Long term report on Avon Azarro/Storm Ultra combo

[tazshido]

After 15 months on the bike and just shy of 10,000 miles, here's what I have found and can report on the Azarro/Storm combo.
   After destroying what little was left of the Distanzias bringing the bike 1300 miles from Southern Cali to Wyoming I replaced them with the Azarro/Storm Ultra combo balanced with Dyna-beads. When new they were smooth, qiuet and grippy. The tires stayed tractable and confidence inspiring up till the rear started getting really squared off at about 8000 miles. Wyoming/Colorado has a lot of good twisty roads but you have to take a lot of mind numbingly strait routes to get there, so a lot of superslab riding. I also commute on my Tiger so even more strait line riding.
   The tires are still really grippy at 10,000 miles but the squared off rear makes transitioning in the twisties a cardio work-out. They still feel planted in the worst wet conditions. Even over tar strips and pavement markings. They tend to slip out a bit running over tar snakes at over 100 degrees, but what tire won't? The wet traction is such that it is a chore to break the rear loose burn-out style. The Storm Ultra will almost overpower the front brakes even trying it in the rain. I could probably get 2-3 more thousand out of these tires, but I hate the feeling the the squared rear is giving me. I will be ordering new tires this week and I will be ordering the exact same tires. I'm planning on keeping the old ones as emergency spares because there is no M/C shop within 100 miles of where I now live.
   If you are looking for a great performing Sport touring set, that works fantastic in the rain, has decent tread wear and is absolutely confidence inspiring, get a set. I give them a 9.5 out of 10 only because I'd like to get 15,000 miles out of a set of tires. Alas, Metzler Marathons do not come in Tigger sizes.