Metzeler vs. Avon

I have had an Avon on the front for about 6,000km - it was on there when I bought the bike and has at least half its tread left. Hasn't lost grip once; turning or stopping.

The rear Metz seemed to have a bit left when I got the bike but surprised me how quickly it wore out. Tried to replace it with an Avon but had to go with another Metz.

Have to say I had no real complaints about the Metz in terms of handling although it did loose traction under acceleration in the wet quite easily - but then again I had nothing to compare it to. Cornering was fine, although I don't push it in the wet. It also seemed to be wearing quite well for almost 4,000km, at which point I removed secondaries and installed GiPro. I'm not blaming the changes at all but rather the way that it was impossible for me not to take full advantage of the extra take-off grunt and found myself spinning the rear wheel a lot more than I ever intended and apparently a lot more than I realised. As a result, the rear stripped the second half of the tread off, some of it in chunks, in less than 1,000km - my fault, I know.

The other day I put an Avon on the back and while it's still early days I have to say it is a noticably better handling tire. It just feels more sure footed in bends and I've been tounching down with the pegs quite often whereas I hardly ever did with the Metz. Haven't tried it in the wet yet. I haven't measured but, although the same size, it also seems a tad wider and flatter, putting more rubber on the road.

Prices for Metz and Avon in Oz are within $5 of each other so is not a factor.

I'll never go back to a Metz and if the Avon gives half decent mileage I can't see that I'd want to change - unless someone comes up with an affordable, magic CT/MT hybrid or I'm blown away with how good a CT is next week.

Went for a ride on the weekend , one of the blokes had a turbo rocket 260 b.h.p he claimed. He had a avon on the back that he estimated had done 12-15,000 k's, heaps of tread left on it and he rides it hard !!!!

I have recently put a Shinko 757 150/80/17 on the front and am lovingit, it sticks like sh#t to a blanket, a bonus was that it was 2/3 of the price of a metz have 1500km's on it with no noticable sign of wear. I went up to a swap meet which means going up the Clyde Mt unbeleiveable feed back, on the return trip it was bloody hot and I was pushing it a bit when I got home I was expecting it to be a bit chewed up but no it looks fine and seemed to cope well with the extra heat.
There is a Bridgestone R852 240/55/16 which having 55 profile will give a better ground clearance and help correct the speedo, if when I wear out the Darkside which I am more than happy with! I might add, I decide to give a another bike tyre a go it will be either a Cobra or a Bridgestone because the metzlers are not a Radial which the other two are and is the reason why I think don't get the same handling the Cobras are giving and why we have been getting sh#t wear out of them. If Metzler had been seriuos about development of a tyre for the Rocket they might of started with a clean sheet of paper and designed a Radial as the Marathon Cross Ply has been around 20+ odd years

Given the devastating flooding in Brisbane, Trev, it's reassuring to hear you have been able to ride. Hope you and Binnsy and the turbo rider and other Captains in Queensland - and Victoria for that matter - are safe and get through this OK.

hanso said:

I have recently put a Shinko 757 150/80/17 on the front and am lovingit, it sticks like sh#t to a blanket, a bonus was that it was 2/3 of the price of a metz have 1500km's on it with no noticable sign of wear. I went up to a swap meet which means going up the Clyde Mt unbeleiveable feed back, on the return trip it was bloody hot and I was pushing it a bit when I got home I was expecting it to be a bit chewed up but no it looks fine and seemed to cope well with the extra heat.
There is a Bridgestone R852 240/55/16 which having 55 profile will give a better ground clearance and help correct the speedo, if when I wear out the Darkside which I am more than happy with! I might add, I decide to give a another bike tyre a go it will be either a Cobra or a Bridgestone because the metzlers are not a Radial which the other two are and is the reason why I think don't get the same handling the Cobras are giving and why we have been getting sh#t wear out of them. If Metzler had been seriuos about development of a tyre for the Rocket they might of started with a clean sheet of paper and designed a Radial as the Marathon Cross Ply has been around 20+ odd years

Click to expand...

I'll let you know how the Avon handles the Clyde on Tuesday. For those not from around here, the Clyde takes you from the Southern Tablelands down the Great Dividing Range to the coast. Not being a local makes it more a challenge than absolute fun for me but a crisp ride up or down sure is exilerating. Steep with a sharp, long drop to one side, emergency safety ramps on the other. Lots of 120 - 180 degree turns and a frigtening straight stretch that tempts you to go that little bit too fast. Have done it many times on the Metz. It will be a good test.

Given what the Rocket was and is, it's hard to understand why a special tire wasn't in the reckonning.

Yeah I'm Lucky the Clyde is less than 10 min from my front door

Hey hd2rocket3,

I'm in the same boat as you with the Triumph dealers being far away, so I remove the wheels myself and take them to a local Suzuki dealer. Suzuki has the M109 which has a 240/55-16 rear tire, so they're used to properly mounting and balancing a big tire. They charge me $27 to mount and balance my Rocket Roadster tire (that's me bringing the wheel to them). Give that a try in your area.

Good luck!

here in the sunny part of the uk i get 4500-5000 miles out of a metz and 6500-7000 out of an avon, the avon is around £20 cheaper taboot.
i get 9000-10000 out of a metz front and 15000-16000 miles from an avon front, the avon is around £15 cheaper.
the avon also feels quieter and instills more confidence in me even in the wet, i wouldnt go back to a metz if i could help it.

Being only a three month R3 Classic owner I'm curious as well. I always used Avon's on my VTX and had great service life. My 08 R3 Classic had 13,xxx miles on it when I bought it in june with the original tires still on and have a good amount of tread left with no signs of unusual wear patterns. The guy I bought the bike from was reported to never go above the posted speed limit. That means no more than 65mph. The tires do give off a funny oise when leaning, but to date no loss of traction, or uncomfortable ride. I feel I need to replace them next spring, but I'm torn between the stock Metzler's and Avon. My Triumph dealer stated that they have done a few tire changes with the Avon's lately and have had good reports back from R3 owners. I might just give the Avon's a try.