Bandit Alley
MODEL SPECIFIC => SUZUKI BANDIT 250 & 400 => Topic started by: BrianM on August 18, 2006, 04:45:34 PM
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http://www.avonmoto.com/contests/contest.asp
Okay, so it's only a free front if you buy a rear, but still....
Just thought I'd pass the info along incase anyone wants some good tires for cheap. I'm thinking about picking up an extra set for the future.
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Pirelli is running the same deal - at least on Supercorsas.
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Anyone have any feedback on those tires? Very tempting since I'll be needing some new sneakers sometime soon.
They're a mite bit more expensive but certainly not so with a free front.
-Randy
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Supercorsa or Avon ?
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Here's a review...
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/gearbox/122_0512_avon_viper_tires/
And another from Avon...
http://www.avonmotorcycle.com/us/en/news.asp?ID=73
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I would be interested in that, but as it's not available to anyone outside the US, I guess there's no point in me even bothering. (I'm from the UK)
Thanks anyway though!
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Supercorsa or Avon ?
Either versus the Pilot Power. To me, those tires are like velcro. I'm also curious about wear versus the PP since I've logged damn near 6500miles and they still haven't hit the wear bars and are still remarkably supple.
I've seen the rear Avon as cheap as $115 or so from Rideon.com, it just wouldn't be worth it to pay less to have to replace it in half the time.
-Randy
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Either versus the Pilot Power. To me, those tires are like velcro. I'm also curious about wear versus the PP since I've logged damn near 6500miles and they still haven't hit the wear bars and are still remarkably supple.
I'm sticking with the PP for a while (not only because I've got another set to run through, but because they're great tires). I've put about 8,000 kms on Garys old track tires and they're still in great shape. I'm starting to notice a little slip when it rains, but I'm not complaining after all the abuse they've seen.
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My MPP's never outlive 3000 miles. I don't know about Avon but I've had a set of Supercorsa SC1 front and rear on the bike. True race tire and it offers more grip than you'll ever need. Even managed to get the front and the rear sliding at the same time in a few curves, no problem for the SC's. Although after 1500 miles they were gone :lol: Try them out and have lots of fun :bigok:
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I thought I'd give it a shot. Cheaper than a pair of the holy grail of tires, mounted to boot.
Even at the local moto shop (Martin's) it was $143 for the back tire with tax (they have a 25% off always deal). The cheapest I've seen the tire for was in the $120's; so par for the course with shipping.
I'll be the guinea pig as my PP's have about another 1k in them before they cord. Reports to follow...
-Randy
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I thought I'd give it a shot. Cheaper than a pair of the holy grail of tires, mounted to boot.
Even at the local moto shop (Martin's) it was $143 for the back tire with tax (they have a 25% off always deal). The cheapest I've seen the tire for was in the $120's; so par for the course with shipping.
I'll be the guinea pig as my PP's have about another 1k in them before they cord. Reports to follow...
-Randy
Good move!
Obviously most people would go with the MPP's IF the price was the same... but I think the whole point is that it's worth the risk of trying them out given the free tire deal... making them about 40% less than the MPP's, and even less than the Shinko 005's.
I'd buy a set myself except I just got new Shinkos (I felt like I was the guinea pig on that one) with a lot of mileage left on them.
Let us know how they pan out.
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Alright, got the tires mounted today. Sadly though, the weather is quite ass-like till the weekend so it will be Sunday till I get out on them and start breaking them in.
Good news: definately saved some money taking advantage of the deal to the tune of $125 or so. Bad news: still expensive to get tires mounted ($60 w/valves). I may consider saving that money and mounting my own after this. For those of you interested, the deal has been extended through the end of September.
Just looking at the tread, it is amazing how much there is! Guess I got used to looking at my PP's with 1/2mm to the wear bars in back and on the bars in front. Very similar shape to them, though they certainly started to look flatter as they wore out, even if they were worn very evenly.
First impression: they're heavy! Much heavier than I remember but probably because there's more rubber than what they're replacing. Rubber is not quite as eraser-like as the PP's but time will tell. The siping doesn't go all the way to the edge like the PP's but a nice broad flat.
Ride report forthcoming, stay tuned...
-Randy
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Make sure you run the proper PSI (Avons have traditionally liked Much higher pressures... I run 40/42, but I'm a heavy SOB too). Anything less will leave you with short life and really greasy feel.
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Pressure was my next question..
Crap, that high?! That'll certainly be a good bit different than the 29/35 I was running previous.
Thanks for the heads up!
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Took them out today and got some miles on them to scrub them in. I weigh in at about 160 with gear and pressures set at 29/35 (per Suzuki, haven't dialed it in that far yet) I know Brian suggested higher but the sidewall max was 42 so I thought I'd try the usual first and go from there. Initial thoughts:
-They don't "fall into" corners like the PP's do however, once you have the bike leaned, the front is more than willing to take more directional input. They come over much more gradually for lack of a better description. The shoulders of the front tire are much taller than the PP's and scrubbing this edge-to-edge will take some doing. The rear has a very similar profile to the PP.
Even after getting brave at mile 90 bringing them down further, the rear scrubbed in to where I had the chicken strips on the PP's (1/8 to the edge)but the fronts had about an inch to the edge (I hang off more than "riding proud" so that probably has alot to do with it). Just looking at them it seems that the front is certainly more apt for directional changes while kiltered over than the PP simply because of the additional rubber there. Where the shoulder was on the PP front, the top of the Viper's head basically begins. Seems they gave up sidewall height for additional tread height.
-The tires feel more easy to change direction than the PP's. Could be because the front is more rounded and "u" shaped versus the more flatter profiled PP front.
-Driving out of corners feels the same as the PPs. I did notice more push when exiting at certain points but it could have just been that they still had some mold release on them. I wasn't brave enough so see how well they would brake leaned over but I would guess as good as the PP's.
That's it for now. More to come as they get more worn in so mileage reports to follow as well.
I guess the question is: are they worth the investment over the Pilot Powers? I would say yes because you can get a smoking deal on them right now. Will they overthrow the best tire ever? That's for you to decide, if they can get more than 6500 miles on the set (mine wore very evenly) I'd say they're certainly another choice of rubber for sure. I'm pretty happy so far (I certainly had my reservations) so time will tell, especially mileage.
-Randy
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Alright, so after a hundred or so more miles of twisties on them, here's what I can report. For the most part, everything else will be mileage related as I'm sure you're all tired of my rambling on...
-Pressures per Suzuki are pretty right-on:
The build of the tires is more substantial than the Azaro's so the belts are much stiffer. At 29/35 I notice no squirminess and everything tracks as it should. The push I reported earlier I would get even with the PP's in the same section, so more than likely its more suspension related/road surface than anything else. No wallowing to be seen. So far the scrubbed-in areas are pretty comparable to the PP's, less the front tire who's tread is physically taller with the shorter sidewall. I'd have to get on a track with rearsets to get the front to scrub edge-to-edge the way the tire is shaped. The rears are similar, not as pointy as the PP's but shaped more like a 180 rear, the edges flatten out somewhat whereas the PP's were much more rounded.
These tires also take a bit more time to warm-up versus the PP's. Don't think you can go a block and hit it, you'll need a bit more time before they're up to temp.
-Tires are quite predictable:
Mid-corner line changes are no big deal to these tires. I had to tighten up my line fully commited due to a car starting to cross over the double yellow at one point. No fuss, just cranked over more lean angle and they willingly turned in. Drive out of the corners is fine, once again I don't think the 400 could ball these things up riding on normal surface roads, I'm sure on track with the sustained temps they would just like anything else. People have commented that feedback on these tires is a bit less than the PP's but I honestly can't really tell. I'll probably never get them so hot on the street that they start to give but they are pretty damn OK. The shape of tires probably has alot to do with this, the seemingly endless edge of the front coupled with the somewhat flatter shaped rear make for a good combination (for me, anyway).
-Good under braking and acceleration.
No fuss going deep into certain corners. Yes they stand up a bit when you go in too hot but what tire doesn't? I have a couple of "chicane" type corners on the loop I took and one of them requires braking from near 80mph depending on how ballsy you are going into the first RH bend then a 25 ft transition to a tight LH turn. Braking deep into the bend is not a problem and with some finess you can get them to turn-in and transition to throttle fine. They go from edge-to-edge as well as the PP's so no drama there. Reversing the corner (coming the other way) makes the LH turn increasing radius so if you nail the apex, you can really get a great drive out. On edge, the tires throttled out fine, but once again we're talking about 400cc hp here, not litrebike. I'm sure a big bike would have put these things up in smoke.
-No reports of wet weather performance.
Some of the roads I rode on yesterday were damp, but that certainly doesn't count. I'm pretty much a fair-weather kind of guy so perhaps I'm not the one to ask how these would perform in a monsoon as I'd either be at home or in my car. As far as damp roads go: they're fine, they didn't even realize the road was wet. This is also after it had rained for three days so I'm sure all the oils from the road had washed away by then.
So there you have it, as good as I can give it anyway. So far I'm happy with the tires and I've found the shape suits the way I ride a bit moreso than the PP's. If you like tires that fall into corners more, you may be a little disappointed but these are certainly a bit more predictable. I have no idea how these would perform on a track day as I never even got to take my PP's out to one so you're on your own with that.
As I stated before, Avon has extended their promotion till the end of Sept. so if you need new tires or are thinking about it, it's a good way to save $120. I was skeptical of these at first but am pretty happy with my scrupulous decision now. I might even consider getting them again if the mileage can come near the PP's, again, for another time.
-Randy