Avon Distanzia tyres - any good

[Steptoe]

Can get a pair of Avon Distanzias to fit my R100GS for £99.

Are they any good ? i've never ridden a GS with them fitted.

 

[Yellow Peril]

Great in the dry and not too bad in the wet, feel better in the corners than Tourances, don't know about wear rates or green laning as only been on for 1000 miles.

 

[ricardo]

Had some on my 1150gs and they gripped and lasted well (on tarmac anyway). Felt a bit odd for the first couple of hundred miles and I was told 'they need breaking in...'.

 

[bumpmuncher]

on my second set got near 10000k miles out of a pair (leagaly could have got more) only had them let go in the wet once, (coming off roundabout) on a tarmac joint that was bleeding oily shite. personly i like the way they feel. the only other tyres i have used on it were the metzlers (similar patern) that were near bald and very scary in the wet and the dry. so cant compare them to any thing else

dispite the picture they do retain a reasonable shape these have spent most of their time on reasonably fast dual carrage ways.

and yes they were on 100GS

 

[D6]

on the fundy, ok really, lack grip of trail attacks if your a loony, but a good all round tyre

 

[judge]

I found them OK, after the TKC's frankly I'd have run on the fekkin rims and enjoyed the ride more. Now back on Tourances and remember just how good it could be

 

[Rob Farmer]

I had a set on my mono. I liked them initialy but they ended up loosing their profile well before they were worn out. Well worth £99 though.

 

[Big Lee]

on my second set got near 10000k miles out of a pair (leagaly could have got more) only had them let go in the wet once, (coming off roundabout) on a tarmac joint that was bleeding oily shite. personly i like the way they feel. the only other tyres i have used on it were the metzlers (similar patern) that were near bald and very scary in the wet and the dry. so cant compare them to any thing else

dispite the picture they do retain a reasonable shape these have spent most of their time on reasonably fast dual carrage ways.

and yes they were on 100GS

I bet they were horrible on corners like that Mine are a similar depth in the middle but a good bit more wear on the sides
I found with mine they made the bike turn far faster than the Pilot roads I had on before but also had more slides with them in the wet although to be fair large throttle openings and lean angles were to blame Mine have lasted 4k miles with another 2ish left in them I think.

 

[bumpmuncher]

I bet they were horrible on corners like that .

didnt find them too bad, but then again its nearly always got my work gear loaded up (an i am sure you know how much crap crap we need working on civils ) or is it just no sence no feeling

 

[brassmonkey001]

I've got a set on mine. They seem fine so far.

 

[Steptoe]

Ended up with a pair of tourances, trade price £142 fitted.

 

[judge]

Ended up with a pair of tourances, trade price £142 fitted.

That's a saving of £60 over what I paid recently, shame I didn't know anyone cheaper

I've got a Hagon shock here for a R80/100GS - could negotiate a 'trade' price with ya

 

[Mike D]

We just rode 10,000k from London to Iran on Distanzia's. We're pleasantly surprised to see they likely have another 5,000 on the rear and maybe another 10,000 on the front. Handled well in dry and wet.

Word on the street is the Metz Tourances are the best though.

 

[Redmerle]

Word on the street is the Metz Tourances are the best though.

I know that this thread is 6 years old, but the Distanzias are still available and I recently replaced the OEM Metzeler Tourances on my own Explorer with Distanzias. The Metzelers, even though they lasted for a reasonable 6,600 miles before they were binned at 3mm on the rear, were seriously bad in all other respects!

I'm publishing an ongoing review on them on the Explorer site and despite an initial extremely high rate of wear during the first few hundred miles, I'm loving them. Certainly a big improvement on the Metzelers, though I'll reserve judgement until I know that I can get at least 4-5,000. miles out of the rear tyre.. Here's my review on the Explorer site so far:




In the interests of trying something that no one seems to have tried on an Explorer before, I will soon be fitting a new pair of Avon Distanzia's to my Explorer.

Declaring an interest from the start, over 33 years of riding, I've run more Avon bike tyres than all other of my bike tyres put together. Why? Well, just like Triumph, if someone is prepared to design, develop and manufacture something in the UK (though Wiltshire, as opposed to Leicestershire) and it's properly competitive, then why not support them? Also, unlike most modern rubber, at least it's possible to see how the tread actually works as far as water displacement is concerned and the tread is wide enough to self clean itself of mud (car of choice, when not on a bike - Land Rover :001

I've read a lot of good and a lot of bad reports on these tyres, so that's old news and there's no need to repeat it here. However, what I've never seen before is anyone rubbishing them (or praising them, for that matter) from the point of having actually ever tried them on an Explorer! So this is what I'm going to do for you...

I will be fair about it and if they are good, I'll tell you and if they are rubbish, I'll tell you about that too :028:

They won't be fitted until Saturday 26/4/14, but I can tell you that the cost was as follows:

Front - £80.50 inc delivery, excluding fitting.
Rear - £87.09 inc delivery, excluding fitting.

Total price: £167.59, tyres only, delivered.

I will be reporting back as soon as they go on the bike and (thereafter) at regular intervals.

Please feel free to ask anything about them, but please don't post just to wax lyrically about your Anakee III's and PR4's, there are already more threads about those than I can shake a stick at and I don't want to start yet another one! :038: :028:

John.


21/4/14 Update:

Rear wheel removed early for the first one to be fitted tomorrow. Never taken a rear wheel off one of these before, it's easier than filling the bike with petrol! OEM Metz's being changed at 6,598 miles. Still around 2mm on the front and 3mm on the rear (which is brilliant), but they're very badly squared off and inspire little confidence in the corners.

24/4/14 Update:

Rear wheel and tyre in place. New front going on on Saturday...

26/4/14 Update:

With the help of my trusty assistant, Ben, I've got the front tyre sorted this morning and fitted the crash bars this afternoon. Ready to start scrubbing these Avons in tomorrow as soon as the rain stops!

27/4/14 Update:

Ready to go out and scrub them in when the rain stops....

Initial tread depth at 6,598 miles: Front: 4.9mm Rear: 7.8mm


27/4/14 update:

I've been out and I've ridden my first 35 miles on the bike to start the scrubbing in process.

At first it was hard to know if the difference was down to comparing old tyres with new, but it isn't. When I first rode the Explorer after my T309 Sprint, it was slow to steer and much happier with straight lines than turns. I put it down to the character of the bike and learned to accept it and ride around it.

However, within the first 50 yards on the Avons, I turned 90 degrees left at the first T junction and WOW. It dropped into the bend like never before! The difference was so marked that I was genuinely shocked and it took at least a mile or two to begin to adapt to it. On the way back home I took a nice twisty lane and (even within the limitations of new tyres) I was swinging the bike from side to side like it's never allowed me to before; I did about 8 miles on the dual carriageway across Bodmin Moor and despite a moderate side wind, it was much more stable than I've ever known it to be before.

It's early days yet and I'll need to start gradually working on those chicken strips but, so far, I couldn't have hoped for better. It's brought out a much sportier side to the Explorer that I never realised was there before!! I will remain objective though and if there are any problems, I'll report those too.


29/4/14 update:

This is bonkers. It's stark raving mad! If anyone had told me that it was possible to completely transform the handling of a bike by a simple change of tyres, I wouldn't have believed them!

This is simply not the same bike. It's as if someone has completely re-worked the suspension and shaved around 50 Kgs off the bike (or, more likely, 50 kgs off of me! :164: ) Now , instead of being a big heavy bike that I have to work through bends, it's as if I just have to think my way around them and it all happens as if my magic :152: In 34 years of riding a bike I have never come across such a transformation my a simple tyre change; out and about in the B road twisties this evening, it was as if I was back on my old GSX400F and I was 21 again! :745:

I feel that I have just wasted the first 11 months and 6,500 miles with this bike by persevering with those awful OEM tyres! :084:

4/5/14 Update:

328 Miles now. Handling just fine still, though no wet weather testing yet....
By the end of next week it'll pass over 600 miles and I'll be ready to take a tread measurement, just to see if the trade off for such a handling improvement is more rapid tyre wear.

7/5/14 Update:

Now at 365 miles and I have my first cause for concern. While the handling is still superb in comparison to the OEM Metzelers, the rate of wear on the rear tyre is starting to cause some concern. I know that tyre wear in not linear with mileage and I'll need to plot this over time, but the centre depth, on the rear tyre, has gone down from 7.9mm to 6.2mm. Assuming a tyre change at 2mm and a linear rate of wear, this rear tyre would be due to change at 1,270 miles. I will be doing three hundred miles over the weekend, so I'll report back on the ongoing rate of wear, I'll also be able to report back on their wet weather behaviour.

11/5/14 Update:

Now at 706 miles. Still no sign of wear to the front tyre (it still has the flash mark down the centre!) and the rear tyre wear has slowed up considerably (thankfully) at 5.8mm remaining. Again, assuming a linear wear rate from when the tyre was new, that would make for a tyre life of 2,690 miles. Still poor, but no longer catastrophic and at least it's heading in the right direction....

Handling is still excellent and now that I've ridden it in the wet, it seams little different. I've now hit wet mud and gravel with it (Devon lanes, you know) and they cope with that very well.

Mud and rain tested!:

 

[Gav]

It seems like you're impressed with the Distanzias. I like them too, much better than the Anakees I used before. However, I've encountered a problem with them.

I have had a series of front tyres developing serious cracking in the sidewall. If you're likely to do a high mileage and get through the front tyre quickly you might be fine. It seems to happen after a few months. Each time I take it back and get another, that does the same. I'm currently trying to work out what to do. I don't know whether to give them one more try. The rear seems fine and I prefer to have a matched pair. The alternative is to fit something different to the front but I don't know what would best match the Distanzia rear.

 

[Redmerle]

The only reservation on mine so far was the initial tyre wear, so I'm reserving judgment until I know that I can get at least 4 or 5,000 miles out of the rear one. I shall keep an eye on the sidewalls though. I'm doing around 7,500 miles per annum, so I'd expect no more than 18 month maximum from the front tyre. I did once (around 13 years ago) have a front Avon's sidewalls start to crack, even though (shamefully, but unknowingly) I'd used it significantly under inflated for ages. Avon still replaced it without any bother though and I've never had it happen again again since.

I shall be keeping an eye on the sidewalls as well from now on though...

 

[tuftywhite]

I used to use Avon Gripsters, until I was told that they didn't do them in my size anymore. They used to last 8,000 on the rear. I moved to Distanzias which I found fine, but I've passed mine on to Arkright as I needed TKC's on for a bit of off road business.

 

[(RIP) Arkwright]

Distanzias on both my GS Airheads, 10,000 on one pair, 8,000 on the other pair still quite a bit of life left in both pairs, spare pair c/o Tufty for the G/S, Conti Escapes waiting for the other.

Conti Trail Attacks on my 1200 have done 13,000 so far at least 2,000 left in them.

I must be gentle on tyres!

 

[Hector]

Distanzia's

I ride a GSA 2011, and will soon be getting my third pair of Avon Distanzia's. (I change both at same time even though the front has some tread on it). I average about 6000 miles on the rear tyre, mainly A & B roads with a little motorway riding. I to find them to be very good tyres, I get more miles and better handling from them than the Tourances that were fitted from new Which only lasted 5000 miles.