Avon Gripster Review

Avon Gripster Review

Member Since 1999

Suffice to say that the stock Dunlop tires that come with the KLR aren't exactly the best tire for that particular bike. One might go so far as to say they suck for that particular bike. I would and did, to the Avon tire rep at the recent motorcycle show in Long Beach.

He suggested I try on a pair a Gripsters for size and with that offering I held out my hand and a deal was struck. Now as I am sure most of you are aware the Avon AM24 has been around for quite a while and has even developed somewhat of a cult following in the popular Dual Sport arena. What you may not know is there has been a revolution of sorts at Avon and the smiths of rubber have come up with a new offering; they call it the Distanzia AM43, AM44 front and rear respectively.

We promise to have one of the very first sets to test and evaluate for you here at finishlinewest and that is why we are doing a product test/review on the tried and true Gripster here and now. This way we will have side by side testing under very similar circumstances so that you can digest the new information and make an educated well informed decision.

Below you will find a few pictures of the tires after mounting and running them about 100 miles on our first day of ownership. The first 20 or so miles were definitely weird as the new Avon's found their groove so to speak and just about every other groove on the southern California highways, but as they broke in the comfort level came way up and fears went way down.

A friend of mine who has been into motocross for a number of years told me once I installed a good set of tires I would indeed be a better rider off-road. I was happy to see and feel the difference at my favorite off-road haunt as the typical two track turned to rutted rain washed goat trails and the Gripster shod KLR went happy about its business clawing for traction and inspiring me to greater levels of confidence.

Although clearly not a mud tire the Gripster did handle the muddy bottom of 2-4" puddles with nary a whimper and in the past I have lost my footing on the Dunlop's in the same area. Granted I am far from what you would call an "A" rider, probably closer to "B-" or "D+" truth be told but I think a lot of that was the lack of confidence I had in my equipment. My riding is getting better and I am no longer afraid to dive into corners with aplomb.

As the weeks go by I will post more pics so keep coming back, you wont be disappointed.

Andy

Even after throwing some rocks and shale in for good measure the Avon Gripsters show no appreciable wear or "chunking".

I'll keep you posted.

Well, there you have it, just about 100 miles. I would hazard to guess that about 30 or so were off-road. Since these pics were shot I have logged another 140 with about 30 off-road as well.

These photos were taken during the week of Jan 8th, 2001.

More to follow, Stay Tuned!

Well, its been about 1100 miles since I have had the Gripsters mounted my KLR. Since the Distanzia's have arrived and it is now time to get those on for those of you who want the most up to date info on the latest tires I have enlisted a fellow KLR rider to help with finishing the test.	Ooooohhhh, Aaaaaahhhhh.
A picture is worth a thousand words



	The first 100 miles were truly awesome. The new Distanzia's were worth waiting for, they have outstanding adhesion qualities on the road and have less tendency to follow the rain grooves that are prevalent here in Southern California. This weekend is the Ride 4 Kids Dualsport run here in San Bernardino, CA. I'll have a full report when I return

Well unfortunately I hurt my back and was unable to ride the weekend of the R4K, however it has now been over 6,000 miles that have been run under the Distanzia's and I am happy to report that they still look great and they handle just about everything you throw at them. I have found that they do not like mud or pea gravel, but they stick well on wet roads and seem to last an inordinately long time even when loaded or in the case of many who ride KLR's overloaded.

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