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For the last year or so, supply of Avon tyres has been a bit sketchy, and Dunlop hasn't been much better, would you like to know why? Are you sitting comfortably? .... Then, I'll begin.
Goodyear owns Avon and Dunlop motorcycle tyre brands.
For quite a while they operated as seperate entities, both companies were developing, making, storing, selling and distributing motorcycle tyres.
Two factories, two warehouses, 2 sales teams... you get the drift.
Anyone with a hint of business sense or common sense would know this is not the most cost effective way of doing things... but big business rarely works quickly, business brain people have to do lots of maths, check logistics and staffing requirements etc ... put together a plan, get told their plan is rubbish and wont work, ignore the naysayers and then.... ACTION THE PLAN! Lets go people, go! go! go!
It has to be said, part of the plan was very good, their ordering system now processes both brands and it is very nice, it is THE best software for ordering, chasing up orders, reporting issues, back orders, production dates are available, it really makes the other guys look poor.
And that, is the end of the good part of the plan.
There was a decision to relocate Avon manufacturing away from the UK, and over to the state-of-the-art facility in France.. which .. allegedly.. had more than enough capacity to cope with making both brands.
Certain Avon tyres were dropped from the range, but still it just seems that the factory hasn't coped with demand. Supply of Avons and Dunlops has been as poor as a church mouse, whose wife has just left him and taken all of the cheese.
It'd be nice to think that they'll finally catch up in 2025...Because... given some stability and time, everything will work out just fine....
Stability.... ah yes.... ah wait, no..... and then the news came in that Goodyear have sold Dunlop to Sumitomo Tyres.
If you're from certain parts of the world you'll be thinking... 'but Sumitomo already own Dunlop!'
And they do, a bit, kind of.
There are 2 sides to Dunlop, simply put it's Dunlop Europe and Dunlop rest-of-the-world.
Goodyear owned Dunlop Europe, but not for much longer.
So who will own that presitigious French manufacturing plant?
Don't know.
Will they still make Avon there?
Prooooooobably... don't know?
Will Avon stock become more stable and numerous?
Um, yes? For a while? We hope.
And there you go, you're now as wise as us, which is... not all that wise.
Until Avon bring in a massive boat full of tyres, here's some alternatives...
Avon Roadrider Mk2 ....... for most sizes, try the Bridgetone BT46 or the Dunlop Arrowmax Streetsmart
Avon Trailrider ADV tyres .... the Metzeler Karoo Street look nice and off-roady, but ride beautifully on the street, highly recommended!
Avon Vyper Stryke ... Dunlop Scootsmart have a lot of sizes available.
Avon Cobra Chrome are difficult to replace, they are our first recommendation for cruiser tyres, being about the best there is and usually a good bit cheaper than the rivals... but the new Pirelli Diablo Powercruiser will be a premium option, when stock appears at sometime in 2025 .. expect those to be a premium price too!
And there we are, it's a bit of a mess at the moment, some tyres and sizes are trickling through, and as alway we are working hard to find stock of as many Avons and Dunlops that we can, and always at the best prices we can.