Avon Distancias (80/20) SuperMoto

[Ponyperformance8]

Got em, awesome tire, the tires the bike should come with stock IMHO. My daily commute has dirt on it and these tires have so much more grip on and off road, they are definitely worth it. Quiet too,movers impressed.

I also have barkbuster storm hand guards, the MRC Vario touring windscreen in dark smoke, and crash bars from SW Motech, overall I am very happy with all the mods, but the tires were without a question the best.

 

[Jarvis]

Lookin Good Bro.......

 

[Beemerphile]

I would be interested to hear the mileage you get out of them. I am expecting my Pirelli MT60's to get lousy mileage.

 

[Fuzzy]

I would be interested to hear the mileage you get out of them. I am expecting my Pirelli MT60's to get lousy mileage.

Need to get busy putting miles on so we don't have to wait to long for a report.

 

[showkey]

Thinking the Distanzia would be a smoother quieter road ride than the TKCs............the super moto compound is the wild card?

We needed NW to equip one bike with Distanzia and the other with TKCs for direct head to head shoot out

 

[Beemerphile]

.........the super moto compound is the wild card?

Yes. The operating parameters for a Supermoto tire do not correspond well with the operating parameters for a dual sport or heavily loaded adventure bike tire. Supermoto tires are expected to be run on lightweight motorcycles so the sidewalls are generally not very stiff as load-bearing is not as important. Also, they are designed to warm up at lower speeds than superbike tires. Both of these lead to the use of compounds that won't last long or work well on a loaded down adventure bike bouncing off ruts in a rocky road. The tread looks right and the sizes fit, but whether they work properly (or very long) in adventure duty is TBD.

To be ideal in our duty, they would have to be not very good as a true supermoto tire.

So, complicating things, some sizes are adventure compound and some are supermoto. We have some choice on the rear. I believe that the 150/70-17 is the adventure compound, though the 160/60-17 is the supermoto. On the front, there is no choice as the 120/70-17 size is supermoto compound. The profile of the 150/70 is flatter than the 160/60 so it is not "automatic" that the 150/70 and 120/70 will play well together.

From RevZilla (emphasis mine)...

Avon AM43 Distanzia Supermoto Tire
For street legal supermoto bikes
Softer compound race inspired for excellent grip
Lighter weight construction
Not recommended for large displacement touring applications
10% offroad, 90% on road
Tubeless
H rated
D.O.T. Approved

 

[showkey]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^..........not good news.........light weight construction..........could live with rubber compound and tread life...........side wall and overall construction changes can't get past that.........

Maybe with all the front 17" hitting the market someone will fill the niche????????

 

[Beemerphile]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^..........not good news.........light weight construction..........could live with rubber compound and tread life...........side wall and overall construction changes can't get past that.........

Maybe with all the front 17" hitting the market someone will fill the niche????????

The market has been loaded with 17" fronts for years. 120/70-17 is by far the most common front tire size for full size motorcycles. The problem is that only the Buell Ulysses had a 17 inch front and called itself an Adventure Bike. All the rest rightly fitted 19 inch or larger wheels. So, the market has been small. Though Honda calls our NC an Adventure Bike, many doubt it and many (most?) users will not use it as one. So, the market is still small.

The market they are missing in my opinion (and that the Continental TKC80 is the first to address) is the market for people who take "adventure" rides on "non-adventure" bikes. I met a lady from Ontario on the Top of the World Highway riding a freakin' Hayabusa! I made my own trip on a BMW R1150R - not an "adventure" bike. But both had 120/70-17 front tires. I had hoped that the TKC80 would release in time for my trip, but it was delayed and unavailable on my departure date. I think Northwest Rider is using the best current ADV combination with the TKC80 front and Heidenau rear. Lots of people use this combination (or a Mefo rear) because the TKC80 rear does not last very well on longer trips. Of the two, it is the front that is most important. You can get away with a lot on the rear.

 

[docwells7]

The market has been loaded with 17" fronts for years. 120/70-17 is by far the most common front tire size for full size motorcycles. The problem is that only the Buell Ulysses had a 17 inch front and called itself an Adventure Bike. All the rest rightly fitted 19 inch or larger wheels. So, the market has been small. Though Honda calls our NC an Adventure Bike, many doubt it and many (most?) users will not use it as one. So, the market is still small.

The market they are missing in my opinion (and that the Continental TKC80 is the first to address) is the market for people who take "adventure" rides on "non-adventure" bikes. I met a lady from Ontario on the Top of the World Highway riding a freakin' Hayabusa! I made my own trip on a BMW R1150R - not an "adventure" bike. But both had 120/70-17 front tires. I had hoped that the TKC80 would release in time for my trip, but it was delayed and unavailable on my departure date. I think Northwest Rider is using the best current ADV combination with the TKC80 front and Heidenau rear. Lots of people use this combination (or a Mefo rear) because the TKC80 rear does not last very well on longer trips. Of the two, it is the front that is most important. You can get away with a lot on the rear.

Do you have a picture of the Hayabusa?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[Beemerphile]

Do you have a picture of the Hayabusa?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

Sent from my Atari Pong Console.

 

[docwells7]

View attachment 5949

Sent from my Atari Pong Console.

Thx! That is an awesome rig. I'm sorry of perplexed about the placement of the spare fuel, but if it works for her, that's great. I've read several articles using hyper bikes add sport tourers. Once considered a blackbird xx but ended up with an st1300... sometimes I regret that decision. Still reluctant to sell the VFR...

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[Beemerphile]

I'm (sort) of perplexed about the placement of the spare fuel, but if it works for her, that's great.

It never touched her. She was about 5'-2" and oh 105 lbs.

 

[Bug Dr.]

These are AM44 and rated for heavy dual sport. Think I will try them next.
Avon AM44 Distanzia Rear Tire - Adventure Touring - Motorcycle Superstore
Mike

 

[gpd211]

Sent from my Atari Pong Console.

Love it

Sent from my Radio Shack TRS 80

 

[Beemerphile]

These are AM44 and rated for heavy dual sport. Think I will try them next.
Avon AM44 Distanzia Rear Tire - Adventure Touring - Motorcycle Superstore
Mike

Motorcycle Superstore is not giving the full information as RevZilla does. From the Avon web site, you can see that the 160/60-17, 150/60-17 and 120/70-17 are all designated as SM tires.

Distanzia | Avon Tyres

These are not rated as "heavy dual sport" but have the limitation that I stated earlier. You might choose to wait on a mileage report from our Pioneer.

 

[Bug Dr.]

Well bummer! I hoped a different number might mean a different compound. I will wait.
Mike

 

[Bug Dr.]

After looking at the website and the PDF I can't find anything that indicates that the compounds are different, just the size. Says "sized for supermoto" but doesn't say different compound is used. Now I'm more confused.....I'm used to it though.
Mike

 

[Beemerphile]

After looking at the website and the PDF I can't find anything that indicates that the compounds are different, just the size. Says "sized for supermoto" but doesn't say different compound is used. Now I'm more confused.....I'm used to it though.
Mike

If you google it and read enough of the hits it will begin to be clear. If size were the only difference, why would there be a SM distinction? Supermoto guys can read their sizes from a list without it needing a SM after the size. I think Revzilla did the best job of differentiation between the two. SM usage is very different indeed than loaded heavy adventure bikes. SM's are generally single cylinder bikes well under 400 lbs. and ridden aggressively. It would be a truly horrible SM tire if it were good for our use.

Avon AM43 Distanzia Supermoto Tire - RevZilla

The video presentation that he does on that page is for the dual sport version. One clue is when he says the front is available in 19 and 21 inch sizes. the second clue is near the end where he says it is also available in a supermoto version. The thing I would rely on is the printed description for the supermoto item which I posted earlier.

ETA: Here is an eBay ad for the SM Distanzia. Notice the Description. Same info as Revzilla...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AVON-DISTANZIA-SUPERMOTO-TIRE-FRONT-120-70HR17-SM-/350821688560

 

[Bug Dr.]

Thank you. I now understand how you came to your conclusion. It still doesn't make me feel better. I want a tire like that for my NC.
Thanks,
Mike

 

[Ponyperformance8]

Hey all sorry for the delay in my response, overall couldn't be happier with the tire, SM compound or not. They are quiet and smooth and have great grip off road and on compared to the BattlAxes. If the cost of that is a shorter tread life I can deal with that, but then again I'm not a super long-distance rider, I just want to be able to do a bit of everything. I will have my first fuel mileage report soon, but I'm actually expecting good things. A modest decrease at most. I will keep you advised...