Bonneville T120 - Avon Spirit St

Discussion in 'Tyres' started by Trevor Austin, Sep 24, 2021.

  1. Trevor Austin

    Trevor Austin Well-Known Member

    Aug 29, 2020
    162
    83
    Northumberland
    #1 Trevor Austin, Sep 24, 2021
    My bike has 6,000 miles on the clock, 4,000 of which are mine. Until two days ago it was still on its original set of Phantoms. They were good tyres on smooth roads and gave a “planted” feel. But the moment the surface become rough or you rode along a grove or linear road marking they become a bit “squirrely” and often wandered off the line you intended. This slightly random behaviour gave me a slightly uneasy feel and sapped my confidence. I didn’t want to push my tyres because I didn’t trust them. I’ve now swapped them for a set of Avon Spirit ST’s. What lovely tyres. Instantly you can feel the difference. They have a neutral feel and go where you want even on rough surfaces and along linear road features. May I recommend these tyres to Bonneville T120 owners who are looking for new tyres.
     
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  2. sprintdave

    sprintdave Nurse, think it's time for his medications.

    May 25, 2014
    1,680
    750
    Birmingham
    #2 sprintdave, Sep 26, 2021
    I've recently had Spirit STs on my T509 and agree, I am not a fast rider so don't need super duper extra soft sticky tyres and they work great for me.
     
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  3. Trevor Austin

    Trevor Austin Well-Known Member

    Aug 29, 2020
    162
    83
    Northumberland
    #3 Trevor Austin, Sep 26, 2021
    As an add on to my post above regarding the Avon Spirit ST’s, I have found these tyres have a slightly larger diameter than the Phantoms they replaced. This means that when on the centre-stand the rear tyre no longer revolves as there is some weight still on it. This means that you have to lower the stand onto a small (10-15 mm) block in order to raise the wheel to lube the chain. I wasn’t expecting this. Avon Spirit ST’s are still great tyres though.
     
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  4. joe mc donald

    joe mc donald Joe
    Subscriber

    Dec 26, 2014
    15,539
    1,000
    slough / burnham
    #4 joe mc donald, Sep 26, 2021
    Same tyres same set of needs to oil the chain. Same opinion on the Avon's
    Joe.
     
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  5. Geoff Butler

    Geoff Butler Never too old for Biking!

    Apr 5, 2021
    627
    143
    Hampshire & Powys
    #5 Geoff Butler, Oct 3, 2021
    Similar story for me, in that I had the factory standard Pirelli Phantom tyres on my 2017 Street Cup and had zero confidence in the tyres when road conditions were anything less than perfect. I switched to Avon Roadrider MkII tyres and the handling has been transformed, along with my confidence in the tyres to do the right thing. :cool:
     
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  6. Steve T.

    Steve T. Active Member

    Dec 6, 2020
    203
    33
    Northern British Columbia
    #6 Steve T., Oct 19, 2021
    T120 (2020) & Avon Spirits - No problem here with centre stand / rear wheel height for chain lube etc.
     
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  7. Ericatcse

    Ericatcse Well-Known Member

    Aug 7, 2020
    33
    68
    DUKINFIELD
    #7 Ericatcse, Nov 27, 2021
    I replaced my Contis with Avon Spirits on my Street Twin no issues so far , they're good reliable tyres.
     
  8. Steve T.

    Steve T. Active Member

    Dec 6, 2020
    203
    33
    Northern British Columbia
    #8 Steve T., Nov 27, 2021
    :D LOL - I've done the Opposite! Just received my Conti Road Attack 3's this week, ready for next year. Couldn't get a set of Avon Spirits for the T120.
    The Avons are very good, but I suffer from long straight roads before getting to any twisties, so they tend to square off at the centre. Tread wear indicators are nearly visible at the centerline. The Avons have about 11k kms / 7k miles on them. May squeeze another 2k kms out of them? Front seems to be wearing as well but at least evenly.
    :( Whatever happened to the days of two front tyres to one rear?
     
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