Some of you may remember a thread I started last month talking about how my Avon Venom front tire was rotting in the treads.

Link--> https://www.hdforums.com/forum/evo-c...ty-advice.html

I sent my tire off to be inspected my Avon and I just spoke to Jerry Farmer who works in the returns department to find out what they have decided. They are covering the tire under warranty and sending me a new one. They have in fact discontinued the Venom series (a bias ply tire) so he is sending me a new Cobra series tire to replace the Venom. (a radial type tire)
I told Jeremy that I was uncomfortable riding a radial on the front and a bias on the back. He decided to send me a new Cobra tire for the back so I have a matching pair. I will have them Wednesday. I thought that was some pretty good customer service.

On a side but important note, I pushed Jeremy a little harder today to answer what the deal is with the tread rotting. I told him I had spoken to an independent shop that said they see it "all the time" on Avons. I know it's broad generalization to say they see it all the time on Avons, so take it with a grain of salt. As I talked to Jeremy on the phone I was looking at my rear tire and sure enough I am seeing it beginning to rot in the inside corners of the treads! I checked that tire a month ago and I did not notice that then. It's up on a lift now so maybe it was easier to see.

I mentioned that to him and he said yeah, he would definitely send me a new rear without me needing to send mine back to be checked. I asked him what the hell is going on with these tires? Is it a compound issue? He was kind of close lipped about it but I didn't expect him to bad mouth his company's product, but I could tell they've had some issues with the Venoms by the way he talked about it. When I asked why they were discontinuing the Venoms he said they are getting away from the bias plys and going more to the radials.

I'm not saying the Venoms are bad tires or have something wrong with the compound etc. I'm just telling you about what happened to my 3 year old pair of Venoms(by date code) that I bought from 2 different retailers. Both grew rot in the treads. I would suggest that those who run these tires take a look now and then into the treads with a flashlight just to be on the safe side.

I'm in the middle of a putting my top end back together and a cam swap so it's more work for me have to swap another bad tire, but I am still very pleased with the service I got from Jeremy Farmer and Avon Tires.

 

Just out of curiosity - how old was the tire? I've run Avon Venoms on my XL, and have been real pleased with them. For a cheap version, the Cheng Shin Barracuda gave similar performance, about 75% of the tread life, and half the price.

 

The date codes on the tires showed 2010 manufacture. I put them on in 2010. I liked them too. They stuck to the road and were good in the wet. I hope these Cobras are as good.

 

I'm confused I checked with avon about using the cobra's with the venom's and for my bike a 1998 fatboy with MT90B-16 tire size they told me they were both bias and I could mis match with no problems Is it possible the new cobra's are made both bias and radial?
Now I'm nervous I ordered a cobra front already and should get it tomorrow

 

Glad you made out OK, we are about to see how Metzler will handle a similar issue. Put a set of 880s on the very end of 11 season and ran them last year for about 6K, tread is still OK but I noticed the side wall of the front is cracking...Rear is OK...

Ds

 

I have a set of avon cobra's on my road king

my buddy runs cobra's on his dyna (107hp at the wheel) and his dresser.


I have a feeling you'll like em. I know they were confidence-inspiring for me. good to know Avon stands by their products too

 

The most common setup of tires I sell with wheel packages is a bias front and a radial rear. I have never had a complaint related to this combo with tires. There is lots of misinformation out there.

Some tires come in bias front and radial rear. It all depends on brand and size.

 

I had a set of Avons on my Road Glide. A 200mm rear and 90mm on the front.
The rear tire wore faster than I anticipated and I noticed I had worn through to the white lining.
I have a set of Pirelii Night Dragons on the front and rear but that is wearing out pretty fast. I think I'll put a car tire on it next.

 

They must have bought rubber from same people that Pirelli did for their rib tires years ago. Could of sworn the cracks in rubber were there in a week.

 

I've read so much stuff online about not mixmatching that I didn't want to bother worrying about it. It turned out to me a moot point anyway because like I said, when I had Jeremy from Avon on the phone I took another look at my rear venom and sure enough it was rotting in the treads too. I swear it wasn't like that last month when I checked it. I dunno. All I know is I have 2 new Cobra tires on the way at no cost to me.