With it’s unique snakeskin motif at the edge of the tread, Avon’s latest Cobra Chrome is a tyre that looks the part on any cruiser or custom motorcycle… but it’s probably not a tyre you’d expect to find when on your next track day!
Step forward Aussie bike journalists Paul Bailey and his track prepped Harley-Davidson V-Rod Street Rod.
A roadster with an emphasis on sport, the Street Rod V-Rod wasn’t in Harley’s range for long, and Paul has equipped his with some pretty trick parts to get the most out of it on circuit.
One thing Paul hasn’t changed is the wheels, so his bike still takes a 19-inch front and 18-inch rear, which doesn’t exactly put a large range of race rubber at his disposal.
After acquiring a set of Cobra Chrome tyres, Paul headed to the sun baked Sydney Motorsport Park, a track he’s been riding for several years.
The first couple of days were spent dialing in the bike to try and find the settings which got the most from the rubber.
The third day saw the warmers go on, and with confidence in the tyres, Paul pushed them as hard as he dared, hitting 240km/h on the main straight.
In his review, Paul says:
“To remember that these Cobra Chromes are a street tyre became very difficult, it was difficult because of the braking and lean angles I was able to get with these tyres. The track was warm and the tyres were sticking to the hotmix racetrack with a level of grip I really did not expect. The harder I pushed the bike the better the tyres felt. They were predictable in both very heavy braking, rushing into turn two at SMSP from around 200km/h and then just burying the bike into the ground with the fantastic Brembo brakes was a real treat, even trail braking late into the corner with big lean angles didn’t phase the front tyre at all.”
As Paul points out, these are without doubt designed to be a road tyre – it’s not often you see a bike like this on the track.
So with that in mind he did also put in some road miles to see how they coped in their natural environment.
Paul goes on to state:
“The tyres from cold warm up well to offer good road grip after a short distance. If you push the bike harder up your favourite section of road the tyres respond to the harder riding and warm quickly to offer good traction and feel. I haven’t had one moment of doubt with these tyres on the road.”
You can read Paul’s revview in full on BikeReview.com.au.
The full Cobra Chrome range is available to the UK motorcycle trade at Cambrian Tyres!
