tires: AV45 front and AV46 rear. They replaced Bridgestone a very worn-out BT-010 front, BT-020 rear combo. I have about 1,500 miles on the rear, 500 on the front.

Winter arrived to the U.S. Pacific Northwest more than a month ago. Usually this means frequent rain, temps high-30s to 40s F. There are both occasional sunny and snowy days in the greater Puget Sound area in winter. When it’s too cold, I cage: ice is not my friend.

I’ve done a lot of Blackbird commuting on the AV45/46 combo the past couple weeks, almost always in light to heavy rain with temps high-30s to low-40s F. The Avons are by and large proving satisfactory. I’ve leaned, stopped, started, blah blah in fairly foul riding conditions. Here are some preliminary pros and cons:

PRO: generally great rain manners, little to no sliding, appear to be wearing well, not unduly slippery when cold.

CON: the angular profile on the front wants to fall in too quickly for my tastes, not unlike a Dunlop sport tire. I find this an odd profile selection for an intermediate-compound street tire.

Granted I have Race Tech forks set up on the stiff side (they definitely work best when worked hard at high speed, less so at lower speeds). Bumps at low speed when leaned feed a little nervousness to the forks, exacerbated by the angular profile that wants to fall in quickly.

I have not tried these tires at a spirited dry weather pace. Consistent dry weather won’t return here until late spring or early summer 2004.

We’ll see about mileage: I must admit, sacrilegious though it may be to some of you cats, I mostly use my Blackbird as an ultra-reliable, smooth, comfortable, viciously fast, Corbin-bag-equipped commute bike (60 mile round-trip). Point being, I’ll trade a little grip for mileage, but prefer a rain tire that “works” over mileage.

I’m not expecting huge mileage from the Avons.

[pdxxx]

Nice. Thanks for the review. My original rear tire is getting bald and I have been looking at the Avons.

I also have a 60 mile commute in Oregon from Newberg to Lake Oswego and back in rainy weather these days. I have been also looking at getting a Michelin Pilot Road for the rear and a Pilot Sport for the front. What do you think about that?

BTW, what do you do to avoid fog on the inside and rain buildup on the outside of your face shield? In the dark and rain, on curvy mountain roads, that makes for white knuckle riding.

[Rainchaser]

BTW, what do you do to avoid fog on the inside and rain buildup on the outside of your face shield? In the dark and rain, on curvy mountain roads, that makes for white knuckle riding.

At Advanced/Discount Auto Parts - they sell stuff you can put on that supposedly helps with this. Haven't tried it yet, but a friend said it worked well.

[BIG BOY]

Fog city fog shield inside and Honda spray or The Rain-X all that works on plastic for the outside. You can just turn your head from side to side and the rain will come off.

If you need ANAL install instruction on the fog city, PM me or call me on my cell. 610-349-4210

[demon]

I went from a Dunlop 205 to an Avon 45 on the front and I think the Avon doesn't come close to falling in like a dunlop. Have had the Avon for about 2000 miles and really like it. I think it grips good and is a good all around tire.

[VeloXXiraptor]

pdxxx,

I concur with Don. the Fog City ProShield is excellent!! Absolutely no fogging. Just make sure you have it placed right before you stick it to your shield!!! :shock:

:cheers:

Jim

[jlheine]

I would imagine you can find it in the US, but there's a product from Respro called Foggy (sounds lame, I know) that is a neoprene mask that velcro-attaches under the chin straps, and forms a seal over the nose...

In effect, all the hot air you spew out (breathing, etc.) is channeled to the bottom of the helmet and does not rise to fog the shield. Elimination of the cause, instead of mitigating the cause.

It cost me a couple bucks here, but works quite well... It is a bit inconvenient to put on the helmet with it in place, but with a little practice, no problem. Can be folded up and put in a pocket too... :razz:

http://www.respro.com/racing.php

[pdxxx]

Thanks for the fog/rain advice guys ... I'll check them out!

[DRB NW WA State]

There’s a debate around here regarding Zook cleaner for face shields. Zook have a booth at the Seattle stop on the annual motorcycle show, which passed through just the other weekend. Presumably it’s available elsewhere, too.

I use this product to clean my glasses and (occasionally) computer monitors, finding it very effective. I also take-no-prisoners when buying glasses every couple years, with fog, scratch, and glare-resistant lenses of the thinnest, most durable materials available. Bottom line is Zook helps keep my glasses clean and fog-free, indispensable when riding in the rain. The visor is another matter.

My luck with visor defogging products hasn’t been so good. Others do well with Fog City shields, and while I respect their views the products haven’t worked well for me (yet, at least). One day I will try them again.

One rainy morning this week I liberally applied Zook paste to the shield on my Quantum F. After riding awhile, rain droplets smeared, forming water runnels, but did not bead. The shield resisted fogging. Smears made it harder to see, however, occluding much of the visor viewing area. Depth perception went straight to hell. Not good.

While it’s a great cleaner, I wasn’t entirely satisfied with Zook on faceshields. I’ll stick with Plexus, and keep the visor cracked to avoid fogging. Another solution will eventually present itself.

[SwampNut]

I like Honda Polish for the shield.

[TOXXIC]

I use the Plexus as well.

[VeloXXiraptor]

DRB,

the older Fog City products weren't very good at all. Maybe that's what your experiences were with. They kind of did what they were supposed to do, but the quality was poor. They were so bad, in fact, that when I bid on just a couple on eBay, the seller sent me about a dozen of them because he just wanted to get rid of them! The new generation of ProShields are excellent. I've been riding with one for over a year now and have no complaints at all. Good concept, and now it's evolved into a really good product. Another downside is availability. I heard about them from our friends in the UK, who ride in any kind of crappy conditions, all the time - if anyone would know, they would, so I thought I would give them a try.

:cheers:

Jim