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Avon Roadrider cracking Again

  • Thread starter Thread starter waterman
  • Start date Start date
My buddy just put a set of RR's on his Hawk... the tire that was made in 08 has cracks starting on it, even after only acquiring 150 miles: The funny part is the tire that came from JC Whitney was made in '09, the tire that supposedly came direct from Avon's warehouse had the '08 stamping.

His other tire marked 09 seems to be fine he said. I Googled the problem and it seems to be sketchy for 08 and older tires having cracks...RR's that is.

I was just going to go back to my Spitfires, but they are on national backorder...so I'm unsure if rumor is true or not about them being discontinued.

If DK has fresh sets of RR's, I may go that route. My Spitfires are at 9000 miles and are in need of being retired. Wear bars are now level with the tread blocks.
 
I would not ride a bike on tires with sidewall cracks. Avon should replace those tires.
 
Avon Ohio said that he has to take the bad tire to an Avon dealer to document the crack, the date code and tread depth...So my buddy placed a few calls and no dealer will touch the bike seeing that he didn't buy the tires through them. One bike shop gave him an earful how Avon has screwed him on several sets of cracked tires through his bike shop; so he never recommends them to any of his customers regardless of what people say on the internet. My buddy was even willing to eat a dismount, mount and balance cost for any shop that would do the warranty just to get this resolved: no deal.

My friend owns his own lift truck repair business and said that he'd be happy to send pictures of the date code, tread depth and would even be willing to pay for the new tire and wait for a refund from Avon after they received and confirmed the old tire was faulty; Avon said no deal.

JC Whitney will not take the tire back because it has been mounted on the bike.

Our last resolution will be to contact our local bike shop, even though they are not an Avon dealer, and see if they can help us out.


After seeing the assocaited problems with Avon's, I went with Dunlop E3's through DK. I should have them on my doorstep when I get home today.


I will let everyone know how this cracked Avon is resolved; if it does get resolved.
 
Last edited:
82Shafty said:
My buddy just put a set of RR's on his Hawk... the tire that was made in 08 has cracks starting on it, even after only acquiring 150 miles: The funny part is the tire that came from JC Whitney was made in '09, the tire that supposedly came direct from Avon's warehouse had the '08 stamping.

His other tire marked 09 seems to be fine he said. I Googled the problem and it seems to be sketchy for 08 and older tires having cracks...RR's that is.

I was just going to go back to my Spitfires, but they are on national backorder...so I'm unsure if rumor is true or not about them being discontinued.

If DK has fresh sets of RR's, I may go that route. My Spitfires are at 9000 miles and are in need of being retired. Wear bars are now level with the tread blocks.
Click to expand...

Technical note: Doubt that any tire came "directly from Avon's warehouse" ... I believe they use sub-distributors in this country...don't think they sell direct...so, that could explain the lapse in DOT dates...
 
Last edited:
waterman said:
Still cracked, still rolling down the street. Has about 2200 miles on it now.

Good news is that they haven't cracked any more after the initial cracking. Of course, picked up a big wood screw about dead center when I was going to send this back for replacement. Told myself to forget it and just drive it. That is what I have been doing.

Would I recommend this to others, no. I am using bike exclusively for commuting and watch the tire like a hawk. Loses air about weekly, mainly due to the plug I put in tire.
Click to expand...

Just my $0.02, but do yourself a favor..... pitch that tire & chalk it up to a bad experience with Avon. Spring for a cheap Shinko, and ride with peace of mind! ;)
 
Picked mine up this spring, barely 800 KMs and the rear is showing small cracks.....arrrrrrr. Stopped at the local shop that ordered them in for me and they're going to contact Avon for me. How frustrating.
 
COGS said:
Technical note: Doubt that any tire came "directly from Avon's warehouse" ... I believe they use sub-distributors in this country...don't think they sell direct...so, that could explain the lapse in DOT dates...
Click to expand...

Well it wasn't beyond the three year rule that most reputable tire companies abide by. Anything older than three years in a certain brand's warehouse get's shredded.


My friend has received a warranty sheet and is going to file it under his company name that is a tire distributor for lift truck tires.

I'll let you know what happens.
 
Bill C. said:
I just picked up two roadriders, a 100-90-19 with a date code of 42/08 and a 130-90-17 with a date code of 41/08. Sidewalls do not have any shine to them. I looked with a flashlight and did not see any cracks. I will be getting them mounted next week and let everyone know how they work out.
Click to expand...

Just an update. Have about 2000 mile on the tires and no sign of problems yet. I run 40psi in the rear and 37psi up front. I weight 198lbs and ride pretty easy. Will keep an eye on the sidewalls and let everybody know if I have any problems.
 
I little bump to bring this one back to life.
Seems that the rear Avon Roadrider dated April 09 on my 850 has a few cracks, several actaully. Front looks fine. Average PSI, 35-40. Bike stored in a dry garage.
After I read this entire thread I'll decide what Im gonna do.

Just lettin ya know, keep an eye on your Avons.
I'm not a happy camper.

395304841.jpg


395304847.jpg


395304852.jpg
 
Contacted Avon MOnday the 21st. Still no reply.
I may need to go see the dealer I bought the tires from.
Although I don't hold him/them responsible I think he should know.
 
The reply!

The reply!

I guess I was using the correct contact info. Thanks anyway..

Their reply.
I also have a direct contact name, number and email address.
Didnt know if it would be a good idea to post it up.
If anyone needs it, I have it.

Looks like I'll be in contact with the fella/shop I bought the tire from.
Yup, I do indeed still have the recept.


"I regret to hear of the problem you are having with your Avon Roadrider. All Avon bike tires are warranted for 5 years from the date of manufacture for any manufacturing defects. Sidewall cracking is not something that we take lightly. I highly recommend getting in contact with your dealer to have the tire inspected. If there is concern that the tire is defective due to manufacturing, then the dealer will need to proceed with a warranty claim. All warranties are handled through the dealer networks. They will work with their distributor to get the tire taken care of for you. This is part of their job and duties as being an Avon dealer. All warranties are pro-rated based on the remaining tread depth of the tire."
 
Octain said:
"...... All warranties are pro-rated based on the remaining tread depth of the tire."
Click to expand...

This part may get you a lot less than a replacement tire or $.
I was happy with an Avon Roadrider and had no cracks on one purchased a few years ago for my GS1100E. The guy who bought my bike stopped by to visit last year and with less than 8K miles the tire still had no cracks but was totally bald.
I switched over to Shinko 230's because of this cracking issue but haven't logged enough miles (>8-10K) to evaluate their durability. Cheaper $, good grip even in rain, and no cracks, so I'd probably go with the Shinkos again. I would give the Avons another try on these old GSes if they dropped the price.
 
The tire only has a thousand miles on it. I still need to see the the fella where I purchased the tires. He's a local guy that has a small tire shop right around the corner. Not some big 3 dealer at the end of a strip mall, if ya know what I mean.
I'm so glad I didnt buy these tires online. Really makes this deal much easier.
I think it'll work out when I finally get around to dealing with it.
Its simple really, I just want a new tire.

If only I knew then what I know now(thanks to GSR). I wouldnt have a problem running Shinko's, except I'd have to change the matching Avon on the front as well. Not a fan of running miss-matched tires. I know its not a big deal, I simply dont like looks.

The kicker? I coulda *almost* bought two set of the Shinkos for the price of one set of the Avons.
Live and learn.

Will keep everyone posted on the results.
 
Octain said:
The tire only has a thousand miles on it. I still need to see the the fella where I purchased the tires. He's a local guy that has a small tire shop right around the corner. Not some big 3 dealer at the end of a strip mall, if ya know what I mean.
I'm so glad I didnt buy these tires online. Really makes this deal much easier.
I think it'll work out when I finally get around to dealing with it.
Its simple really, I just want a new tire.

If only I knew then what I know now(thanks to GSR). I wouldnt have a problem running Shinko's, except I'd have to change the matching Avon on the front as well. Not a fan of running miss-matched tires. I know its not a big deal, I simply dont like looks.

The kicker? I coulda *almost* bought two set of the Shinkos for the price of one set of the Avons.
Live and learn.

Will keep everyone posted on the results.
Click to expand...

I am glad to see you are getting some response from Avon, when my second tire started to show cracking and I emailed them, I heard nothing from them.

I am running an Avon front with a Shinko rear. No problems. Biggest change is that the shinko is wider and changes the way bike settles into corners, not quite as responsive. Looks like it will wear a long time and I don't mind the tread pattern.

My recently purchased 1100G has Roadriders, hopefully they will fair better. Still working on getting it completely road ready, so have put but a handful of miles on.
 
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