UK Press Honours Avon’s Vipers

In recent months the motorbike consumer press has heaped praise on Avon’s Viper Sport (see T&A February 2005) and Supersport tyres. Journalists from MCN, Superbike, Bike and TWO all attended the European launch of the Viper at the Catalunya GP circuit near Barcelona, Spain in February. The tyres were tested on a variety of bikes, which together clocked up around 3,000 miles on one of the world’s fastest and demanding circuits.

Adam Child from MCN published his report under the headline – “Unslideable Avons.” He went on to say: “The standard tyres are more than enough for the track and the Supersport compound is almost faultless. They just refuse to slide – on any bike.”

Superbike’s tyre expert Jonathan Pearson admitted to being a little sceptical before the launch but after his first outing he reported ‘astonishing grip levels’ that allowed him to attack corners with surprising confidence. He went on to write: “On bikes like the CBR600RR, on this track, on this day, these tyres seemed un-crashable.”

Paul Swift of Bike magazine, tested the tyres on a variety of bikes including supersports 600s and 1000s, a Suzuki Bandit1200 and Honda VFR800. “The tyre worked really well at high speed,” he remarked.

TWO sent TV presenter and road tester Warren Pole to Catalunya and he was determined to give the Vipers a thorough test. “I grabbed a Suzuki Bandit 1200 shod with the Sport tyres just to get back into the groove. And it was impressive. The Bandit protested, the frame flexed, most things decked out at some point or another and the brakes faded. The tyres however, remained unfazed. For a performance road tyre, it’s hard to imagine anyone needing more.”

Avon’s Viper range is available now and aims to build upon the success of previous Avon ranges. The Viper Sport comprises 11 sports bike sizes, including a new 120/65R17 front tyre for bikes such as the Kawasaki ZX636/ZX-6R. A 200/50R17 rear is also available for the ZX 12R.

Fronts: 110/70R17 54W, 120/60R17 55W, 120/70R17 58W, 120/65R17 56W and 130/70R16 61W.

Rears: 150/60R17 66W, 160/60R17 69W, 170/60R17 72W, 180/55R17 73W, 190/50R17 73W, and 200/50R17 75W.

Viper Supersport is available in the following popular hypersport sizes:

Fronts: 120/60R17 55W & 120/70R17 58W
Rears: 160/60R17 69W, 180/55R17 73W & 190/50R17 73W.