Avon Cobras

After my Metzlers wore out after only 6000 miles my Cobras now have 7100 on them and I still cant tell any wear on them. I am totally sold on this tire for the Nomad.

[macmac]

You just might want to get down and stick a gauge in the tread to see what it really is in 32nd's. I don't think I buy that bit at all.

[ringadingh]

I just replaced my rear Metz today and it had just over 19,000 miles on it, but no tread left. I can get well over 10,000 on all of the tires Ive used. I'll see how my new Dunlop does this time around.

[bkmaxvrb]

I literally just got back from the dealer. I needed an inspection and when we took a look at the tires, my rear Metzler ME 880 was BALD!!! It had about 7500 miles on it. And, by bald, I mean it was way to unsafe to ride on, the rubber was worn through.

Please don't beat up on me for this, I already have. I'm so disgusted in myself for letting my tire go so long without checking it properly. I pride myself on keeping my bike maintained.

Back on track, the stock stones only gave me around 5,000 miles and I'm getting 7,500 from the Metz's for an additional cost of around $50. I don't know how you guys are getting 10,000 out of these tires. Hints? Please?

Anyway, that's my story for the day.

Russ

[ringadingh]

Hard accelleration, and heavy braking, are the main factors in a tires lifespan. The easier you drive and gear down gently dont hit the brakes untill almost at a standstill will give you longer tire life, but its not as much fun as taking off fast and winding it through the gears.

[flavor]

You just might want to get down and stick a gauge in the tread to see what it really is in 32nd's. I don't think I buy that bit at all.

The cobra front tire has a wear bar after looking closer at them. Just ordered another one for the front. I have 17,000 plus on the front tire now and have just hit the wear bar as of late. I went to the ct on the rear about 1200 miles ago. If I was going to stay with a m/c tire on the rear I would've replaced it with the cobra as well.

You got to stay with what works for ya. Eh.......

[isaiahsdad]

That is quite peculiar that a motorcycle tire has 7100 miles on it and no sign of wear. But Avon does produce good tires, and lip gloss too. And being it is a front tire makes a big difference too.

And don't kill yourself bkmaxvrb, it is how we learn. Your last minute discovery may just make someone on here do a double check next time they get on their scooter. I have a very small garage and I have no choice but to look at the back tire whenever I get in the garage. I don't think it is a mistake you will make again and am glad you found out the way you did, and not when you really needed that tread.

I did not mean to imply there wasnt wear, but basically zilch I can see and mac, I still use a penny.

[dogdoc]

Ring, Im curious if I read you correctly. you said you have 19,000 miles on a MC tire on the rear????? i have never heard of anybody on here getting that mileage from a stone, metz, cobra, or anything unless its a CT and that will have to be proven later. WOW,,,

[Cajunrider]

Hard accelleration, and heavy braking, are the main factors in a tires lifespan. The easier you drive and gear down gently dont hit the brakes untill almost at a standstill will give you longer tire life, but its not as much fun as taking off fast and winding it through the gears.

Pulling a trailer is murder on the rear tire. I rolled up a little over 6,000 on my 180/70-16 Cobra, over 90% of it pulling the trailer and I had to replace it. I followed the instructions of one of Avon's senior technicial advisors and ran 50 psi in the tire while pulling the trailer riding 2 up. I think it was too much because the tire wore itself out only in the center about 1 1/2" wide. The rest of the tire looked great. Sounds like a case of classic over inflation to me.

[isaiahsdad]

Ring, Im curious if I read you correctly. you said you have 19,000 miles on a MC tire on the rear????? i have never heard of anybody on here getting that mileage from a stone, metz, cobra, or anything unless its a CT and that will have to be proven later. WOW,,,

He is from Canada, don't them Canadians use that there metric system. 19,000 km equals 11,000 miles, that sounds better :)

[ringadingh]

Ring, Im curious if I read you correctly. you said you have 19,000 miles on a MC tire on the rear????? i have never heard of anybody on here getting that mileage from a stone, metz, cobra, or anything unless its a CT and that will have to be proven later. WOW,,,

Its my ME880 tire and that is how far I travelled on it, I'll post a pic of what it looks like, I should have replaced it a couple months ago as it was bald then.

[Top Cat]

The dealer is replacing my Avon Cobra tomorrow. I got 11,500 miles out of it. It is the rear tire.
I got 11,000 on the rear Metz but the steel belts were showing when I had it changed.
I am putting on Elite 3's. We will see how they go. If I don't get good mileage out of them i will go to a CT. ;) NOT. I am still scared :-[

[ringadingh]

Ring, Im curious if I read you correctly. you said you have 19,000 miles on a MC tire on the rear????? i have never heard of anybody on here getting that mileage from a stone, metz, cobra, or anything unless its a CT and that will have to be proven later. WOW,,,

He is from Canada, don't them Canadians use that there metric system. 19,000 km equals 11,000 miles, that sounds better :)
Most Canadians use the metric system, but I dont. My bike is an American bike with the speedo in miles.I did travel 19,258 miles on that rear tire, but I did stretch it out longer than I should have I'll post a pic tomorrow and youll see how it was long overdue for replacement.

[fish]

My Avons looks like they are holding up alot better then the stones did.
I was at the dealer today and there was a crouch rocket with a back tire that looked like the tire TC's took off last year.
Talking about tires, do m/c tire have a warranty? The reason I asked the dealer said the cords separated on my wifes front tire. She did hit one hell of an expansion joint (Frickin southern PA. roads) and shortly afterwards she had a wobble. The dealer said the wheel runs true so it must be the tire.

[ringadingh]

My Avons looks like they are holding up alot better then the stones did.
I was at the dealer today and there was a crouch rocket with a back tire that looked like the tire TC's took off last year.
Talking about tires, do m/c tire have a warranty? The reason I asked the dealer said the cords separated on my wifes front tire. She did hit one hell of an expansion joint (Frickin southern PA. roads) and shortly afterwards she had a wobble. The dealer said the wheel runs true so it must be the tire.
They do have a warranty, but try to get it. If the tire is bad from the beginning and its dealer installed you may get some help. If you install it, and it developed a problem weeks or months later it difficult to get resolved. They want you to ship the tire in to the mfg for inspection, and they will determine if there is valid reason for replacement.

[fish]

Thanks Steve, I'm going to talk to the service manager today when I pick it up. If they don't want to do anything about it I'll take the tire with me and call bridgestone although it my be water over the bridge. :-/

[VulcanE]

As far as MC tires go, the best I've ever had were the Avon Cobras. I could only get an average of 7000 miles out of a rear tire before it was trash. I don't mean just wore in the center, but the sides too. My rear Cobra had 6800 miles on it before it cupped so bad, there was a bad vibration only when accelerating through the gears. New it had,.300" tread depth to the wear bar, when I removed it, it had .125" to the wear bar. I went over to the "DarkSide", and 1200 miles later, I'm loving it. I do still have the Cobra front, and when it wears out, I plan on getting another.
Here's a couple of photos comparing the Metzeler (on left) with the Cobra. The Metzeler had 7123 miles on it and was worn down into the wear bars, the Cobra had 6842 miles on it.

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg40/vulcannad/TireCompar.jpg

You can see the cupping on the Cobra

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg40/vulcannad/TireComparII.jpg

[macmac]

Well I see me as a easy sort of rider, not fast realy, not showey for sure, as most of the time i ride with my wife as pillion, and no outriders are with me to show off too.

I live in the woods and have little traffic concerns. I seize more calipers from lack of use than I wear out rotors and pads.

But I can not get more than 7,000 miles out of a mc rear tire, with Nomads.

I killed the first in 9,000 miles crossing the USA from NH to Cal. it was dead before i reached cal too...

Both ft and rr tires were replaced there, and in the east crossing i did it again with 2 metzlers. That bike got stolen, so I didn't get to put new tires on it in the East.

I bought a used 06 with 1,314 miles on it in June 06, and proceaded to kill another set of tires.

This one was dead at 7,000 miles too, and I ride it out till late Fall anyway getting 9,000 over all miles off it. Some of these miles were a smidgen nervous miles knowing that junk was that junk!
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll275/Mac_Muz/Nomad/tires2_height.jpg

I chose to investigate Car Tires too, and have scrubbed off 3/32nd's in apx 4,500 miles.
There is still 7/32nds left to thrash.

I don't have and pics of the oem front brick, but it was retired with 13,700.

My limits on ft tires is different than what i will ride out with a rear.

[redjay]

I have 6,000 miles on my rear Cobra and it still looks near new. The front has 7800 and looks about half worn.

[socwkbiker]

I just got my new Cobras and have taken rides to the house and to work so far. These tires are great. My first turns felt like the bike was on a rail. It was incredible. The ride is very smooth and I'm sorry I didn't get these tires sooner. They are great.

[Bdog]

I got 26000kms out of the front stone..it still had lots of thread but the stones are garbage in my opinion. The rear stone got 14000 kms..glad to get rid of it. I put a metz on the rear and it was still good, maybe half worn when I got rid of it...didn't like it but it was better than a stone. Then I put on the Avon Cobras..hmmm...whole new bike..don't really care what kind of mileage I get on them..its the ride itself. Little to no effect tossing the nomad in the twisties with these tires..great in the rain too but I did find that you have to get the tire pressure right with these or they will handle wierd. To little and they will wobble..to much and they will feel not right..I run 42psi ft and rear...great tire..Bdog

[johnb]

I just put an Avon Cobra on the front. Had a Dunlop D251 (also a good tire) that I had to replace prematurely (3,000 miles) due to picking up a screw. It didn't go all the way through, but you could feel the tip of the screw, so I didn't want to take any chances by getting it repaired (if I could find anyone to do it). A plug would have been only a temporary deal. So went with the Cobra, since my dealer was able to get it overnight (no real tire stock for nomads, since 90% or more of his sales are "crotch rockets". I have a Dunlop D251 on the rear with about 7,000 miles and will probably need replacement sometime next season. Will go with a Cobra at that point.

[madcow]

i have done 7,000ks on my rear cobra and its still going strong, i agree on having the right pressure in them, they feel very nervous cornering it the pressure is not right.

[dkdixie]

I just replaced Avon Cobra front this morning with another Cobra. Tire had 12,500 miles on it. This is the best mileage I have ever got out of a front tire! Could have got another 1,000 out of it but have long ride coming up later this month.

[Netnorske]

I put on some Avon Cobras at the beginning of summer. I rode to Custer (from Seattle) and also to Southern Cal and back this summer. I now have about 11,000 miles on these tires. I run them at 50 psi in the rear and 43 psi in the front. They have held up great and still look like they have loads of miles left on them!

I think the higher psi is the secret and I read that here in a previous thread. Apparently Avon suggested those tires pressures to another member (can't remember who), but I ran them there and they are really holding up well... http://s2.images.proboards.com/cool.gif! Will no doubt buy another set when I need'em.

[taranis]

50 psi?? Wow.. Hmmm.. .how long have you been running them like that?

btw - like the new sig pics! Makes me homesick all over again! I was out there for 6 days at the end of August and rode the crap out of my buddy's '08. I sure miss the roads back there.

[trip]

I just got my new Cobras and have taken rides to the house and to work so far. These tires are great. My first turns felt like the bike was on a rail. It was incredible. The ride is very smooth and I'm sorry I didn't get these tires sooner. They are great.

'bout time SWB.......I figured you were slipping and sliding on the rims. http://s2.images.proboards.com/grin.gif

[trip]

I put on some Avon Cobras at the beginning of summer. I rode to Custer (from Seattle) and also to Southern Cal and back this summer. I now have about 11,000 miles on these tires. I run them at 50 psi in the rear and 43 psi in the front. They have held up great and still look like they have loads of miles left on them!

I think the higher psi is the secret and I read that here in a previous thread. Apparently Avon suggested those tires pressures to another member (can't remember who), but I ran them there and they are really holding up well... http://s2.images.proboards.com/cool.gif! Will no doubt buy another set when I need'em.

I did the same as Net. I installed Cobras on the front and rear right before I left for Custer. I've only got about 4,000 miles on this set, but I really do like them. So far, they're the best tires I've had.

[Netnorske]

50 psi?? Wow.. Hmmm.. .how long have you been running them like that?

btw - like the new sig pics! Makes me homesick all over again! I was out there for 6 days at the end of August and rode the crap out of my buddy's '08. I sure miss the roads back there.

Damn....you should have dropped me a note you were coming up here.....we could have hooked up for a ride!

As for the 50 psi (rear)....I have run that ever since I put them on! Seems high, but in a long-ago thread on here....one of the members said he emailed Avon to ask them what they suggested for psi given his usual load. I just followed suite with what they told him....50 rear....43 front. Seems to work great. The tires barely show any wear and that's with 11k on them! Ran a couple good long cross-country trips too....one two-up...one solo (albeit with a load of gear). I will do the same with the next set for sure!

[dandolfn]

My first turns felt like the bike was on a rail. It was incredible. The ride is very smooth and I'm sorry I didn't get these tires sooner. They are great.

Yep, that's my experience, too.

I was happy enough with my stock tires, until the rear looked worn out at at little over 5000 miles.

I replace both with Avon Cobras and it was like I got a new bike.

Turns that I used to have to muscle thru or slow down for, I can ride right thru now. The Cobras hold a line unbelievably well and when I do have to countersteer, it's effortless.