Eco-Friendly Oil for Avon Tyres in 2010

Avon Tyres has announced that it will be utilising what it terms “eco-friendly” or “clean oil” in its tyres from 2010. According to the manufacturer, the new tyres will be “eco-friendly with no effect on grip and indeed, in the case of some high-performance range tyres, will actually have increased levels of grip.”

From January 2010, all new motorcycle tyres sold in the European Union have to be made with clean, eco-friendly oil, which features very low levels of PAH (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons). Avon has completed this conversion and says that its tyres will comply with regulations introduced by the European Parliament concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH).  In fact, all Avon tyres sold from January will be made with eco-friendly oil, including the new Avon Storm 2 Ultras, which made their debut recently at the Carole Nash International Motorcycle and Scooter Show.

Avon’s Technical Product Manager for Motorcycle tyres, Peter McNally said: “We’ve been working hard with the change to ‘clean oil’ over the last two years because, if we want to sell tyres in Europe next year, we have to make this change. Using clean oil has led us to redevelop some of the compounds in our tyres. In the majority of cases, the grip levels have been unaffected, but in the case of our high-performance Avon VP2 Xtremes, grip levels have actually been increased.”

Avon’s Global Motorcycle Sales Manager Graham Matcham said: “Although the requirement for clean oil tyres is currently only required for European markets, all Avon motorcycle tyres will be manufactured to this new specification. This is a reflection of our ongoing commitment to higher levels of performance matched to a sensitivity regarding the environment.”

Avon Tyres is a Cooper Tire & Rubber Company brand, and has been designing and manufacturing tyres for many different motorcycles and specifications since 1911.