When Harley Davidson was starting to build up sales momentum in the 1980’s there was also an increased interest in nostalgia.
I was prompted by a friend, who was an Indian collector and enthusiast, to see if Avon would consider building an H speed rated whitewall tire. At the time the only wide whitewall motorcycle tire was made by the Coker Tire Company. They were marketed toward machines that were mainly for display. Goodyear had long ceased production of their whitewall, which had been a favorite of the Harley crowd.
I asked the Export manager at Avon if they would build such a tire, and I wanted it based on Avon’s old style Roadrunner Universal. This way only one tire would be needed as it could be used on both front and rear applications. Every time I asked he would tell me how difficult it was to make as the entire production for whitewalls would have to be done differently.
Normally, in the automotive world, when a whitewall is being built they lay down a strip of white rubber on the sidewall then cover it with a layer of black rubber on top. After the tire is pressed (molded) they buff down through the black to the white layer. The problem with an H speed rated motorcycle tire is the side walls are too short and by the time all the necessary legal information is printed on the side, there is no room for a whitewall to buff down to it.
As a result the Gangster is made with the whitewall having all the lettering in the white. Therefore the tire goes through the factory after it is built, with the white exposed to all types of contamination and any contaminated tires need to be scrapped, increasing the cost. It took me 4 YEARS of hounding them to get it built.
When we launched the tire it was an immediate success and we were behind 2-3,000 tires for over two years. All of these tires were to come to the US only. In England they put a set on a bike and went out to take photos and when they rode it back to the factory a guy was following them and would not leave until they sold him the tires off the bike. The crazy thing was we were selling tires back to England and France and they were being sent by air.
One time when I was at Harley’s headquarters in Milwaukee they said to me if Avon ever came up with any unique concept they would consider buying tires from Avon. Here is where the fool in me comes out. I was at Harley on another issue and pulled a Gangster whitewall section out of my bag to ask them what they thought. There was immediate enthusiasm and then they got very subdued saying they would need to consult the design department. Don’t know what I was thinking because as soon as I was out the door I know they called Dunlop and asked for a wide whitewall. The good news was it took Dunlop two years to get it to market which gave Avon two years with no competition.
What was interesting was the Dunlop was technically illegal. They chose the buff down method and the lettering was too small. When the Department of Transportation was notified their response was: “You are contacting us about a labeling infraction? We do not have the time or resources to enforce this problem, but don’t you do it.”
After about four years into production we got a consumer letter condemning the use of the name ‘Gangster’ saying we were hurting motorcycling’s image. Some how I think they missed the concept that this was a nostalgia thing that had the look of the car tires of the 1920’s when gangsters were in their heyday.
So there you have it. Max’s tale of how the Avon “Gangster” came into play! The Avon Gangster tyre is still available. See www.avonmoto.com for a dealer nearest you!!
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