Avon Roadrider cracking Again

[themess]

Its a cheap chinese knock off maybe?
You know they actually are counterfeiting bearings.
I read it on the Timken site. Shocking really.

its nasty when a company is willing to ruin their reputation among a group like this forum. Word sspreads fast.

It is possible. There was a thread a year or two ago on counterfeit parts. Might have been gaskets. Anyway...If we buy Viagra, for example, from the local CVS, the chance of getting a counterfeit is next to zero, because they will buy directly from the manufacturer or from known reputable wholesalers. Buy it off of the interent, and the chance of a counterifeit gets very high.

I'd think that Dennis Kirk would be one of the last places that would have counterfeits. They are big enough and old enough to know who buys directly from Avon, and Dk'S business relies on its reputation.

[pete]

I've sort of been following this for a while as I'm getting closer to the time when I need to buy tyres.

So if the Avons are becoming a no go from this issue, what's the next best alternative? Given I'm on the 450, tyre sizes are a little more difficult and I think I need a 90/90-18 (3.00-18) front and a 100/90-18 (3.50-18) rear.

Bridgestone Battlax maybe?

I've been sort of counting on the Avons for a while now as they seemed to be a reasonable quality tyre that came in the right sizes for me...

[tkent02]

Their denial and lack of integrity is remarkable after so many bad tires.
I'm finished with them too. No more Avons for me.
Bastards. Too bad, I really liked the tires.

Its a cheap chinese knock off maybe?
You know they actually are counterfeiting bearings.
I read it on the Timken site. Shocking really.

its nasty when a company is willing to ruin their reputation among a group like this forum. Word sspreads fast.

[hikermikem]

I had an Avon RR tire replaced for the same issue in 2009 - the local dealer got me another tire but I had to pay for the mounting again...

This, after I contacted Avon directly (via e-mail) to complain (with pics & date codes) only to be told that they were unaware of any cracking problems with their AM26 tires.

The whole thing left a sour taste in my mouth regarding Avon & I haven't bought another Avon since, nor will I ever again.

[bonanzadave]

-----Original Message-----
From: bonanzadave@gmail.com [mailto:bonanzadave@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2011 9:21 PM
To: US Sales
Subject: Contact Us

Hi Guys, This, Im sure, is not new info. I got a set of Avon Road Riders from you last May 2010. Rode 6 months (<1K miles) and then stored the bike until yesterday. There are some serious sidewall cracks in the Back tire. NOT safe at all. What is Avon doing about this ? Regards, Dave


On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 12:18 PM, Customer Service <customerservice@denniskirk.com> wrote:

Dave,

I apologize that you are experiencing cracks on your sidewall. Normally what we require is to have our customers send a few photos to us to forward to our warranty department to determine if the tire would be covered under warranty before having the customer pay for shipping, etc. What we do is base the warranty on the remaining depth of tread so please send photos of that also. You may send them to customerservice@denniskirk.com and put attention Amy in the subject line along with your name, address and phone number in the body of the email.

Thank you and have a great day!
Amy
Customer Service
Dennis Kirk, Inc.
955 S Field Ave.
Rush City, MN 55069
((800) 328-9280 ext. 2208
www.denniskirk.com

[posplayr]

Dave, those are much worse than I have ever seen

[bonanzadave]

My second tire cracked during warm weather, after the winter. This was the replacement for the one that cracked during off season. I don't think the cracking was temperature dependent.

Finally got the Bike outta the shed from Its long winters nap. Waiting on a VCG (valve cover gasket) after doing the valve adjustments.

Good news: The front Avon RR looks good.

Bad news: The back RR has some serious cracks nearly as bad as Watermans first photo. Both sides and not exclusively by the bead. I parked it in the shed around Nov. and dont remember seeing anything wrong. This RR has less than 1K miles on it. 0 miles in the last 6 months. Fudge !!

Forgot my camera at work.

I didnt deflate either tire before storage. There was a stretch of several weeks of sub 0 temps.

What size rear tire? I was wondering if it was a certain size that only developed cracking.

I am disappointed to hear another tire failure, especially with newer date codes. Really makes you pause on purchasing them.

My new to me 1100g has RR on it but I haven't checked to see how they doing. I haven't quite got the bike roadworthy yet. Someday soon, maybe after my son's graduation.

[bonanzadave]

Front 8 0510

Back 8 3209

[posplayr]

Dave wanna post your date codes?

Finally got the Bike outta the shed from Its long winters nap. Waiting on a VCG (valve cover gasket) after doing the valve adjustments.

Good news: The front Avon RR looks good.

Bad news: The back RR has some serious cracks nearly as bad as Watermans first photo. Both sides and not exclusively by the bead. I parked it in the shed around Nov. and dont remember seeing anything wrong. This RR has less than 1K miles on it. 0 miles in the last 6 months. Fudge !!

Forgot my camera at work.

I didnt deflate either tire before storage. There was a stretch of several weeks of sub 0 temps.

Finally got the Bike outta the shed from Its long winters nap. Waiting on a VCG (valve cover gasket) after doing the valve adjustments.

Good news: The front Avon RR looks good.

Bad news: The back RR has some serious cracks nearly as bad as Watermans first photo. Both sides and not exclusively by the bead. I parked it in the shed around Nov. and dont remember seeing anything wrong. This RR has less than 1K miles on it. 0 miles in the last 6 months. Fudge !!

Forgot my camera at work.

I didnt deflate either tire before storage. There was a stretch of several weeks of sub 0 temps.

This is why I have steered clear of Avons recently. For 30-40% more in price than the Shinko 230's or Bridgestone Spitfires, I wouldn't expect this cracking stuff so quickly. Maybe not a problem if you put 10k miles a season and wear them out first, but I would expect most people would reasonably expect 2 to 3 seasons at 3-6k miles/yr out of a tire. A lot of us have multiple bikes going and spread our miles out over different bikes. Don't get me wrong, I liked the Avon RR's I've mounted before, but this cracking issue has come up a few times.

[bonanzadave]

Finally got the Bike outta the shed from Its long winters nap. Waiting on a VCG (valve cover gasket) after doing the valve adjustments.

Good news: The front Avon RR looks good.

Bad news: The back RR has some serious cracks nearly as bad as Watermans first photo. Both sides and not exclusively by the bead. I parked it in the shed around Nov. and dont remember seeing anything wrong. This RR has less than 1K miles on it. 0 miles in the last 6 months. Fudge !!

Forgot my camera at work.

I didnt deflate either tire before storage. There was a stretch of several weeks of sub 0 temps.

[streetfighters]

Never had good luck with Avon nor Continental tires either.
streetfighters