New Avon Cobra Chrome - any good

An update.

My NEW Cobra chrome tyres are being fitted in two weeks time, have had this confirmed with the Avon importer Pro Accessories and the guys at Oliver's Motorcycles who along with myself are keen to get the tyres fitted and monitor the performance and progress.

I must say the guys at Olivers Motorcycles have jumped at the opportunity to help me get the tyres on the R3R, always good to deal with people who are professional and keen to get involved in a new product.

I will post pics of the tyres along with their reduced crown radius and first impressions once they are rolling.

Stay posted for an update in just over two weeks time.
 
Mine are off being fitted at the moment but the weather here means I'm not likely to get out on them for a few more weeks
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Sorry, had them fitted a couple of weeks ago but only been out on them for a quick scrub in due to other maintenance issues. Seem to be very stable and progressive into turns, smoother than before but then my back tyre had squared off quite a bit.
 
I now have my R3 shod with Avon Cobra Chrome tyres fitted by Olivers Motorcycles who facilitated the supply and fitting. The guys at Olivers did a great job pleasant to deal with and very professional they gave me a good deal on the tyres and it was a no fuss pleasant experience.

So now for my first impressions on the tyres. Initially the R3 feels like a much smaller bike now as it wants to tip right into the corners in fact so quick to turn in that it very nearly caught me out. Having to use very little counter steer to gain any lean angle it surprised me how responsive it is now compared to how it was with the worn set of Cobra's that were on it only a few hours earlier. It's actually like riding a 200kg bike as it feels so quick to change direction and turn in - I am so impressed that I plan to put 200km on these tyres tomorrow to firstly bed them in and secondly to get some more time on the tyres and confirm my first impressions.

As a footnote the front and rear tyres have a tread pattern that does not overlap, the tread grooves do not reach the centre of the tyres. In fact there is a small section in the centre of each of the tyres that is slick right in the centre of the tyre possibly about 15 to 20mm wide with no grooves throughout the whole circumference of the tyres. I can't yet say how that will effect it's wet weather performance - time will tell I guess.

Stay tuned.
 
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Update #1

I have just completed 150km this morning on the new Avon Chrome rubber.

Included in the run this morning was a ride up and then down Mt Tamborine with a mix of low and medium speed corners, I can say that the new Avons behaved very well, indeed it felt more like a sports bike than the big heavy Roadster that it is, confidence in the grip is building now that they are scrubbed in pretty well. I did manage to scrape the pegs a couple of times out of the slow stuff with the throttle opening up fairly rapidly to abuse the tyres a little, but the Avons behaved and the Roadster held its line without any slip or slide.

Turn in is very easy both in the low speed and medium speed corners, changing direction is the best I have experienced on the R3 in low/mid speed corners given that I have tried a number of different tyre combinations such as Metz/Excedra Max and Avon AV71/72 combo's. Traction as indicated above was tested a few times whilst heeled over and under heavy braking into hairpin turns both uphill climbing and downhill braking to push the tyres to bed in and see if I can force any slippage, thankfully none of that occurred.

After being somewhat cautions to begin with this morning by the end of the ride I was touching down the foot pegs on a few occasions as confidence grew in the new found grip offered by the Chrome's - I just need another few more longer rides to provide more feedback from my own experience.

I would have to say that my first real ride on the Chrome's was a great experience "for me" - no issues or concerns - I do need more km's to provide more feedback and we do need a wet track at some time to confirm wet weather handling.

Give me a few weeks of running and I will provide more feedback.

Cheers All

PS: I will over the week-end post a few pics of the rubber installed on the R3.

Thanks guys for taking the time to read this - hope you all have a great week-end.
 
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Update #2

I did venture out again today just a quick 110km run, however I did strike a small shower of rain, unfortunately I was in some traffic and couldn't push to any real degree, but I will report that I did not experience any issues - no slipping or sliding whilst travelling down the twisty roads at Mt Tamborine. In fact it felt very sure footed while upright hitting the throttle hard a few times to try and spin up the rear but it held up well and didn't break traction. Cornering in the wet/damp roads was a non issue the tyres felt sure footed, put simply inspired real confidence during what was a pretty sedate ride.

The rear tyre is fully scrubbed now and the front is nearly there.

Until next time.
 
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