Out with Avon, in with Pirelli

[R4R&R]

Yesterday I finally got around to changing out my old worn out Avons (I think the Hungry Mother ride did them in!). Later today I'll go through my service log to see how many miles I got out of them but I have to admit, they didn't give me the warm-n-fuzzies in the rain. Overall I've had a pretty dry season but last week we had the remains of a tropical storm visit our area, right when I had to go to work. I felt more slipping than I wanted to but that could've been attributed to the tread getting low. Something else I noticed is the bike's handling - it's horrible, all squirrely in the corners, it's either the tires or shocks (I may be ready to replace the shocks - see other thread). I'm hoping tires for now but I am going to focus on new shocks in the very near future. Either way, I now have the Pirelli Strada's mounted - the ones from that dealio last spring, buy the rear and they give you a free front. I have to admit they were harder to mount than other brands I've done (Michelin, Avon, Metzeler) but they're on now and balanced out ok. I think the worst I've balanced are the Pilot Roads - on a buddies bike, it took about 50 grams of weights!

Time for a test ride. I'll report later.

[R4R&R]

Note, the front Avon was pretty thin on tread and I was uncomfortable with it in the rain. The rear was changed since I had the tire and time, and while it too was getting low I would've milked a little more out of it, probably a couple hundred miles but the handling was getting uneasy.

I still wonder how much different a wet season makes over dry, and winter vs. summer.

So far my favorite's are the Z6's but I'll see how the Pirelli's do. I don't care for the Avons, but when new they were good riding.

Updated mileage:
Front tire changes
model miles
D208 12925
Z6 11101
Z6 10787
AV45 8619
Pirelli Strada current

Rear tire changes
model miles
D208 (flat) 846
D220 7385
Z4 9920
Z6 (flat) 7699
Z6 9602
AV46 7981
Pirelli Strada current

[geogridshorthair]

I put the Pirelli Strata on while they had the sale (several months ago) and so far I like the feel. No rain so far this year so can not comment on performance in the wet.

Put about 2K miles on and so far they are good.

I put them on my R1150R and the R1150RT.

steve

[Airman]

It seems like you're getting decent mileage from your tires. I have also mounted my promo Pirelli's recently and I hope I get the same rain performance that I had with the Z4's. My Z4's had also gotten strange there toward the end. The rear was pretty square and the front had started to crown in a weird sort of way. Made transitions a little abrupt.
The Pirelli's are pleasure so far.

[MIXR]

I couldn't get a front Avon in time for my trip around Aus, so I fitted the Pirelli Diablo Strada instead. They were fine from a grip perspective, for all 16,000 kms of the ride, plus another couple of thousand back here. I did replace the rear at 10,000, because the trip was hot, fast and upright with a heavy load. The lack of wear strips for the centre tread (there is no centre tread) was a problem as I had lots of side tread but couldn't tell what was left in the centre.

Had some funny balling on the rear and raised wear patterns on the front, but was otherwise impressed. More sensitive to heat and pressure than the Avon. They have done a little wet work, and seemed fine. Not as good as the Avon in my book, but pretty good. Dry riding is predictable, and seems to be really good with a load on.

The front now has 20,000 kms on it and still has tread, but the heating from trip seems to have hardened it. Time for it to go. The rear that was replaced at 10,000 has another 10,000 on it. Still good, with lots of side tread left as the first 6,000 was slab work. I'll change it as well and then cut the centre to see how much rubber is actually there.

My only reason for not going back to them this change is because they are definitely not as good straight from cold as the Avon is. I love the cold grip of the avon. I'll go back to them. Otherwise, the Pirelli is a pretty good touring tyre.

[wncbmw]

John - I still have my Pirellis on and so far like them. Handling is fine wet or dry and it looks like I might break 7K on mileage - a record for me!