The new season in the FIM Endurance World Championship began this weekend with the Bol d’Or at the Paul Ricard circuit in southern France with Dunlop victories in both classes.
Metzeler has introduced its new Racetec RR tyre for classic motorcycle racing with a debut race victory at the weekend’s Bol d’Or Classic, fitted to the Kawasaki GPZ1100 of Marcel Kellenberger and Stefan Merkens from Bolliger Classic Endurance team. The new tyre is now available in 110/80ZR18 M/C TL (58W) front; and 150/65ZR18 M/C TL (69W) and 160/60ZR18 M/C TL (70W) rear. The street legal tyre was developed for road racing, and now expands with the latest sizes in K1 compound to classic racing.
Michelin served as a partner at the 2017 FIM International Six Days of Enduro (ISDE), which took place in France at the end of August and start of September, and during this event it announced the start of sale of its latest enduro tyres, which took four years to develop.
Tim Brett is the latest recruit to join the team of area sales managers at parts and accessories distributor, Bickers. With 28 years working in the motorcycle industry, Brett is set to hit the ground running.
Brett was previously part of the Bickers team between 2011 and 2015. After two years away, he has returned having seen the rebrand that Bickers set in motion at the start of the year. He will be the key point of contact for both new and existing customers across the North of England and Scotland with, while being supported by the Bickers team based in Felixstowe.
Avon Tyres’ Storm 3D X-M has helped Polish stunt rider Maciej “DOP” Bielicki set a new world record for the longest recorded rolling burnout on a motorcycle. Using a specially closed road near the Harley-Davidson dealership in the city of Rzeszów, south-east Poland, Bielicki set the record on his Street Rod bike, spinning the rear wheel for just under three miles. Watch the video below on Tyrepress.com.
Avon Tyres is making another trip across the Irish Sea to the Isle of Man for the late-summer leg of its motorcycling celebrations – the Festival of Motorcycling. The tyre brand, which has a strong historical link with racing on the island, plays a major role in both parts of the festival – the Classic TT races and the Manx Grand Prix.
Magazine titles belonging to the same publishing group streamline costs by sharing tyre testing resources, and as a result often draw similar conclusions. This was the case for the motorcycle tyre tests published by German magazines Motorrad and PS. Both Motorrad’s May 2017 evaluation of six touring tyre brands and the test of these products appearing in the September issue of PS magazine name the same brand as winner. Continental is therefore celebrating a “second test victory in just three months” for its ContiRoadAttack 3.
An addition to the Metzeler portfolio last year, the Racetec RR Slick is available in soft K1 and medium hard K2 compounds. The grip, handling and ride precision offered by the K2 version, as well as its durability, has now been improved thanks to an entirely new tread compound that Metzeler has developed for this tyre. Ever since the second half of last year, the brand’s own test riders, as well as professional racers and ambitious amateurs, have been active on European race tracks in order to ascertain the best possible compound option.
According to Trelleborg, its Mitas business is now making “concentrated preparations” towards penetrating the radial sport touring tyre segment with a “new concept in radial tyres.” It hasn’t revealed the name of the tyre developed by the Mitas/Trelleborg facility in Kranj, Slovenia, however it says the tyre is intended for use on heavier sport motorcycles that can carry two people and luggage over longer distances.
Thanks to experience gained with the Geomax range in MXGP competition, Dunlop says its newest product, the Geomax MX12, benefits from three new design features that deliver a “significant step forward in performance over its MX11 forerunner.”
Suzuki has a new flagship product for the motocross category. The Japanese manufacturer unveiled the fifth-generation RM-Z450 late last month, and Bridgestone reports the selection of one of its off-highway motorcycle tyre lines as an original equipment fitment. The RM-Z450 will wear the Bridgestone Battlecross X30 in size 80/100-21 51M at the front and 110/90-19 62M on the rear.
Spanish off-road motorcycle specialist GasGas has selected the Mitas ET-01 trial tyre as original equipment for two of its new models, the GasGas Trial Contact ES and GasGas Trial School. These are the first GasGas motorcycles fitted with Mitas tyres as original equipment.
The recent replacement of the long-running Avon Storm sport-touring tyre range with the new Spirit ST hasn’t marked the end of the line for the Storm. Avon Tyres reports it has developed a new Storm Endurance motorcycle race tyre, and this has already gained its first competitive victory courtesy of Neate Racing’s win at the Spa Classic 4 Hour race in late June.
Success as a tyre wholesaler depends upon range, availability, and also a measure of exclusivity, and this applies as much in the two-wheel segment as it does for car tyres. Britain’s largest independent two-wheel tyre distributor deals in more than a dozen brands, from household names to those little known outside riding circles, and is sole UK distributor for several ranges. Earlier this year, Tyres & Accessories recently spoke with Richard Hemingway Cambrian Tyres to find out what’s new within the wholesaler’s established exclusive stable and from a brand that’s relatively new to Cambrian customers, but nevertheless should prove very interesting.
Metzeler reports with pride that its Roadtec 01 has been voted the Best Sports Touring Tyre by Motorcycle News for the second consecutive year. The publication evaluated eight sports touring tyres at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground, and published the results of this test in its 7 June 2017 issue.
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