Avon AM26

[gothitjulie]

Fitted an Avon AM26 to the rear of the NTV600 a couple of weeks ago.

The tyre warms up OK & holds much better than the old worn BT45 over lane markings, tar banding & open road joints. Seems steady as a rock pretty much everywhere so far, done about 500 miles & looking good.

Wet grip seems similar to the BT45, difficult to tell for certain yet though even though I've had it through a deluge on Saturday & all felt just fine.

I'll try & remember to post again on wear rate when I've done a few thousand on it.

[76offset]

Hi gothitjulie, hope ypu're fine. I've seen your comment on your new Avon am26 tyre from Nov. 2010 and wondered how it worked out since?
I had a bt45 fitted last June, it's been fine xcept 1 nail punct. but even though I haven't caned it, it has worn down to about 3.5mm over about 5k mls. and I would prefer something a bit more hard wearing. best wishes, Richard

[gothitjulie]

I haven't measured the tyre wear but have now covered about 3000 miles with that rear tyre & it's not let me down grip wise except whilst trying to pull off ice onto a main road which was a bit slippy (as to be expected).

Most of my riding has been on damp or wet roads, often longer distances, lots of motorway & dual carriageway & it's starting to square off a bit as would be expected.

Last few days the roads have been dry enough to get the power down on roundabouts & it's performed well.

I still recommend the AM26

[rj2para (Bisto)]

Totally missed this post. Interesting looking tyre.

www.avon-tyres.co.uk/motorcycle/roadrider



I fitted a BT021 on the back last summer and will shortly add a matching tyre on the front. I don't do many miles but the 021 holds the road well winter and summer. Although not the best partner to my BT45 on the front which is looking tired

Thanks for sticking with a quiet thread Goth and posting back.

Roger

[pata]

I fitted a Michelin Pilotroad2 on the rear wheel last year and drove around 10k kilometers and still looks like new. I like the grip and shape of the tyre, it gives a confident ride.

[76offset]

That's interesting pata. so it looks like the mich. pilotroad 2 lasts well and grips well. I was thinking along those lines. thanks for that

[kirriepete]

Right, let's dredge this up from the ancient past .....

Yesterday's wee bimble round the back roads showed a serious lack of confidence in the front end on Wee Norman. Pirelli Sport Demon down to 2mm or so, was never the best to start with but had my butt cheeks firmly clenched on one or two wet bends up the ar$e end of nowhere.

Given that I have a nearly new Pirelli on the back, my choices for front tyre are restricted - must be crossply, no bias belt or radial allowed. So, that's the BT45 out of the running, anyone else tried the AM26? It looks like a good enough bit of rubber and, let's face it, anything's gonna be better than the Pirelli that's on there now!

Advice, opinions, total bollox always welcome.

[groovylee]

if i might ask, why cross ply over radial? new to bike tyres, so would like to know a bit more if thats ok? cheers,
lee

[kirriepete]

Jan 24, 2012 10:43:25 GMT 1 groovylee said:

if i might ask, why cross ply over radial? new to bike tyres, so would like to know a bit more if thats ok? cheers,
lee

OK, tyre construction for beginners:

Crossply - underlying carcass constructed such that the reinforcing cords in the material criss-cross each other at an angle (usually 30 to 40 degrees from the wheel rim). No reinforcing layer under the tread area. Used since pretty much the year dot. Fairly stiff tyre. Cheap (for a given definition of the word 'cheap')

Bias-belted - similar construction to the crossply, but with (maybe) fewer crossover layers, additional reinforcing layer(s) running round under the tread area. Not so stiff tyre, helps to spread the tread a bit better. Compromise between crossply and radial. Bit more expensive than crossplys, but not too bad.

Radial - carcass laid up at right angles to rim, no crossing of cords, with reinforcing layer under the tread area. Flexible tyre, deforms to allow more tread area at lean angles and over bumps. Modern. Cost more pennies, worth it for extra grip and/or better mileage?

MOT regs: Basically, you cannot have a more flexible tyre on the front than on the back, so combinations that pass are:

Crossply front - any rear
Bias front - bias or radial rear
Radial front - radial rear

Coming from the other direction:

Radial rear - any front
Bias rear - bias or crossply front
Crossply rear - crossply front

So, I need a crossply on the front, because I've got one on the rear. When this rear needs replacing, I'll probably go bias-belt with a Bridgestone BT45 or similar, allowing me a b/b next time out on the front ...

If you are a 'performance' rider then you'll go for maximum grip, which means radials, they say they wear better as well. Downside is that they are a bit more fussy about getting up to temperature before giving their best. Crossplys and b/b have a bit more leeway, although you should never give a cold tyre the berries, or you get this:



(Yeah, I'm having a boring day at work ....)

[gills]

Jan 23, 2012 14:41:30 GMT 1 kirriepete said:

Advice, opinions, total bollox always welcome.

I can provide plenty of the latter ;D

I've not used the Roadrider, but I've used the Azaro and later the Storms on other bikes and really liked them - more so than the equivalent Bridgestones. The Azaro/Storm seemed to wear well and not square off too badly.

Having said that, the general opinion of the AM26 seems to be that they're slightly harder than the BT45 on an NTV, although plenty of people like them.

On a slightly different note, has anyone tried BT-023s? I notice that Bridgestone show them (as well as the BT-45) as a recommended fitment for the NTV, albeit in slightly different sizes (110/70 17 & 160/60 17).