Motorbike Tyres
Next year, Michelin will introduce three new track-oriented motorcycle tyre ranges: The Power Cup, a replacement for the Power One Competition, and the Power Slick and Power Rain to replace the company’s current slick and rain line-ups.
Continental has released the Scooty, Traily and Classic scooter tyres which will run alongside the current Twist and K62 products in the range. According to the company, all are suitable for front or rear fitment. All three new tyres will be available from mid-September.
Avon Tyres has announced that it will support the Castle Combe race event held on September 3 to honour the Wiltshire track’s 60th anniversary. Avon’s global motorcycle sales manager Graham Matcham said, “We have a very close working relationship with Castle Combe and with both companies being so near it is understandable that we have used our ‘local’ circuit almost constantly over the last 60 years to help develop our world-beating tyres. We are delighted to be taking part in this exciting event and are looking forward to showing Castle Combe’s visitors our 100th anniversary display.”
In September, Michelin will launch a tyre it says delivers unrivalled tyre life. Naturally, this is a bold statement to make about any tyre and the manufacturer therefore supports this claim with results of independent tests conducted in the United States. Testing of Michelin’s new product, the Commander II, was carried out using a Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Classic and Michelin reports an impressive outcome: The rear tyre proved itself capable of covering distances of up to 25,000 miles or 40,000 kilometres; this is, Michelin comments, almost double the distance the Commander II’s direct competitors can cover. The front tyre displayed an even greater longevity.
Continental has just published its new 2011 motorcycle and scooter tyre technical manual. According to the UK distributor of these products, the manual contains a wealth of information about each of the tyres in the range and a very comprehensive fitment and pressure guide, the manual has the key information that dealers need.
Cambrian Tyres has just released the second edition of its 2011 price catalogue. The 170 page catalogue lists the full ranges available from Avon, Bridgestone, Continental, Dunlop, Metzeler, Michelin and Pirelli and reflects recent price increases made by the manufacturers. The price list also features a fitment guide to aid customers in selecting the correct size tyres for all bikes made in the last 35 years.
Following recent positive reviews in the consumer press, Maxxis has announced that it is showcasing its latest range of motorcycle tyres, including its new sports touring radial, the MA-3DS Supermaxx Diamond, in a special supplement in leading consumer motorcycling magazine MCN.
Following its victory in the German PS motorcycle sports magazine tyre tests on 5 May, Bridgestone’s Battlax BT-016 Pro Hypersport is back on the podium again, singled out by Germany’s Motorrad magazine as the “best motorcycle sports tyre in the rain” and joint overall winner of its 2011 sports tyre test. Motorrad tested two 2011 newcomers, including the redesigned Battlax BT-016 Pro, against the best tyres from 2010 in a comparative evaluation of 180/55 tyres on a Honda CBR 600RR on the race circuit, open road and wet track.
With motorcyclists feeling the pinch of world-wide recession, sales data from Avon Tyres for the first half of 2011 shows an increasing trend towards the number of older bikes being kept on the road. The trend indicates two things, according to Avon – riders are keeping their older bikes on the road for longer to help combat the economic downturn but it could also illustrate a wider appreciation by classic bike owners for the gems they have hidden in their garages. Rather than refurbishing their bike and keeping it locked away to be preserved and merely admired, Avon reckons that riders are choosing more and more to actively enjoy their rides. And, as a result, the Company’s wide range of suitable tyres for classic and older bikes is enjoying a surge in sales.
Pirelli’s Angel ST sport touring tyres are now available from all outlets with £25 cashback on every set purchased, the manufacturer has announced. The Angel ST tyres recently set a World 24-hour duration record, covering 3191 miles on one set. Using the Nardo test circuit in Italy, the endurance team logged an average speed of 132.9 mph, which in tyre-life terms equates to 7,500 miles under normal road conditions, Pirelli says. The offer runs throughout June and July.
Pirelli is returning to the scene of some of its pre-season F1 testing this weekend, the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo on the outskirts of Barcelona. The supplier’s PZero tyres – or at least, previous iterations of the evolving rubber – have been seen there four times already: once last year in private testing, twice this year during the official test ‘season’, and once more as part of Pirelli’s on-going private test campaign last month. This means that teams and Pirelli alike have a good deal of data on Barcelona, with its challenging mixture of corners and speeds highlighting every aspect of a car’s performance. Motorsport director at the Italian brand Paul Hembery says “the new tyre – which we have tested extensively – reduces degradation and improves tyre wear.
Pirelli has announced a new cashback offer of £25 to UK riders purchasing sets of its Diablo Rosso Corsa or new Diablo Rosso II tyres. The hypersport segment Rosso Corsa, launched last year, is the Italian manufacturer’s “first tyre developed using technology and research gained as a direct result of Pirelli’s involvement in the World Superbike series,” it says, while the just-launched Rosso II – a sports tyre designed for road use – contains similar motorsport-derived technologies. The Diablo Rosso Corsa and Diablo Rosso II are available in the front size 120/70ZR17, with rear fitments: 160/60ZR17, 180/55ZR17, 190/50ZR17 and 190/55ZR17.
Between 2004 and 2010, Europe’s sport touring radial motorcycle tyre market grew 31 per cent. This trend is expected to continue, with some forecasts for the current year estimating an increase of about seven per cent. At the start of the year Michelin released a new tyre into this lucrative market, the successor to its popular Pilot Road 2. The official launch for the new tyre was held towards the end of March. In announcing the introduction of the Pilot Road 3, Michelin says the new tyre surpasses its 2007-launched predecessor in terms of the grip it provides on wet roads and the consistency of performance it delivers over time. Alongside this, the tyre maker adds, is a combination of “unprecedented performance with the marketplace's best-balanced overall performance package.”
This is a short extract. Tyrepress and Tyres & Accessories subscribers can log in below to read the full article.
If you are not yet a Tyrepress or Tyres & Accessories subscriber, you can change that here.
Becoming a member has benefits such as:
Designed as a sports tyre for riders of lightweight bikes demanding race-worthy performance at an affordable price, the new H speed-rated (up to 130mph) series of Dunlop Sportmax Qualifier HR tyres. Dunlop says it has used “compound technology derived from the GP Racer D211” in the design of the tyre, features that it says make it “the first tyre to bring race compound features to the keen sports rider in this sector of the market”. The tyre is available in sizes for 125cc to 400cc bikes and supermotos up to 690cc.
The motorcycling season is just around the corner and riders nationwide are already preparing their bikes and scooters for a return to the road. This includes, of course, checking the rubber. Information from Protyre highlights a need for close scrutiny in this department: The independent retailer regularly deals with riders, and based on this experience it indicates that up to 70 per cent of motorcycles and scooters visiting Protyre premises have at least one tyre that is either defective or badly worn and in need of replacement. Protyre comments that these findings reinforce information from VOSA that shows defective tyres to be the fourth most frequent cause of motorcycle MOT failure in the UK.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
