“It is encouraging to see that the motorcycle market has got off to a positive start, with dealers reporting an 11 per cent increase in January registrations”, said Stephen Latham, head of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA) which represents motorcycle retailers across the UK.
Honda Racing Corporation’s Hiroshi Aoyama has told MotoGP’s official website that his first contact with Michelin’s tyres – at Sepang testing at the end of 2014 – made him feel “comfortable”. He added that while conditions were hot, and he would want to improve the bike’s interaction with Michelin’s rubber, “tyre performance was already quite good.”
Honda builds vehicles at nine manufacturing facilities in the US, and has received original equipment tyres from Bridgestone Americas for many years. To honour the tyre maker’s green efforts, at its 22nd annual Environmental, Safety and Ergonomics Symposium, Honda acknowledged Bridgestone’s Wilson (North Carolina) tyre plant with three ‘Green Factory Environmental Achievement Recognitions’. Honda recognised the Wilson facility in three categories: energy reduction, natural resources and pollution prevention.
Yokohama says its BluEarth range demonstrates its commitment to reducing its environmental impact globally. The BluEarth AE-01 tyre encompasses much of Yokohama’s environmental technology and experience. The company pioneered “Orange Oil technology”, in which oil from the skin of citrus fruit is used to replace mineral ingredients in the tyre itself, reducing the petroleum-based constituents […]
“September marked another stable month with a 6.4 per cent growth for the motorcycle market.” said Stephen Latham, Head of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA) which represents motorcycle retailers across the UK. In total, 757 more machines were registered in September 2014 than in September 2013, however it was expected there would have been a higher demand on the back of the new 14-plate change.
Honda (UK)’s Mean Mower (#meanmower) has officially broken the Guinness World Records title for the fastest lawnmower, averaging 116.57 mph, to break the previous record by almost 30mph. The successful Guinness World Records attempt took place under the watchful eye of a Guinness World Records Adjudicator at the IDIADA Proving Ground, in Tarragona, Spain, on […]
Pirelli supplied three separate winners with its softer compound Superbike SC1 slick tyres on front and rear in a dramatic trio of Oulton Superbike races. BSB legend Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne took a historic 50th series win, while Josh Brookes and Alex Lowes also booked their places in the coveted Showdown, reserved for the top six riders to battle for the title. Pirelli racing manager Jason Griffiths commented: “We witnessed some fantastic racing over the weekend here at Oulton Park which produced three worthy winners. The crowd and TV viewers were certainly treated to some of the best racing I’ve seen and it was also great to again see five manufacturers in the top five at times. From our point of view it was fantastic to see race fastest laps logged so late in the races, again proving the performance and durability of the soft compound Superbike Diablo slicks.”
Two biking fanatics have received prizes from Bridgestone’s motorcycle team, responding to contests conducted at a recent motorcycle festival, and on the company’s social networking pages. Katrina Rex beat dozens of men to win a set of premium Bridgestone radial bike tyres at the recent Shropshire Bike Festival, holding out tyres on her outstretched arms for a longer period of time than anyone else. Meanwhile, Steve Trudgeon from St Austell triumphed in a Bridgestone Facebook competition, earning a place at the Honda Ron Haslam Race School at Donington.
Shane “Shakey” Byrne rode his Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki to two victories over Tyco Suzuki’s Josh Brookes this weekend at Knockhil, as British Superbike tyre supplier Pirelli ran its new for 2013 SC1 Diablo Superbike rear tyre. In qualifying with a 48.333 second lap for pole position Byrne beat his young rival Brookes by just 0.010 seconds. Brookes managed to set the fastest race lap too, at 48.769 seconds, and Pirelli has pointed out that this was achieved on the new SC1 rear tyre on the penultimate 29th lap – a statistic that speaks highly of the tyre’s durable performance.
Jorge Lorenzo took his Yamaha to a second successive MotoGP victory on Sunday, as tyre management came into play in sweltering conditions at the Circuit de Catalunya. Several riders crashed out as a result of reduced front-end grip, and Lorenzo spoke of the challenge provided by the conditions: “Today was the hottest race this year and physically it was very hard.” He later suggested to Autosport.com that the front tyre may have been “too soft”, while adding that the riders were requesting harder compounds from tyre supplier, Bridgestone. Shinji Aoki, manager of Bridgestone Motorsport’s Tyre Development Department, pointed out that all works riders had chosen to use the softer rear slick, which he said had performed well given the harsh conditions.
The first Isle of Man TT Supersport race once again saw Dunlop riders take 1st, 2nd and 3rd places on the podium – with Michael Dunlop continuing his winning streak using the latest road legal Dunlop D212 GP PRO tyres that were launched earlier this year. Michael Dunlop was joined by his brother on the podium, with William Dunlop taking third place and Bruce Anstey coming in second, 10 seconds behind Michael.
Tyre supplier to the MCE British Superbike Championship, Pirelli has forecast an easy weekend on its tyres as the championship visits the picturesque Oulton Park circuit. Back to back weekends at Brands Hatch and Thruxton have seen Pirelli’s slick and Diablo Rain tyres used with the changing weather. Pirelli has introduced the all new World Superbike derived Diablo Superbike SC1 compound this season, and the tyre has been the chosen option for the victor in all four races so far. Superbike riders are expected to use this option in dry conditions at Oulton Park, a challenging circuit with a good mix of elevation changes through fast sweeping corners.
So you’ve accumulated a decent amount of ‘friends’ on Facebook, but how many fans do you have? Nitto Tire U.S.A. has more – in fact, the brand has hit the 3 million fan mark. Half a million of these signed on within the last two months.
Following the introduction of the 3D Ultra last year, Avon is further expanding its motorcycle tyre range with the release of the Storm 3D X-M. In a short release introducing the new product, the tyre maker says the new X-M delivers 15 to 20 per cent greater mileage in comparison with the current Storm range. The sipes on the X-M also contain three-dimensional points that are designed to improve stability, grip, limit tread flex and allow the tyre to warm-up in less time – a feature also seen on the 3D Ultra. High performance single and multi compound super rich silica (SRS) treads are also present; Avon says these enhance wet grip. The tyre maker adds that the X-M possesses outstanding handling and stability qualities.
Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner claimed victory from behind as he rolled the dice on a softer rear tyre than his championship rivals at Laguna Seca. Approaching the race differently to his main championship rivals Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo and teammate Dani Pedrosa, Stoner trailed Lorenzo for most of the race, but having managed his tyres well he was able to exploit the extra rear grip on offer to pass Lorenzo down the main straight on the entry to turn one on lap twenty-two. While only six of the twenty-one riders on the grid selected the harder compound for the rear, the four riders between second and fifth all chose the medium compound Bridgestone tyre. Stoner remains in third position in the riders standings, though his fourth victory of the season means he narrows the gap to Lorenzo to thirty-two points and just nine to Pedrosa.
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