I put a set of Avon Safety Mileage MKII tires on my stock '63 FLH in 2009. They look great and the bike handles great on most surfaces........ In the Sturgis area, however, on the 1" rain parallel rain grooves on I-90, hwy 79 and other newer sections of concrete road in the area, these tires are a disaster! There is more of this type of surface in 2012 than there was in 2010! At anything over 45 mph the bike jumps around so bad that its a VERY dangerous condition. I ended up riding on the road shoulders to avoid being killed.
I'll have to put different tires on the bike. The Continental K112 are a nice looking vintage tread, but I'm worried they may have the same problem with the SD unique road surface. Any sugestions out there!
Thanks,
Panhead Ken
Tires - Avon Safety Mileage MKII
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Re: Tires - Avon Safety Mileage MKII
I recently put on a set of the Duro HF302B, and they are great on the metal-grate bridges around here in Eastern PA.
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Re: Tires - Avon Safety Mileage MKII
ken,
first, welcome to the forum!
what are you running for tire pressure?
i have had avons on my pan for years and like them alot.
john
first, welcome to the forum!
what are you running for tire pressure?
i have had avons on my pan for years and like them alot.
john
Re: Tires - Avon Safety Mileage MKII
I ran 34 psi in the front, 38 in the rear for the recent Sturgis trip. I selected those pressures based on internet research and testing the bike on a somewhat similar surface locally here in Minnesota. It seemed that it was worse at the lower pressures on the MN road. Again, we don't have this exact type of groove in MN that is in SD. The groves in SD appear to be the same distance apart as the zig-zag grooves in the avon tires (about 1"). Wider or narrower parallel grooves do not seem to affect stability much. I suspect the similar groove sized between tire and road surface causes a harmonic to develop, similar to similar musical notes in different instruments or voices singing.
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Re: Tires - Avon Safety Mileage MKII
ken,
there are two schools of thought on this, one is to run them high like you do and to run them at the original specs for your bike.
my pan is rigid and i run 18 front 20 rear.
another thought, how tight do you run your steering damper and what kind of shape are your swing arm bushings?
either one can affect your steering. i just had a buddy's knuck in for a tune up and he complained about the bike being squirrelly and i found the damper cranked down tight and both tires over 30 psi.
john
there are two schools of thought on this, one is to run them high like you do and to run them at the original specs for your bike.
my pan is rigid and i run 18 front 20 rear.
another thought, how tight do you run your steering damper and what kind of shape are your swing arm bushings?
either one can affect your steering. i just had a buddy's knuck in for a tune up and he complained about the bike being squirrelly and i found the damper cranked down tight and both tires over 30 psi.
john
Re: Tires - Avon Safety Mileage MKII
Thanks John,
The swing arm bushings were replaced about 3 years ago ~4000miles. The steering dampening was tightened in 2010, which stopped the bike from weaving when a crosswind grabs the windshield. I'll try the 18 psi front & 20 rear.
After posting this I looked around the forum and found someone in Colorado has the same issue with rain grooves with the avon tire on his '51 pan, but does okay with the continental K112 (conti twin) on his '57 pan. There is also some reference to the same issue from someone in California.
Again, thanks for your help.
Panhead Ken
The swing arm bushings were replaced about 3 years ago ~4000miles. The steering dampening was tightened in 2010, which stopped the bike from weaving when a crosswind grabs the windshield. I'll try the 18 psi front & 20 rear.
After posting this I looked around the forum and found someone in Colorado has the same issue with rain grooves with the avon tire on his '51 pan, but does okay with the continental K112 (conti twin) on his '57 pan. There is also some reference to the same issue from someone in California.
Again, thanks for your help.
Panhead Ken
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Re: Tires - Avon Safety Mileage MKII
I'm sure the Conti will be a big improvement in the rain groove issue. I don't encounter too much in the way of rain grooves here in Arizona, but the stuff we do have doesn't mess with my Avons at all. Maybe the width/spacing on our grooved pavement is different. I run the SM MK-II on the rear at 24psi and a 21" Speedmaster on the front at 40psi.
-Craig
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Re: Tires - Avon Safety Mileage MKII
I had a few diff. brands that I tried over the yrs. And the Avon were good And right now Im running Gontinental-5x16 front & rear & I have all good things to say about the Contis!--Also the Avon Are a great Tire!--As far as rain & slight gravel like on a shoulder the Contis always were good!--All around tire!---Great for street-use & 112MPH Rated!--Ill never see that but at stints of up to 90 handling was Flawless!----Richie