Avon tires cupping

Road Slug

Road Slug

Joined
Oct 7, 2024
Messages
50
Age
61
Location
Idaho
Bike
St 1100
What's the deal with tire cupping or is Avon tires just plain junk?

I have owned a lot of motorcycles and I mean a lot and never ever had a tire cupping problem with any of them. Then again, I have never had Avon tires either. Is this a Honda thing?

I knew the front is cupping but closer inspection shows the rear has cupping also.
Inflation is spec but wondering if I should over inflate a bit to reduce the cupping?

I am not about to spend 400 bucks just for tire and the avons have tread left on them.
 
They all do that sir.
ST's are big, fat and heavy. That doesn't bode well for tyre life.
The early Bridgestone Radials were dire on the 11's and in the UK and most of the EU they would be destroyed in under 5000 miles. The T series are much better at keeping their shape and longevity, maybe around 7000 miles.
I had an Avon on the front of The BeaST when I bought it, it was god awful, cupped to hell and was always trying to stand the bike up in turns. It went in the bin.
Folks will say there are issues with the bike if this is occurring, I don't, it's the tyres.
On inflation a couple of pound extra won't hurt, don't fit GT variants and check the tyre manufacturers recommended pressures too.
Good luck and throw them tyres away.
Upt.
 
Upt' North said:
They all do that sir.
ST's are big, fat and heavy. That doesn't bode well for tyre life.
The early Bridgestone Radials were dire on the 11's and in the UK and most of the EU they would be destroyed in under 5000 miles. The T series are much better at keeping their shape and longevity, maybe around 7000 miles.
I had an Avon on the front of The BeaST when I bought it, it was god awful, cupped to hell and was always trying to stand the bike up in turns. It went in the bin.
Folks will say there are issues with the bike if this is occurring, I don't, it's the tyres.
On inflation a couple of pound extra won't hurt, don't fit GT variants and check the tyre manufacturers recommended pressures too.
Good luck and throw them tyres away.
Upt.
Click to expand...
To prove the point on how hard the 11's are on tyres, I can't recall a single proper tour where the tyres haven't come back totally trashed. We are now running a VSTROM and we recently completed a tour of about 4500 miles through Europe.
We wore about 2 mm off the front and back, no cupping and no uneven wear. They were Bridgestone radials. The 11 would have come back with pretty much ready to change tyres.
Upt.
 
Upt' North said:
To prove the point on how hard the 11's are on tyres, I can't recall a single proper tour where the tyres haven't come back totally trashed. We are now running a VSTROM and we recently completed a tour of about 4500 miles through Europe.
We wore about 2 mm off the front and back, no cupping and no uneven wear. They were Bridgestone radials. The 11 would have come back with pretty much ready to change tyres.
Upt.
Click to expand...
I had a vstrom and had bridgestone battle axe tires and had no problems.
I sold that bike to my son and the kid needs to learn to quit using the front brake so much because the front tire is completely worn out and the rear has a ton of tread on it.
 
I ride a 2015 Concours, I also wear out the front at about 1 1/2 - 2 front to one rear tire. But fronts are worn out on sides, while the rear is worn out in middle. This is normal, I like it because I like a bunch of front traction with a softer compound. Rear stepping out a bit can be controlled to a certain extent. Front stepping out is way beyond me!
Went on trip one summer and killed a set in 7000 miles, a little more than half what I normally get, But the front wore in the middle and sides even. Heat is what killed them.
 
Road Slug said:
What's the deal with tire cupping or is Avon tires just plain junk?

I have owned a lot of motorcycles and I mean a lot and never ever had a tire cupping problem with any of them. Then again, I have never had Avon tires either. Is this a Honda thing?

I knew the front is cupping but closer inspection shows the rear has cupping also.
Inflation is spec but wondering if I should over inflate a bit to reduce the cupping?

I am not about to spend 400 bucks just for tire and the avons have tread left on them.
Click to expand...
I loved my avon spirits. Yes, i over inflated. Ran both at 40 psi if i remember correctly. Id ride those tires again any day.
 
Same here with the higher psi. The only time I ever saw cupping on a mc tire is when I left the pressure at the factory recommended psi. On my GW, ST1100, CTX1300 and also my Burgman 650 (both of them) I kept the psi set to 40 front and 42 rear. My Burgman manual called for 42 rear anyway. In fact, with one front tire that I was running at the lower recommended psi I noted cupping just starting and when I bumped the psi back up to 40 the cupping went away! My AK is a little different in that the tires seem to perform and last better at slightly lower psi than I was accustomed to pumping in so I keep those tires at 38 front/41 rear for best results and life. No cupping as long as I do that. Tire brand doesn't seem to matter. I've had Bridgstones, Dunlop, Avon, Shinko, Pirelli, and Metzeler (current ride).
 
I have Avon Spirits on my 94 now which I really like (and Metzeler Z8s on the 2000)- the last set of Z8s on the 2000 were cupped significantly so it was tougher to have the bike fall into corners- that was at ~ 8K miles so that’s my typical tire change interval. I agree a lot of the tires do- it’s not necessarily brand specific.
 
I did well with Avon tires (Roadrider) on my Nighthawk 750, so they make good tires. I never used them on my 1100; I used Bridgestone Exedras on it which served me very well.
 
Erdoc48 said:
I have Avon Spirits on my 94 now which I really like (and Metzeler Z8s on the 2000)- the last set of Z8s on the 2000 were cupped significantly so it was tougher to have the bike fall into corners- that was at ~ 8K miles so that’s my typical tire change interval. I agree a lot of the tires do- it’s not necessarily brand specific.
Click to expand...
Falling into corners…. My abons made me look like a much better rider than i was due to falling in. The various bridgestones didnt do that. Maybe they were too squared?
 
Based on my own experience on the ST1100 tires I would say to set the psi to 39-40 front and 42 rear. BUT look at the sidewall of the tires and don't go over what is shown there for max psi. I've had a few bikes that recommended the same psi as what was indicated on the sidewall for the rear tire.
 
rjs987 said:
Based on my own experience on the ST1100 tires I would say to set the psi to 39-40 front and 42 rear. BUT look at the sidewall of the tires and don't go over what is shown there for max psi. I've had a few bikes that recommended the same psi as what was indicated on the sidewall for the rear tire.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I will try that.
 
Keep in mind that the recommended tire pressure, which I do follow, includes a fully loaded bike. The reason I run mine at the high range is not about traction or tire wear, I base mine on keeping tires as cool as possible. Most of my distance riding happens to be in warm weather. Not sure why....huh.
 
motornut said:
Keep in mind that the recommended tire pressure, which I do follow, includes a fully loaded bike. The reason I run mine at the high range is not about traction or tire wear, I base mine on keeping tires as cool as possible. Most of my distance riding happens to be in warm weather. Not sure why....huh.
Click to expand...
I use the 1100 for going to work, running errands around town. It's retired from long distance journeys. To be honest, I probably will use it as a trade in for a newer adv bike down the road.
I have a Harley touring bike for long distance riding.
 
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