Tire Confusion

I was comparing tires for my R3.
I found only Metzler and Avon
upon a recommend from a fellow forum guy,he chose the Avon Cobra .
I purchased the rear 240-50/R16 which Avon recommends for the R3.
I am a little worried that it might be inferior to the Metzler which has a VR speed rating.
Also
I was thinking about buying the matching Avon front tire.
The Avon offical website in England recommend the 150-80/R17 but the US customer service rep says use the 150-80/VR tire which is few bucks more.
I know cars better than bikes and most often they don't recommend mixing speed ratings on tires
Has anyone tried the Avon R and VR combination ?
Any input appreciated

I just installed a set of Avons.
Mine are just the "R" tires. So far I love em.
Sticky in the turns, nice and smooth.
Not sure about the speed rating, but I never do more than 80-90 on the Rocket anyway.

Hope they last.

-Pete

Are you planning on riding any faster than 129 mph? That is the speed for an H rating. So get the cheaper tire.

A word to the wise, go darkside and save yourself a lot of hassle and expense.

Welcome PeteWI.
you will find about all the info you could want on any subject concerning the R3 right here if you dig deep enough.
We're all basically fanatics here, so welcome to our little corner of cyberspace, now,
What color and R3 you got??
standard, classic, or R3T

xhdskip said:

Welcome PeteWI.
you will find about all the info you could want on any subject concerning the R3 right here if you dig deep enough.
We're all basically fanatics here, so welcome to our little corner of cyberspace, now,
What color and R3 you got??
standard, classic, or R3T

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Cardinal Red Standard. One of the early ones.

The original reason I went darkside is because with Mezzler and Avon, there isn't much rear footprint of rubber on the ground..... hence premature wear. I was breaking it loose in higher gears not just in first. As such, not much longivity. The 245 Yoko is standing up really nicely. I'm now used to having to counter steer at lower speeds... no problem...love it (also the looks from envious HDers).

It would appear mabbas20 wasn't terribly interested in replies. But then again it was two weeks before he got one.

Them thar V or VR rated tyres mean what to the average US Rocket III riders. High speed tires are generally a trade off between higher UTQG (tread wear) and sticky traction (high speed ratings). If your usual max speeds are 100, why choose a more expensive VR rated tire that may have half the tread wear rating of an H speed rated tire.

I chose a high speed darkside Cooper ZEON 2XS with a rather low tread wear rating of 280. I had the idea that as a result of greater foot print on the R3 that the low UTQG rating would mean very little and I'd still obtain 30k+. I will not likely get twice the mileage of a stock Metz before I get to the tread wear bars (16k). Although, I may still have another 5-8k before I get down to the may-pop stage. I believe those running the Goodyear Eagle F1-GS design tires have a 420 UTCG rating. While the Cooper Zeon 2XS is V rated I keep my speeds below reckless or public endangerment levels.

The darkside option has only presented one real issue to me. Pot holes and deeply rutted driveways and dirt parking lots are a ***** at times. But by going slow and easy over those hazards they are soon left behind and I'm off and running again.

Avon Cobra's

I just put a set on Yesterday and love-em they can handle all the speed you need. And according to all reports the tires will or should out last the Metzlers we all had. I am sure you'll love these hides they stick.

trappingusa said:

I just put a set on Yesterday and love-em they can handle all the speed you need. And according to all reports the tires will or should out last the Metzlers we all had. I am sure you'll love these hides they stick.

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Put Cobra's on last week, love the handling, but then the metz's handled well too when new. I do feel more confident with the Cobra's leaned over though. I over ran my front a few thousand miles, and the rear was squared off, its like a whole different bike with new tires. Hopefully the Cobra's will last longer......they look better anyway.

Ugarte said:

Put Cobra's on last week, love the handling, but then the metz's handled well too when new. I do feel more confident with the Cobra's leaned over though. I over ran my front a few thousand miles, and the rear was squared off, its like a whole different bike with new tires. Hopefully the Cobra's will last longer......they look better anyway.

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..........When you wear them out, put them on the KLR.....

Got the 685 Schintz piston, rings, pin and stuff sitting in the shop for the oil burner. Still have to get the SW Motec bars, T'bob aluminum skid and panniers yet. So many farkles, so little time........

Oooops, that's another website.