After much deliberation, I had Avon Venom tires mounted on my RSV '08. The stock tires lasted a year (15,000 km).
The point of my post is the warnings from the dealer: "Ride carefully for 100 - 400 km, as the tires are slippy. Be specially careful if it's wet." And I was asked to sign a waiver which confirmed I had heard their warning.
I understand that tires have a compund sprayed on them to preserve them while sitting on a shelf. Surely there is something you could rinse the tires once they are being mounted to minimise that new slipperiness?
It's showering this week-end in Vancouver, BC... kinda like April weather!
So it may be a while before I can properly test the tires to see if Avons on a Venture are as good as they were on my previous two bikes.