Avon Tyres has launched the latest of its acclaimed sport-touring tyres, the all-new Avon Spirit ST.

The Spirit ST is the successor to Avon’s Storm 3D range and has been designed to provide excellent levels of wet grip, together with ultra-high performance handling, on a wide range of popular sport-touring bikes. Featuring a radical new tread pattern, the Spirit ST uses the very latest high-silica synthetic rubber compounds for improved mileage.

Avon’s engineers have enhanced the performance of their flagship sport-touring tyre, so much so that the new Spirit ST is designated as a hypersport touring tyre – offering supreme stability and grip in all riding conditions.

Avon has responded to the needs of its customers to deliver a new sport-touring tyre that can build on the features and benefits of the existing Avon Storm 3D X-M, including a cutting edge compound, tread and carcass design, along with outstanding wet and dry performance.

For the development of the Spirit ST, Avon’s motorcycle research and development department based in Melksham began with an all-new carcass construction design that gives ultra-high-performance handling and stability.

Avon then wrapped it in a highly-loaded silica compound, using the very latest polymer technology, while adding a multi-compound tread on the rear. This gives more life in the centre of the tyre for extensive motorway miles. Meanwhile, the edges of the tyre are made with a softer compound, for extreme grip in cornering. A new computer-aided tread design that maximises water-clearing was designed especially for the Spirit ST, which also features improved wear characteristics.

The Spirit ST’s distinctive tread pattern – which echoes the layout of a racing wet tyre – incorporates extensive water-clearing grooves, meaning the Spirit ST moves more water than ever before whilst maintaining its operating temperature over a wide range of conditions.

Avon’s pioneering ‘3D Sipe’ technology also features as part of the new Spirit ST design. These small tread cuts have interlocking ‘teeth’ formed inside the grooves, to lock the tread blocks together under load. This lets the tread warm up fast, while eliminating the vague ‘squirming’ feel that can manifest itself on older, more traditional tread patterns.

Ashley Vowles, Avon’s motorcycle tyre design engineer, said, “Our target was to design a sport touring tyre with exceptional wet and dry grip, and superb handling and stability characteristics, while maintaining the mileage performance for which Avon Tyres has been renowned. We have carried out various tests on many different bike models using a number of test riders and the results have been outstanding. We are very excited about the new Spirit ST range and are looking forward to its release.”

The new Spirit ST takes Avon’s sporting road tyre offering to a new level, and is available at Avon dealers now in a wide range of sizes:

Spirit ST front
110/70 ZR 17 (54W)
100/90 ZR 18 (56W)
110/80 ZR 18 (58W)
110/80 R 19 59V
120/60 ZR 17 (55W)
120/70 ZR 17 (58W)
120/70 ZR 18 (59W)
120/70 ZR 19 (60W)

Spirit ST rear
150/70 ZR 17 (69W)
150/80 ZR 16 (71W)
160/60 ZR 17 (69W)
160/60 ZR 18 (70W)
160/70 ZR 17 (73W)
170/60 ZR 17 (72W)
180/55 ZR 17 (73W)
190/50 ZR 17 (73W)
190/55 ZR 17 (75W)
200/50 ZR 17 (75W)
200/55 ZR 17 (78W)

For further information on Avon Tyres, visit www.avon-tyres.co.uk.

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Avon Tyres has launched an all-new range of motorcycle tyre inner tubes.

Essential for those using conventional spoked rims on modern bikes, or riding with traditional rims on classic machinery, these tubes are made to the highest standards, from the finest butyl and natural rubbers, providing a long-lasting, quality product.

Supplied in smart packaging, the Avon tube range comes in a massive variety of sizes to suit virtually all current tubed tyre fittings, including 10-, 16-, 17-, 18-, 19- and 21- inch rims.

Whether it is for a small-bore commuter, a giant adventure dirt bike, or a lovingly restored vintage classic, there is an Avon tube to suit. Tubes for motocross applications are also available with rim tapes to follow at a later date.

Doug Ross, Avon Tyres’ Head of Global Motorcycle Tyres, said, “We are pleased to be able to offer consumers this new Avon tube range. We recognise that a lot of owners, especially of classic motorcycles, will benefit from the tubes designed and manufactured to complement Avon tube type tyres such as the Speedmaster, Safety Mileage MkII and Sidecar Triple Duty.”

For further information and a full size listing, visit www.avon-tyres.co.uk or contact your local dealer

You can also keep up-to-date with Avon on Facebook and Twitter.

Avon Tyres is a British brand widely acknowledged as the master of classic race tyres. This status has been underlined once again in the Isle of Man with victories for Avon in both the Senior and Junior Classic TT races, for John McGuinness and Michael Dunlop respectively.

At this year’s Classic TT (27-29 August) Avon dominated the podium with top riders, including Dean Harrison, Maria Costello, Michael Rutter and Alan Oversby using Avon race rubber.

Avon Tyres Motorsport Manager, Steve Smith, said, “The script writers couldn’t have come up with a better story! John McGuinness wins the Senior Classic on Saturday and Michael Dunlop wins the Junior Classic on Sunday, both on Avon tyres.”

The Avon Motorsport department remains in the Isle of Man this week, as the Manx Grand Prix immediately follows on from the Classic TT. Avon Tyres has high hopes of further success with riders using the Avon Xtreme race tyres to compete in the Lightweight, Junior and Senior races.

From the Manx Grand Prix, Avon will be heading across the Irish Sea, and down south, for the Goodwood Revival meeting in Chichester, West Sussex, where the Classic TT stars will be back in action.

“The Goodwood Revival is always a fantastic event and it’s shaping up to be a real cracker this year with John McGuinness and Michael Dunlop riding on Avon race tyres,” said Steve Smith. “We also have Kevin Schwantz, Troy Corser and Maria Costello competing, as well as a host of race legends and television personalities such as Steve Plater and Steve Parrish. Virtually all of the bikes at Goodwood will be running Avons, the majority of them on our special race versions of the AM26 Roadrider.”

The Goodwood Revival takes place on 9-11 September, and is a magical step back in time, celebrating the halcyon days of racing. For further information on the world’s largest and most authentic historic racing event, visit www.goodwood.com.

For more information on Avon Tyres, visit www.coopertire.co.uk or www.avon-tyres.co.uk.

You can also keep up-to-date with Avon on Facebook and Twitter

Avon Tyres are being fitted to a series of specially-built motorcycles which celebrate the ‘Spirit of the Seventies’ – classic bikes which have been overhauled into stylish, bespoke machines combining the best of retro style and modern performance.

The team behind these amazing motorcycles are friends and fellow bike enthusiasts, Tim Rogers and Kevin Taggart. They formed ‘Spirit of the Seventies’ as a retro-custom motorcycle company, specialising in transforming bikes from a classic era of motorcycling.

The ‘retro scene’ in the UK has been growing in recent years, making these bikes into some of the most talked about machines in Britain, with regular features in the specialist press and the wider media.

Rogers and Taggart give these classic bikes a new lease of life, after offering the eventual owners the opportunity to get involved in the design of their machine right from the start. The end result is a beautiful, hand-made creation built to fulfil the dreams of the owner – and many of these unique machines sit on Avon Tyres.

Taggart says, “Our goal is to create stylish and highly desirable bikes that epitomise the essence of bikes from the 1970s. It’s a nostalgic era for Tim and I, one we’d like to recreate but with the advantage of modern engineering upgrades and an injection of style.”

Modern tyres also help bring a machine from the 1970s up-to-date, so Avon’s rubber fits the bill by being both thoroughly modern but also having been one of the leading tyre brands from the ‘70s era. Rogers says, “Avon offers us the best grip available, regardless of whether it’s for a re-engineered classic such as an S6 or a modern performance machine such as the Ducati GT-R1000. There isn’t a great choice of tyres available for some of the older bikes, particularly when they have 18-inch wheels and it’s important for us to make sure that the bike has the best grip possible, especially when you consider that we are stripping weight and increasing braking performance.

“The S6, for example, has a Yamaha YZF-R6 front-end from the 1990s, which includes the front forks and brakes but, thankfully, Avon’s product range allows us to give the bike the rubber it deserves. We’re big fans of the Roadrider and I’ve put my money where my mouth is, as they’re fitted to my own bike, a ‘Spirit of the Seventies’ S2. Increasingly, we’re working on modern performance bikes and, again, Avon has it covered. We have no ties with Avon Tyres, we simply want to use the best. The reception that the 3D Ultra range received from UK motorcycle magazines earlier this year told us all we needed to know about their performance and the fact that they look great, fit the bikes and are manufactured in the UK seals it!”

So far, a number of models have been created at Spirit’s headquarters at Fairseat, near Brands Hatch in Kent. Those that sit on Avon Tyres include the S2, which is based on the Yamaha XS750 and 850 and the S6 (again based on the Yamaha XS750) all of which use Avon Roadriders. Then there’s the S5, based on the Kawasaki Z1000, often with an 1105cc big-bore kit on it and the S11, based on the Ducati GT-R. These machines use the latest Avon 3D Ultra hypersports tyres.

The style of the bike – and tyres – fits well with the clientele, which includes Steve Coogan, Chris Evans and Christian Slater.

For more information go to www.avonmotorcycles.com and for more on Spirit of the Seventies go to www.spiritoftheseventies.com.