LAUNCH WORDS: BENJAMIN J K UBAS-CRONIN PICS: G EEBEE IM AGES AVON SPIRIT ST Avon weigh in with their option for the mid-range sports tyre market – the new Spirit ST – and a trip to Portugal… TheSTsinalltheirglory! The STs are superb on the road. 32 JULY <strong>2017</strong> WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM
AVON SPIRIT ST T helast couple of years has seen a big surge in tyre manufacturers pushing their do-it-all, mid-range sports-touring tyres, and now it’s Avon’s time toplay their hand with the new Spirit ST. Like others, they chose to let folk likeusloose on an international spec’ track to test them, inthis case, the Circuit Algarve atPortimao. It’s a brave move because even though these types of tyres are marketed as including some sporting pedigree, and given that they must also be incredible on the road in all conditions, it could be quite easy for many to give them abit of beating on track. But taking atyre like the ST for what it is, and averagingout its performance across all disciplines, you get areally clear picture of just howthey can be everything to all men or women. Within some limitations, granted, but we’ll come to that abit later. The SpiritSTisamulti-compound hoop, harder in themiddle for mileage (up to 10,000 milesapparently), and softer on the edges. They also feature interlocking sipes, which are there tohelp the tyre both warm up faster, and then help prevent overheating, and they’re stacked to the gills with silica for better wet-grip. Italso has an A-VBD steel belt runningaround the tyre’s circumference to reduce tyre growth at high speed and aid stability, among other benefits. To see how the ST fared, Avon brought abunch of naked bikes of varying shapes and sizes, and we began with awet braking test. This isstandard on most tyre launches, this time on aSuzuki Bandit fitted with out-riggers and ABS activated. Itfared well, stopping quickly from 35mph without bothering the ABS one bit. Next up was aride into the hills surrounding the circuit, so Ijumped ona Suzuki GSX-S1000F and switched the traction-control (TC) off. Literally as we leave the circuit though, the tyre surprises measitdrops into the first roundabout (and subsequent bends) abit livelier than I’d expected it to. “The front has avery sporty profile for faster steering”, said the tyre’s designer Ash Vowles. “We purposefully did that so the ST could partially fit into the ‘hypersport’ category as well as fulfil its remit as a mid-range sports tyre.” Iwon’t lie, the ST felt good chasing Avon’s new SIZES: Front ambassador Steve Parrish. We were riding like idiots within just afew corners and all was well with both ends. The initial feedback gave the impression that the SToffered a middle-ground response in terms of carcass and sidewall flex, somewhere in between what aPirelli and Bridgestone would display, but nowhere near asstiff as, say, aDunlop. The 1000F has aload ofgrunt on tap, and Itried reasonably hard toget it to misbehave, but apart from one very brief ‘chirp’ from the rear she just gripped and shot out ofbends. The same was also true on arampant KTM Super Duke with TCoff, too, although it was quite hot and, of course, one never quite rides aroad like arace track. But the ST passed the road aspect with flying colours. The following day wewere let loose on track, and my first laps were onaHonda Crossrunner. That everything was grinding within two laps said good things about the ST, even more sothat Iwas actually enjoying going around arace track on abloody Crossrunner! Front feel was at apremium, but that’s more todowith noweight through the bars, rather than the tyre, but Icould trust ittotake care ofus. Asimilar feeling was evident on aVFR800 in the following session, but the ST really proved itself on Suzuki’s GSX-S750 with TC off. On alight, lithe little 100bhp naked bike, the STs really shone Ithought. You could get on the gas nice and early with noworries of Rear 110/70/17 150/70/17 100/90/18 150/80/16 110/80/18 160/60/17 110/80/19 160/60/17 120/60/17 160/70/17 120/70/17 170/60/17 120/70/18 180/55/17 120/70/19 190/50/17 190/55/17 200/50/17 200/55/17 it stepping out, and also push the front pretty hard through the fast corners. The Suzuki shone on the STs, as did aTriumph Street Triple soon after. Ifelt as though Icould ride it as Iwould have done on stickier tyres, maybe not going for absolute broke, but enough to satisfy my aim of putting the ST to the sword. Edge-grip is less forgiving than aproper sports tyre, harder, but with 100bhp –noproblemo. Asterner test was aSuzuki GSX-1000S, TC off, and here we finally encountered the ST’s limits. It’s atruism with tyres of this ilk, that as soon as you throw big power atthem on track you’ll learn where the limit is, pronto. This isn’t aproblem per se, it just defines the window you have to work within. Once you know the limits, you can get on with enjoying yourself, though there’s a caveat to this, incoming shortly. For me the ST’s limit first became clear out of the uphill No-TC-on bigger bikes can test the STs when out on track – TC on, though... left-hand hairpin, where after shifting to third gear the grunt ofthe 1000S overcame the tyre’s grip and it gave anice gentle slide before coming back in line. Onlarger bikes, that hard edge-grip (in both feel and action) works against them to some degree. Yetthe flex built into the carcass did telegraph the incoming slide apicosecond before it happened, thereby defining the ST’s limits to me. Acouple more times around, with aslide starting atexactly the same point, just highlighted those limit lines in bold, and then Ijust got on with having fun. The caveat here isswitching the Suzuki’s TC back on, asnow Icould lean onthat hard, and working intandem with the ST I could get out faster, safer, while adding alot more gas and, thusly, speed. Traction-control really is awesome ifit’s agood system, it can add an extra dimension to tyres such asthe ST. Ialso jumped onaKTM Super Duke with the TC off, but by this point the bike had been going nearly nonstop for four hours, and the tyres must have done over ahundred laps. The wallop of torque out ofthe slower turns saw the KTM slewing sideways alot, so as far as track work is concerned this ST hoop was nearing its end. But it had been properly rinsed as it was the most popular bike there, soIcan’t be too down on it. The only other problem, ifyou can call it that, came on the faster, heavier bikes under heavy braking at slight lean. The speed and kinetic weight on the anchors would ever so slightly affect the stability momentarily. But really, and again given what the tyre ismeant for and where itsits in the range, this isn’t unexpected nor should itbeheld against it. Overall Iwas impressed, I’m quite sure if all you ever did was road riding you could use these on any litre sportsbike (or any bike for that matter), and be perfectly happy. Sure, you could ride to and complete atrackday, and still have fun, especially if you’re on something modern with an electronics suite, but ultimately your speed would, obviously, be compromised. But really Ibelieve the Spirit STs will make terrific road tyres, and they’ve slickly slotted in nicely among the competition as aviable, and very effective, alternative option. JULY <strong>2017</strong> WWW.FASTBIKESMAG.COM 33
Change language