| Author | Message | ||
     Aeholton |
After some reading and studying, I decided to give Tomahawk tires a try. I emailed Tomahawk and told them I ride an XB12X and that I ride in both dry and wet conditions and asked which model (T1 or T3) they would recommend. I was emailed back to go with the T1. I ordered them from Tomahawk's sales eBay store back in the middle of September. They arrived within a few days and I took them down to a local shop to get them put on. I talked with the guy at the shop a little about them. He didn't have a very good opinion of Tomahawk tires, but he for the most part kept it to himself. He said he didn't want to influence me. He did tell me it was difficult to mount the rear. Balancing was also a challenge. The front required 4 stick-on weights and the rear took 11(!) weights to get them to balance. He wished me luck and said we would talk more about them when I came in to get the next set of tires put on. I put them on the bike and have since run about 2000 miles. For the most part I was satisfied with my purchase. The only problem I had (prior to yesterday) was on the way to Daytona for Biketoberfest. The group I was with got up to ~115mph on one particularly lonely stretch of road and I noticed a slight wobble in the front end once I got over 100mph. I figured I could live with that and just not ride that fast. Fast forward to yesterday. I rode up to my business partner's house to work yesterday. We had quite a bit of rain while I was there and the roads were wet when it was time to come home last night. This is the first wet riding I've done since installing the Tomahawks. Every turn I made had the back end stepping out on me. I felt like I was riding home on ice. Even with the slightest bit of acceleration, the rear wheel was breaking loose. I have lost all confidence in them. Needless to say, I will be changing out these tires ASAP. I know Florida uses a lot of shells and coral in asphalt manufacturing that is pretty slick when wet. However, I never had this kind of problem with the stock D616 or Pirelli Scorpion Sync's I ran previously. My old M2 also ran fine in the rain with Dunlop D207's and Michelin Road Pilots. In my opinion, these are the worst wet surface tires ever made!!!! YMMV I'm considering ordering some Avon Azaro AV45/46 tires next. Anyone with any experience on them? Living in FL, wet grip is critical as it rains almost every afternoon in the summer and quite a bit in the winter. | ||
| Chadhargis |
I have heard that Tomahawk tires are retreads. That alone scares me. Can you imagine what it would be like to experience tread separation on a motorcycle??? | ||
| Bigdaddy |
I've got a set on my M2 with about 1K miles on them. I've not had to ride them in the rain -- yet. First impressions: heat up fast, good stick in the twisties, semi-durable, will probably last 3500 miles +/-. $127.00 delivered to the door. Static balancing can be a challenge  We run mostly 3RD gear twisties so perfect balancing doesn't carry a whole lot of weight. If I was going to be super-slabbing some stupid amount of miles I'd be perfectly balanced. I'm happy and will buy more. | ||
| Aeholton |
I've not had to ride them in the rain -- yet. Just be careful the first time in the wet. Are you running T1 or T3 tires? Wonder if that makes a difference. I was also satisfied with the T1's dry road performance. Can you imagine what it would be like to experience tread separation on a motorcycle??? Kinda. I had a set of Dunlop D207's separate at the seams between tread sections. | ||
| Retired_cop |
Avon Azaros on an 06, currently 6500 miles on them and front looks new, rear has 2/32 to wear bars so it should be good for another 2-3K. The past 2 days have been monsoon rains and wind, not to mention wet leaves, and the tires work almost as well as in the dry.The wet grip is as good as the original D616's dry grip in my opinion, but I am not a fan of Dunlops. I have used Avon's on all my bikes for the past 5-6 years and am sold on them. They are not the most expensive on the market but they are far from the cheapest. When you consider the small amount of contact patch on the ground, I do not believe in cheap quality tires. | ||
| Lorazepam |
I have a friend on his 3rd set of tomahawks. He likes them, and has no trouble in the wet, and cold conditions in Michigan. He rides year round, when the roads are clear, and will buy another set when these go bad. I am going to try the t3 tread pattern, that is what he runs. | ||
| Buelet |
I tried them as soon as they were available. ...thought I needed a set of blue tires. I liked them alright. Worked fine (for me) wet & dry. I rode them in the rain many times. My problems was when my wife noticed my front tire while she was on her bike (XB9S), while we were sitting together at a stop light 80 miles from home. I put several hundred miles more on them after seeing them, but they were a "little" unnerving to look at. Let alone ride! I contacted Tomahawk and sent them some pictures via e-mail. They agreed to send me a replacement for the front. No charge. (Unless you count having to pay to have a tire replaced, half-way through it's life cycle.) Since the rear was nearly toast by this time (around 5000 miles I think... and I ride 'em to the belts.) I ordered a new rear too. Some more time goes by. More miles. The day of my appointment arrives to get the tires replaced, so we load them up in the back of the Jeep to head to the dealership. Unfortunately... (my wife has better eyes, what can I say?) This is when we notice that my rear that I''ve been riding on looks as if it has massive and complete / all-over dry-rot. I've never seen anything like it except on a tire that has sit out in the sun for years & years... Pretty scary looking to tell the truth. It's at this point we start scrutinizing the two new tires and discover the same kind of "cosmetic blemishes" as they called them on the new tires too. (The same kind of circumferential splits that are in the pictures below.) Moral of the story: No Thanks! They never let me down, but somebody else can be the Guinea Pig! I called Tomahawk back and sent back three tires (my half used front for credit) and the two new ones. It took them nearly a FULL year to get the credit returned to my card, after numerous calls and e-mails. And as they say... YMMV! I regretfully called and canceled my tire appointment and promptly ordered a set of Scorpion Synchs and have been happy ever since!  | ||
| Buelet |
And since I can't figure out how to post multiple pictures on the same post... (Advice anyone?) Here is the second picture. (I have many more if anyone is interested.)  | ||
| Bigdaddy |
I'll sure stay away from them colored versions | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I like the Azaros and will be buying another set. I have determined that NO tire is going to last more than 3000 miles for me. The Azaros with the Sport Touring compound gave me all the grip I needed wet and dry. The factory recommends 36 PSI front and 42 PSI rear. My current set squared off due to me running the first 800 miles at factory spec. I will definitely be running at the higher pressure. You should be able to get the outgoing version at a discount as they are being phased out for the AV55 and AV56 versions. | ||
| Quartermilegixxer |
had a tomahawk on the rear of my TL, everything was fine for 2500 miles then a belt broke in it!!!!!!!!!!! | ||
| Lowflyer |
I like Pilot Roads and Scorpion Syncs. |
