new avons arrived, cracks ??

[kyle]

my new avon venoms showed up today and well, front tire looks great batch date of "2212" good. back tire "2812" however, one side of tire looks great the other side has what looks like could be cracks but I'm thinking its left over marks from a release agent of some kind. anyway did a light steelwool over a section and seemed to take it off, but rubbing with a rag did nothing, so i'm gonna clean whole tire and run under magnifying glass. should be good just wondering what others might think.

[rickardracing]

I would not buy them. They have had sidewall cracking issues for quite a long time. Guys put them on and within a year they are cracked. Tires are too expensive and way too much work to deal with that. I am going to be puting on new rubber in March. I will be going with what I put on last time. Dunlop E3's. I got over 20k miles on this last set.

[mm482]

I put an avon on last year. It now has about 8,000 miles on it and is doing great.

 

Earl

[etcswjoe]

I thought mine were cracking but it turned out to be some kind of wax or something on the tire. 10K on this set and still going strong.

[Sleeperhawk]

I put on a new set this past September, no issues.

The replaced set no issues and about 14000 on them.

[playboy]

I worked at a Tire Manufacturing plant for 12 years and most of those in the curing dept. Raw tires are sprayed with a lube inside and out shortly after being assembled. This aides in there release from the Mold and the Bladder that inflates them inside the Mold forcing the raw tread compound into the Mold giving whatever tread design. I have seen this crackling thousands of times and is usually to much Lube or it wasn't mixed or thinned properly. The cracking you describe sounds like the case you have as I have had with AVON's. Now I'm not saying others have not had a cracking in the compound which would not be acceptable just that I haven't seen it only the pattern like crackling paint both on and old set of tires with 13k and a new set installed a few months ago.

 

 

Digging a under cured tire or one not lubed out of a HOT mold aint no fun.

 

Ever notice the white discoloration on the inside ? That comes from the lube also and I haven't heard of anyone not using a tire because of that just sayin.

[Kregerdoodle]

The last set of Avons that I bought had noticable cracking, there is no doubt if yours are cracked, you will be able to see it and know what it is. I have sense started running E3`s and have no problems. Good luck, to me the peace of mind not worrying about them comming apart is well worth changing to E3`s..

Edited January 26, 2013 by Kregerdoodle
phat fingered

[kyle]

thanks for the input. this is my 3rd set of avons and never an issue before. these are great tires and would love to stay with them and I will. this set is good just some funky finish on one side no big deal. i get an average of 13,000 miles outta each set.

[Guest scarylarry]

There is guy on Delphi that went through 3 sets cause of cracking, in the end Avon replace the tires with another brand..

 

I have own 3+ sets and never had a issue..

[Mike G in SC]

I've had several sets of Avons and am now running mix of Michelins rear and Dunlop E3's on my RSTD and RSV.

All perform about the same to me, good.

 

I did have one Avon that developed a pin leak near the bead of a front. Took it to my Yamaha shop where it was installed, they found it and Avon replaced it free at 12k miles (1/2 tread wear).

But I don't think the tire had visible cracking. Overall was happy with Avons, but wanted to try the new Michelins, and the E3's to see if I can get more servicable miles.

 

Wish Michelin Commander II would come out with stock front.

Edited January 26, 2013 by Mike G in SC

[Guest scarylarry]

.

 

Wish Michelin Commander II would come out with stock front.

 

They would I do believe if people e mailed them heavy on this, demands speak for production..

[nickle]

checking too see when tires were made too. some times in whare houses for a few years before sold. i can remember right now how too read the date on them . but it there

[First_N_Last]

I'm still riding, to this day, on my Avon Venom front tire with sidewall surface cracking.

Rides great - wears great - looks crappy, but that's OK for me.

 

BTW - it's a rear tire reversed & now on the front of my Trike. It is a good long mileage beefy tire for my Trike.

 

JohnnyB

[Bummer]

I had cracking on Venoms. When I talk about cracking I mean that I took it off and flexed the sidewall and could see threads. It was a crack. No "maybe". No "is that a crack?" No "maybe if I rub this with something..." There was no doubt it was a crack. As in "Holy beep, look at that crack!" The first set had the serious crack (rear) the replacement set started cracking (also rear) so I went to Elites.

 

It has been a couple of years now. In time I won't mind trying Avons again. The tyres (they are Avons after all) handled great - hands down my favorite so far.

[Riderduke]

I have about 90k of miles on Avons and never had a problem with them. I get about 14-16k on the rear and change out the front every other rear..... Love these tires. i have always gotten my tires at SWMoto until the last one I got the better price at MCSuperstore.

[LilBeaver]

I had cracking on Venoms. When I talk about cracking I mean that I took it off and flexed the sidewall and could see threads. It was a crack. No "maybe". No "is that a crack?" No "maybe if I rub this with something..." There was no doubt it was a crack. As in "Holy beep, look at that crack!" The first set had the serious crack (rear) the replacement set started cracking (also rear) so I went to Elites.

 

It has been a couple of years now. In time I won't mind trying Avons again. The tyres (they are Avons after all) handled great - hands down my favorite so far.

 

Mine pretty much did the same thing too. I had 2 different fronts and two different rear Avon Venoms do it. The end of it was the Avon tire rep bought me a set of Dunlop E3s and could not apologize enough.

The cracks were on one side and there were one or two that were a few inches long and I did not need to 'flex' the tire to see it.

I got the 'some checking is normal' thing from EVERYONE I talked to until I convinced them to come out and take a look and the response was always "oh wow -- that is not normal".

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/album.php?albumid=435

 

Here is a link to my Album on here that shows some of what mine looked like. These developed within a few weeks

 

I liked the way the Avons rode and handled -- soft, smooth and quiet. However, I am not quite ready to drop 200-300 bucks on another set of tires that might do this to me again -- or worse yet, fail while riding. I have nothing against them other than I do not trust them, for me and my bike, right now.