By Rick Brain

You want me to ride on Avon's at the track? On a GSX-R 600? Are you nuts? Those are touring tires, aren't they? WRONG! Not these babies. Avon Viper Extremes are about as far away from the Avon's your buddy has on his iron butt touring bike as you can get.

The Viper Extremes were mounted on a Gixxer 600 that is totally track prepped. The weather was a bit chilly at Jennings as the first session (at 9:30am) saw the temperature around 45 degrees. For the first few laps I was a bit cautious as I didn't know what to expect from these Avon's. After all, these tires look like a set of slicks that someone cut grooves in with a pen knife. The tires did heat up quickly and after a few laps were a lot warmer than I was riding around in perforated leathers. After a few laps I decided to see if I could find where the limits of these tires were. I never found that point as the tires stuck like glue all the way out to the edge. By the end of the first session I had the tires totally scrubbed in.

The second and third sessions were just confidence builders. By that point the temps had started to climb into the 50's and low 60's. At no point in my riding time did these Viper Extremes check out on me or give me any reason to at all to lose confidence in them.

I feel I know Jennings GP pretty well as I ridden the track about 11 times. In the past I've used Michelin Pilot Power race tires on this same Gixxer and these Avon Viper Extremes are on par with the Powers for my riding style and speed. There are guys out there that are faster than me (I ride in the intermediate group and not expert) so maybe a "racer" in the expert class could find the limits of these tires but not your average (or slightly better than average) track day junkie.

After lunch we headed back out for 4 more sessions. By now the tires were starting to ball up a bit and starting to show some small signs of wear. The temperature was in the low 70's without a cloud in the sky. The track was a lot warmer than during the first session and the bike was really handling well. These Avon's give great feedback and the grip is amazing. 

I would have doubts about taking a bike wearing these tires out on a wet track though. I would however have no issues with mounting up another set for our next track day. Well, actually, I don't have to worry about getting another set because not only do you get excellent traction with these  tires but you also get good wearability and a set of tires that has enough life for at least 2 track days (your experience with wear may vary). 



By Kenn Stamp

Because I am a bike whore (what ANOTHER bike to ride? Oh OK...) and because I was riding a bike that Rick really wanted to try, I was able to wrest the Gixxer 600 away for a session.