New Tires

[Wolf]

Hello all,

 

I bought a new 09 RSV a few motnhs ago. I have put 6,000 miles on it and would like to impove upon the ride, so I have been reading your posts on the Elite 3's and the Avon Venum's. Can anyone tell me their experience with both tires, how they handle in the rain, and the overall performance as compared to the stock 404's?

[RedRider]

Both Avons and E3's are a big step up from the D404's. They both handle better, and will both last considerably longer. Beware of the D404's. You have likely maxed out the life on the rear. You should get 12k to 15k miles (and maybe more) out of the Avons or E3's.

 

Have run all 3. Will never run a D404 again due to short life. Avons were great. Ran it to the core in about 16k miles. Have about 3000 miles on the E3 and really like it. Still have the D404 on the front but will upgrade to the E3 front when it wears out.

 

RR

[beyeker]

I put Elite IIIs on my 2007 Venture this spring, I have 9500 miles on them and the back tire has lots of tread left. I highly recommend them.

[1BigDog]

You wont go wrong with either the Avon or the E3's...just stay away from the metzeler 880's.

[Jethroish]

My OEM D404s got 13,000 miles before I replaced them. And they were not to the wear bars, but began handling badly. Depends on your riding style.

Anyhow, I put on E3s last year and have 13,000 plus miles. Looking at the tires, I am guessing another 5,000 before I need a new rear tire. they handle great on wet roads.

Never tried the Venoms, so cannot comment on them.

[Venturous Randy]

While you are changing tires, grease everything back there.

On my 1st gen, I have had Avons and Elite III's and I like the Elite III's better.

RandyA

[YamaDuck]

I put E3's on and have about 12,000miles on them in the last couple of months and they still have a long way to go. Great riding and handling tires however I hit some tire snakes out west and I thought I was going down. My buddy had E3's on his and when I looked up he was all over the place. He told me he though he was going down. I don't know how much it had to do with the tire snakes and how much it had to do with the E3's. I've hit tire snakes before with other tires and did not have any trouble. I do love the E3's though just hate the tire snakes.

[Wolf]

Thank you for all of the responses. Most of you prefer the E3's, my dealer reccomended the Avons, so dod another friend. I thinbk I am going to go with Avons and hope it is the right decesion. As for tire wear on the stock 404's almost 5500 miles, and still plent of tread. It is the handling that I hate, and also hitting the grooves in the road, I hate being pulled down the road due to lines and cuts in the pavement.

[Squidley]

I have run the Avon Venoms for many years and love the tire. Problem is tires are very subjective to how you ride and the conditiond you put them through. I have heard good things about the E3's, but they are going to have to be spectacular to change me over from the Avons. You wont be sorry with the Venoms.

[Grey Ghost]

Are the Venoms or E3s available with wide white sidewall?

[Jethroish]

Are the Venoms or E3s available with wide white sidewall?

 

 

E3s - No.

 

Venoms - Yes, depending on the size.

[edger]

I'm surprised you got snakey with the E'3s because they are known for taking that little flaw out of the scenario. I agree with everyone else here, think they are both good, I'm going with the 3's only because I am told the venoms are a little softer tire, which holds the road better but wears faster. I drive like a grandpa so I don't need the extra traction, need the wear time.

[Dave77459]

I love my Venoms, but haven't tried anything else to compare. Except the vile OEM Brickstones. I am running 150/90HB-15 Rear and the thinner MT90HB-16 Front tires. Since I am very happy with life and performance, I'm sticking with these.

 

Dave

[SilvrT]

Both Avons and E3's are a big step up from the D404's. They both handle better, and will both last considerably longer. Beware of the D404's. You have likely maxed out the life on the rear. You should get 12k to 15k miles (and maybe more) out of the Avons or E3's.

 

Have run all 3. Will never run a D404 again due to short life. Avons were great. Ran it to the core in about 16k miles. Have about 3000 miles on the E3 and really like it. Still have the D404 on the front but will upgrade to the E3 front when it wears out.

 

RR

 

that's not much of a step up from stock coz I got over 10k miles on my stock tires and there's still a few thou left. ????

 

I do notice that the front wears as fast or faster than the rear. Kinda kills the old "2 back to 1 front" rule of thumb.

[Sleeperhawk]

I have had Avons on my 05, then decided on my 08 would try the E3.

 

In my opinion, both tires are great handling, basically the same tread pattern.

Both been through heavy rain and light rain and handle great (all with 2 up).

 

Right now I am on my second rear E3, first one had 16000, the second one currently about 7000, with the same front E3 for both rears. Still plenty of tread on the front tire.

 

The only reason I am staying with the E3 was the price, my last rear E3 I only paid 120.00 were as the Venon was running about 145. Now both are about the same in price.

 

Also, if you are paying the dealer over 175 per tire/mounting and balancing, you will be paying to much. I order my tires, take the wheels off the bike, take them to the dealer and only charged 30 for both front and rear mounting and balancing. I put the back on the bike.

 

Bottom line, Venoms and E3 are both great tires.

[midnightventure]

You will like the Avons or the Elite 3s a lot better than the D404s on grooved roads. I have even stopped complaining about the DOT cutting the grooves. Of course I haven't stopped complaining about all the other stupid things that Modot does. I was amazed how much better the back roads in Arkansas were compared to ours.

[hig4s]

Are the Venoms or E3s available with wide white sidewall?

 

 

Venoms are, but not in the stock size on the front tire.. I went with the one size smaller front, which makes the bike handle a bit quicker. Some people don't like it, but having moved to touring from sport bike I like the feel.

 

Also the WWW Avons have higher load ratings than either the 404 or Brickstone stock tires Yamaha uses. I believe they have higher load ratings than most other tires the same size.

 

I have no complaints in wet or dry, but I long ago lost my desire to be aggressive on a bike and generally ride so mellow I never actually had any problem on the stock Brickstones, other than they were so noisy they gave me headaches.

[Ozark]

I have had a Venoms for a couple of years and have loved the way they handled. But at the Hub we found out that they can fail dramatically. The tire didn't go down, but you can see from the pictures that we were very lucky. Shop said they have never seen a tire do that before. May be a one in a million, but take a few extra minutes to look them over before you head out.

[BigSexxy]

A buddy of mine had same thing happen. If you can take them to same place you purchased them and complain, or even contact venom and complain. They will tell you to have them looked at by vendor who sold them to you and will send you a new set. I couldn't believe it when he told me they were sending him a brand new set. They do stand behind the products they sell.

[YamaDuck]

I have never run the Avon's but I did a lot of reading on both tires before I went with the E3's. I have read where people were having trouble with the Avon's (not many) but more than with the E3's. I was at a meet and eat and met a couple of people who were running E3's and both had over 18,000 miles on their rear tire. So the high mileage and trouble reports on the Avon's convinced me to go with the E3's even though they were about the same handling tire.

[hig4s]

I have never run the Avon's but I did a lot of reading on both tires before I went with the E3's. I have read where people were having trouble with the Avon's (not many) but more than with the E3's. I was at a meet and eat and met a couple of people who were running E3's and both had over 18,000 miles on their rear tire. So the high mileage and trouble reports on the Avon's convinced me to go with the E3's even though they were about the same handling tire.

 

 

I would be interested to know what the manufacture date and how old the tires were when they failed.

 

Any tire over 6 years old is a potential hazard, even if it has never been on a bike. Personally I want a tire that was made less than a year from when I have it installed. That is one of the reasons I hesitate to buy tires from discount internet sites, who knows how long they have been sitting around.

[LilBeaver]

I have had a problem with severe sidewall cracking on a set of Avon Venoms I had (on my Venture). Avon customer service has been terrific though and replaced both of the tires. Both tires were within 1 year of age and were kept in optimal conditions for tires. My replacements have a little over 5,000 miles on them and have been on for 1 month (rear) and 3 months (for the front). Both replaced with tires that have date codes of early 2009. I noticed, while working on my bike in the last couple of days that my front is already developing cracks that are reminiscent of the last set I had. (I know it is not the environment that is causing it because the other tires that are on my other bikes are much older and with sidewalls that look brand new (stored in the same place as my RSV).

 

If I didn't have the mileage on these tires that I do, I would be headed back to the dealer that I got them from and have them switched out with E3s. (My dealer offered to switch the back one with an E3 instead of the Avon when I got that one changed and I decided to go ahead and give the Avon another try since so many people on here have been happy with them). Also, my local dealer stocks Dunlop and they keep our size in stock all the time (for a little over 100 bucks too). So that also goes into my decision to go to the E3s.

 

BTW I check my tire pressure and glance at the condition of them before I ride, and I ride daily...

 

Anyways, I am happy with the way the Avons handle and ride just not happy with the deteriorating sidewall and price tag that comes with it.

 

Just my

Edited August 26, 2009 by LilBeaver
Horrid spelling errors!

[hig4s]

I have had a problem with severe sidewall cracking on a set of Avon Venoms I had (on my Venture). Avon customer service has been terrific though and replaced both of the tires. Both tires were within 1 year of age and were kept in optimal conditions for tires. My replacements have a little over 5,000 miles on them and have been on for 1 month (rear) and 3 months (for the front). Both replaced with tires that have date codes of early 2009. I noticed, while working on my bike in the last couple of days that my front is already developing cracks that are reminiscent of the last set I had. (I know it is not the environment that is causing it because the other tires that are on my other bikes are much older and with sidewalls that look brand new (stored in the same place as my RSV).

 

If I didn't have the mileage on these tires that I do, I would be headed back to the dealer that I got them from and have them switched out with E3s. (My dealer offered to switch the back one with an E3 instead of the Avon when I got that one changed and I decided to go ahead and give the Avon another try since so many people on here have been happy with them). Also, my local dealer stocks Dunlop and they keep our size in stock all the time (for a little over 100 bucks too). So that also goes into my decision to go to the E3s.

 

BTW I check my tire pressure and glance at the condition of them before I ride, and I ride daily...

 

Anyways, I am happy with the way the Avons handle and ride just not happy with the deteriorating sidewall and price tag that comes with it.

 

Just my

 

Wow, not sure why they would do that. My Avons were manufactured mid 07, I had them installed spring 08 and have 4000 miles since installed,,,(usually put on 8k to 10k but have been sick this summer) and mine look like new both tread and side walls. What pressure do you run? I keep mine up near max pressure.

[LilBeaver]

Wow, not sure why they would do that. My Avons were manufactured mid 07, I had them installed spring 08 and have 4000 miles since installed,,,(usually put on 8k to 10k but have been sick this summer) and mine look like new both tread and side walls. What pressure do you run? I keep mine up near max pressure.

 

I usually run 40 psi front and 48 psi rear (for around town). Long rides I drop the rear to 46psi. The cracking was only on one side of the tires. (Front was the right side, rear was the left side) which led me to believe that it was a problem with the tire it self.

 

 

Back on topic though, there are quite a few folks on here that have Michelin Commanders. I have no experience with those but that would be another option to look at and maybe find some input on.

[dynodon]

Just put E3's on my '86 VR after running VERY old E2's since I bought the bike 3 years ago. The III's are superb.

 

They are quiet, smooth and round! The old tires had flatland/Illinois syndrome, flat in the middle!

 

So far I love the Elite III's and have about 500 miles on them so far.