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AIIOH' Riding Imllression Ree; So what goes into the new Azaro tires, you ask? Well, like a lot of the tire stories I've done recently, a whole bunch of acronyms. So here are the important ones that are common among the three tires that we had the opportunity to ride. They are the key technological bits that contribute to the new range. A-VBD (Advanced Variable Belt Density): The belts are denser at the center of the tire for better high-speed stability and wear resistance. At the edges, there are less belts for a larger footprint on the road, and for maximum grip. I~ol S-Compound (Silica-Compound): Silica is a compound itself, called SiO. (Silicon Dioxide), and when added to a tire's mixture, it helps tires grip better at low temperatures. and also helps improve grip dramatically in wet conditions. ISi021 EAF (Enhanced Aqua Flow): This is Avon's description for their computer-designed tread pattern. It has been designed to optimize the dispersal of water for maximum wet-weather grip. S8C (Spiral and Belted Carcass): This system incorporates both zero-degree, spiral-wound construction and belted-carcass construction. This allows the tire to deal with high loads while also offering high-speed stability. ATAC Tread Profile (Advanced Tread Arc Combination - Tri Arc): This is an acronym for the actual shape of Avon's profile. The profile offers optimal handling and stability at all lean angles. I-$W~-I I~I W\&j All three of the tires that we sampled exceed the V300 speed rating, in which the 300 stands for kilometers per hour (186 mph In this case), meaning that the tires are approved for bikes like the Suzuki Hayabusa and Kawasaki ZX·12R. Avon arranged a track day at the Spring Mountain Motorsports Park (AKA Pahrump), in Pahrump, Nevada, about an hour outside of Las Vegas. We used the entire 2.2-mlle course, which can be split into various configurations. One of the coolest sections of the track is turns 5A and 58, which are an exact duplicate of the same comers (turns 5A and 58, know as Moss comer) at Mosport, in Ontario, Canada, eh? Avon had arranged for us to ride a huge variety of bikes for the Azaro introduction. The bikes available for us to sample were: Apnlia RSV Mille; Ducati 620 Monster, ST4S, 998; Suzuki GSX-R750, Bandit 1200; Triumph Sprint RS; Yamaha Ylf'-R6. YZF-R1, FZ-!. The tires were mixed up a bit as well Some of !he Aprilia MiIles wore !he Sport tires, wbiIe ocber MiIIe$ wore the Sport Touring tires. One of !he staDdards wore SpoIt tires, while the other wore !he Sport-Towing tire. Others, like the Oueetl, had the'standard Sport tire mounted up. This was all done In an effort to show how competent Avon felt aU of !heir tires were on a variety of bikes. I hadn't been to the track before, so I took a familiar bike, the R6, out to get up to speed and fmd my way around. The first thing that I noticed was that the track has very little in the way of reference points - I later found out that it was designed that way. Once I started to figure out which way everything went, I started pushing the R6 a little harder. The R6 I took out was fitted with the SP-Pro track-day tire, which had a whole lotta grip. One thing that I didn't notice at first was that the R6 was steering a little slow. After a couple of us noticed that it felt funny, we had the forks raised in the triple clamps a bit to compensate for the slightly larger diameter front tire - something that the R6 is particularly sensitive to. A few sessions later, I was able to get back on the R6 and it was awesome - probably the best bike available for the Pahrump track. The level of grip from the trackday tire was excellent. I was able to ride the wheels off the R6 without any fanfare. Grip and tum-in were excellent, with the front offering plenty of feedback. It was a perfect tire for doing track days or spirited sport riding. Over the course of the day, I tried to sample as many different bikes and tire combinations as possible. I spent a session on a Suzuki GSX·R750 - another awesome bike for the Pahrump track - also fitted with the SP-Pro tire, which worked very well. It would take a true back-to-back test to determine if the SP-Pro was as grippy as a true Supersport racing tire. However, it should give a tire like Metzeler's excellent Sportec M-1 a run for its money. I spent a bunch of sessions on bikes that had the Sport tire mounted on them and was very impressed with the performance. The tire is meant to be a 'street only· sportbike tire, but it performed very well on the track. Not only was the grip acceptable, but the tire also offered plenty of feedback and feel. Both the Sport tire and the SP-Pro tire had very linear handling characteristics, with predictable, linear tum-in traits, and good stability under braking. Overall, it's a good aU-around sportbike tire. which should offer plenty of grip for the weekend warrior. The big surprise of the day had to be the company's Sport·Touring tire. My first indication that the tire was good didn't come from a personal impression, but from an observation. Don Canet, from Cycle World magazine, was out on the Triumph Sprint RS - which, let's be honest, isn't much of a track bike· on the Sport Touring tire, and after passing me with ease, he set off into the sunseL I'm used to Canet passing me (as is every other journalist in the world, by the way), but I was on the R6 with the sticky-bun tires on iL How demoralizing. In the next session, I decided to see for myself if Canet was just balancing on the edge of traction with superstar precision, or if the tires were really that good. As it turns out, the tires were awesome. I went out on an Aprilia RSV Mille and couldn't believe how much grip was available. ·Sport-Touring tires aren't supposed to grip this good," I thought to myself. They may not grip as well as the company's own Sport tire, but they grip way better than any sport-touring tire that I can remember riding on. Avon is very proud of the mileage that the new Azaro Sport-Touring tire has been achieving in testing, and even showed us a tire with 8000 miles on it that still had plenty of tread left. If you aren't a weekend knee dragger, and are just looking for a tire with good all-around perfor· mance and good mileage, this may be the perfect tire for you. The bottom line is that Avon is another company that you should seriously consider the next time you drive down to your local dealer. The tires that we tried were very impressive - particularly the Sport·Touring tire· but those of you who like to go and do the occasional track day should take a look at the SP-Pro for a change of pace. It's a real· ly nice tire as well. There hasn't been this many awesome tires available to the consumer in a long time. The entire industry seems really competitive right now. It's a perfect time to try out something new. Azaro Pricin AV45 AV46 AV49 AV50 AV49 AV50 ST (front) Sport Touring: ST (rear) Sport Touring: SP (front) Sport: SP (rear) Sport: SP Pro (front) Street/Track Day: SP Pro (rear) StreetfTrack Day: $124 $156 $124 $170 $129 $168 to to to to to to $148 $219 $140 $204 $150 $217 Azaro SP and Azaro SP-Pro sizes: Front: 110/70R17, 120/60R17, 120/70R17, 130/70R16 Rear: 150/60R17, 160/60R17, 170/60R17, 180/55R17, 190/50R17 Azaro ST: Front: 110/70R17, 110/80R17, 110/80R18, 120/60R17, 120/70R17, 120/70R18, 120/80R16,120/30R16 Rear: 140/80R17, 150/70R17, 150/80R16, 160/60R17, 160/60R18, 160/70R17, 170/60R17, 180/55R17, 190/55R17,200/50R17 For more information on sizing, go to www.avonmotorcycie.com. or call Avon North America at 800/624·7470. cue I _ n _ _ S • NOVEMBER 6, 2002 29