Avon Cobra

[Paul Carver]

I am wondering what kind of mileage you guys are getting with the Avon Cobra. I installed a new one last year and when it had around 10,000 miles on it, I had a flat due to a seperation of the rubber. I left home a couple of weeks ago for the Black Hills and on the way home, only 140 miles left, I had a flat and had to have it towed the rest of the way. The tire looked very worn and was definetly due for a change. I thought this new Cobra would last longer than that. Am I wrong???

[bg]

i hope you're wrong.
i've run venom's the last two sets and just 2 weeks ago put on a set of cobras.
hoping to get good mileage out of them.
guess i better keep an eye on them.
thanks for the heads up.

[Lyn-Del]

Wizard got 28,000 on the last Cobra he had on the front of his Valk (CT on rear).  The new one has about 10,000 and is looking good so far.

[FLAVALK]

The one I'm running on the front right now has just over 20k on it, but its nearing end of life. I consistenly run 40 psi.

[Bob E.]

I have about 5400 miles on my rear Cobra and it is starting to wear in the middle.  Based on the wear, I'm guessing I'll get about 8000 miles out of it.  For comparison, I got about 9000 out of the rear Venom.  So this is going to be close to equal of that.  The most I ever got from a rear tire was 10,000 from an E3.

My front Cobra has about 3400 miles on it and still looks new.  I got about 10,000 out of my front Venom, which was the most I ever got from a front tire.

[Duffy]

It amazes me that one person can get 20k and another less than 10k! 

I know people ride different and some do a better job of keeping the pressure checked, but such a big difference on the "same" motorcycle is crazy, right? 

I am running the Cobras now front and rear, probably have about 6k on both. Guess I better check them for wear and see how we're doing. 

[Cattman]

I have about 8k on my rear Cobra and has lots of miles left. 17.8k on my front Venom with 4-5k left. Key is to keep close watch on pressure. 46# rear/43# front for me.

[cutter]

Have a Cobra on the front and got 24000+ with it, had the second mounted couple a months back. Run a Dunlop E3's on the rear and get over 20000 with them. This set up works for me and one of these days I'll try the CT for grins. As for the bike milage, it only has 163000+ on her. 

[Bob E.]

I have about 8k on my rear Cobra and has lots of miles left. 17.8k on my front Venom with 4-5k left. Key is to keep close watch on pressure. 46# rear/43# front for me.

I run 45/45 front/rear in mine and have been real good about checking it.  These tires have never been run under 42psi...that was the lowest pressure I've seen since I mounted them...even after sitting through the winter.  And when I checked them at that pressure, I filled them back up to 45psi.  Also, I have 3 different tire guages that are all very close...so unless they are all off the same, I'm pretty confident that my readings are accurate.  I think my increased tire wear is due mostly to the rough road surfaces, multiple hills, and windy roads here in southwest PA where I live and ride.  Plus a great deal of my riding is commuting back and forth to work 8miles at a time mostly on back roads with some stop and go traffic.

[Bagger John - #3785]

I just ordered a set of Cobras for Blondie's Tourer last week and am going to mount them in another week or two. Hopefully they'll handle better than the OEM D206s (you read that right...) which are still on the bike! 

[Hef]

While different riding styles have a great deal to do with how long a tire lasts, proper  air pressure is much more of a factor. My last set of tires were Venoms and I got 17K from the rear and probably still had 3-5 left on front but changed both at the same time and replaced with Cobras. I only have about 3K on the Cobras so it's too early to evaluate.

[3fan4life]

My experience with the Avons has been that the fronts give respectable wear but the rears don't.

I've ran Venom's and Cobra's. 

The Venom on the front gave me between 16k & 18k miles.

But, I probably ran it  1k mi past worn out.

 


The Venom on the rear looked like this after about 8k miles.



Both tires were replaced with Avon Cobra's.

The front has 2-3k miles on it and still looks good.

It should give me the same mileage as the Venom.

The rear Cobra was showing signs of serious wear at 6k miles.

It has since been replaced with a Dunlop E3 that looks like it will fair much better.


I love the way the bike feels with a set of Avon's on it.

But, I can't justify replacing the rear tire every 6k miles.

There was a period of adjustment when I went from an Avon on the rear to the E3. The bike doesn't fall into the corners as easily with the E3 as it does with the Avons.

So far I am happy with the E3 on the rear.  I haven't felt like I've pushed it too far yet.

The Avons are very sensitive to air pressure.

I kept 42 psi in the front.  Which seemed to be enough.

I ran 48 psi in the rear and the wear pattern seemed to indicate that even that may not have been enough. 

   

[3fan4life]

I just ordered a set of Cobras for Blondie's Tourer last week and am going to mount them in another week or two. Hopefully they'll handle better than the OEM D206s (you read that right...) which are still on the bike! 

My Valk had the OEM tires on it when I bought it.

After riding it for about 6 months I replaced them with a set of Avon Venoms.

My first ride on the Avons felt like I was on a sport bike.

The difference is night and day.

My only complaint with the Avons is poor mileage from the rears.

[MNBill]

My Venom went about 9000 miles,,, 1000 without my right hand twisting it (before I oened it). It is still okay but I do not feel like getting every last mile out of it, just to ride safely. It will be replaced Friday, leaning towards the Metzler 200 series. 

[..]

It amazes me that one person can get 20k and another less than 10k! 

I know people ride different and some do a better job of keeping the pressure checked, but such a big difference on the "same" motorcycle is crazy, right? 

I am running the Cobras now front and rear, probably have about 6k on both. Guess I better check them for wear and see how we're doing. 

There be flatlanders!

[Ozark Bubba]

Got 420 miles on my Avon Cobra rear. Picked up a nail the size of a railroad spike.

I can say it handles well at speed as it goes flat.  

[Lyn-Del]

Differences in tire life are affected by pressure, the type of roads you ride on, and the style of riding you do. 

I generally get 14-15K on Venoms on the rear of Traveler (I/S), dragging a trailer for most of it.  The last front tire lasted 30K.  On the other Valks, I get about 15-16K rear, and about 20-22K front.

On my R3, the stock Metzlers, I got 9K on the rear, which was twice what many of the riders got. 

I try to keep my tires at 40-42 psi, and check them pretty often.  Any time spent riding a Gold Wing will make a tire checker out of you - low pressure in the front tire causes a pretty dramatic wobble in front.

[huckleberry]

I bought a new Avon tire from my local dealer, and rode the bike about fifty miles and went completely flat,they towed my bike back to the dealer and was told that it was a defective tire,so it was replaced with a new one. The next day my wife and i decided to take a short trip,and about sixty miles an hour the front tire gave out. I looked at the tire and couldnt see any puncture or nail.I getting ticked of about thi time,and there it goes back to the dealer.After having my bike there all afternoon,the service manager calls me to let me know that the valve stems were not changed when the put the new tire on and they were very sorry for what had happened and promised me to give me two free mountings on my next set of tires. Huckleberry

[FLAVALK]

Yup, and I be one if there ever was one. ALL of my wear is just off the left side of the crown....go figure. The rest of the tire is ready for another 20k!

It amazes me that one person can get 20k and another less than 10k! 

I know people ride different and some do a better job of keeping the pressure checked, but such a big difference on the "same" motorcycle is crazy, right? 

I am running the Cobras now front and rear, probably have about 6k on both. Guess I better check them for wear and see how we're doing. 

There be flatlanders!