Avon tyres closing down

[Potter]

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/202 ... yf_fXSuYuc

Not much news there, but they're closing the UK factory.

[weeksy]

They never quite hit the mark did they... they got close at times but they only ever really sort of got on the sidelines of most markets. A bit too cheap to battle the big boys, but too expensive to hit the budget market.. Ending up somewhere in the middle.

As with everything motorbike, a lot of riders are set in their ways and will go with the same known company year after year. I'm happy to vary slightly, but given the choice i'll go Michelin, i know plenty of others who are similar.. which of course makes it a really tough market.

[Felix]

Vowed never to buy an Avon again after a Roadrider started to split up the middle. Tyre only did about 500 miles

[Supermofo]

I used Avon for a few years when I had my Duke II and SMC. The front wets were mega. I coupled that with Avon's best sports road tyre of the time and they were really good grip wise but they lasted about 15-1800 miles only and 2 sets started having strips of rubber peeling off. I did consider their ST tyre on the GSXS as they got really good reviews and were a fair bit cheaper than the Road 5 at the time of the tests. When I went to buy they were the same price so decided to stick to what I knew.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

They used to do some amazing tyres for production racing, they looked exactly the same as their normal tyres but were made out of a mega grippy compound.
I think the last time I had an Avon on a road bike was in 1987, it wasn't as good as a Metzeler.

[mangocrazy]

I swore off Avon after two front tyres in succession delaminated and Avon were spectacularly unhelpful (read obstructive) about replacement and compensation. This was early 1990s on my VFR. I switched to Continentals, which were cheaper, handled better and lasted longer.

Fast forward nearly 30 years and I was looking for tyres for the restored LC and everyone on the batshitcrazyLC forum reckoned Avon Road Riders were the hot ticket, so against my better judgement I bought a set and they've been fine. When they wear out (or, more likely when I get bored of them) a set of ContiClassicAttacks are going on.

[KungFooBob]

When I raced Early Stocks all the bigger bikes used the race compound versions of the road tyres as they were the only manufacturer who made race compound in old school sizes.

They made them to fit my RD, but having had a walk around the paddock I decided to fit Dunlop KR124's instead.

Every single Avon had cracks in the tread and some had scary cracks in the sidewalls. Everyone reconned it was just cosmetic, but it put me off them for life.

[Noggin]

I only ever put Avons on my Blackbird - after the Contis it came with delaminated!!

I think it's sad they are closing

[Skub]

The legendary Avon Skidmasters.

Last Avon I used was a Roadrunner,I think that may have been early 80s. They used to be a little better than 70s original plastic Jap bike tyres,but not by a million miles.

[cheb]

Will I still be able to buy Triple Duty tyres for my sidecar?

[The Spin Doctor]

Avon Tyres have a long history. They have been producing motorcycle rubber in the UK for more than 100 years and the Melksham factory opened in 1911. Following World War Two, Avon experienced great 2-wheel success with the likes of Mike Hailwood and John Surtees both winning GP titles on their British made tyres.

The Avon Roadrunner was in many ways the forerunner of the modern tyre. It was a lower profile, had a very different groove pattern, and worked well wet and dry - the mark 3 Roadrunner was actually the very first tyre I got my knee down using.

[wull]

I’ve never used them, going by the comments I’m glad I never did. With that being said I’ve had some issues with other tyres, earlier Bridgestones to name one but swear by them now, not many manufacturers make anything other than really good tyres these days, they’re all good.

[Yorick]

I bought an Avon in about 1992. It fell apart. Complained but no joy.
Bought a Pirelli which was a joy to ride.
I wrote to Pirelli telling them the tale.

They sent me one of their famous calendars

[mangocrazy]

I bought an Avon in about 1992. It fell apart. Complained but no joy.

Identical to my experience.

Without the calendar, unfortunately...

[Gregor]

That’s a shame, Roadriders are my tyre of choice on the K and Trailriders on the Tenere, although the rears on the ten only last about 2k miles .......at least they were reasonably priced.

Never had a problem with Avons and being made in England was another reason to buy them.

[The Spin Doctor]

S'funny... when I mentioned a CST Adreno I had fitted in an emergency after a puncture not only gave weird handling characteristics on the Hornet and slid around in the wet, then started to delaminate, loads of people jumped in to tell me what a wonderful budget tyre they were.

I've got Avons on the 250RS and they are fine for such a lightweight bike.

[Taipan]

Only tyre they ever made that i liked were the rain pro texremes, but even then they weren't nearly as good as Maxxis! Avon road tyeres were useless. Here's my Speedmaster with its massive 59bhp lighting up an Avon. I used to fish tail the bike away from most sets of lights in London trying to wear the fecking thing away. I think they used Nylon as a compound!

[Bigjawa]

When I raced Early Stocks all the bigger bikes used the race compound versions of the road tyres as they were the only manufacturer who made race compound in old school sizes.

They made them to fit my RD, but having had a walk around the paddock I decided to fit Dunlop KR124's instead.

Every single Avon had cracks in the tread and some had scary cracks in the sidewalls. Everyone reconned it was just cosmetic, but it put me off them for life.

I used ex supersport 400 Avon's on my KR-1S because a mate raced one. They were brilliant. Years later I put a set of Azaros on my GSXR1100 when it had the 18inch wheels on it and it became an ill handling pig.

[mangocrazy]

I remember all the proddy racers back in the day raving about AM22/23 track compound tyres, but my experience with their road tyres has been patchy to say the least.

[Yorick]

I remember all the proddy racers back in the day raving about AM22/23 track compound tyres, but my experience with their road tyres has been patchy to say the least.

I raced from 82 - 89 and never saw them used in the smaller classes.