A new on-/off-road Dunlop motorcycle tyre for adventure bike riders who “don’t set limits to their riding possibilities” will debut in 2023. Full details of the Dunlop Trailmax Raid aren’t yet available, but the team from Dunlop promise they’ll have more to say about the tyre next month ahead of its introduction from March onwards.
Apollo Tyres has appointed Alexander Mai as Cluster Manager for its European Two Wheel Tyre division. Mai will succeed Thomas Mittendorff, who steps down at the end of January to take a position outside the company. Mai takes responsibility for a business that currently offers Vredestein bicycle tyres in Europe and is expected to introduce a range of Vredestein-branded tyres for motorcycles and mopeds in the not-too-distant future.
Bridgestone is in a buoyant mood ahead of an action-packed 12 months in the motorcycle world, with proven products, showstopping appearances and a motorsport title sponsorship all confirmed for the year.
Announcing a second partnership in as many weeks, Kenda and official UK importer Cambrian Tyres are pleased to confirm the brand’s status as official tyre of the Mick Extance Off-Road Experience Centre. As part of the new arrangement, Cambrian will supply the centre with Kenda motocross and enduro tyres.
MCE 6 Days Extreme, Metzeler’s tyre family for enduro competitions, has grown with the introduction of the new Extra Soft rear specification specially developed for extreme enduro races. The MCE 6 Days Extreme Extra Soft rear in size 140/80–18 70M NHS is a specialist tyre suitable for one-day competitions and special stages.
A positive first half of 2022 gave way to an increasingly bleak picture for replacement tyre sales according to overall figures published today by European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) members. Overall this meant replacement consumer tyre sales were 2 per cent down on 2021. Commercial replacement tyre sales remained largely flat, except for the agricultural tyre market, which was down more than a fifth (-22 per cent), having been in contraction all year. Quarter four saw double-digit percentage falls versus the fourth quarter of 2021 as the effects of war in Ukraine, including spiralling energy prices and a continental cost of living crisis, bit. The European replacement tyre segment’s first half of the year had been relatively buoyant, with double-digit growth in replacement truck and bus tyres the highlight.
Since launching in 2002, the Diablo name has represented Pirelli in the sports motorcycle tyre market, taking on the baton from luminaries such as the Mandrake, Phantom, Demon, Dragon and the wonderfully-named Gordon. Pirelli considers Diablo a tyre family that has “revolutionised global street tyre paradigms” over the years, creating a “proper brand” that has been “enriched year after year by technological innovations and the experience gained in the FIM World Superbike Championship,” where Pirelli has been sole tyre supplier since 2004.
Kenda and the brand’s official importer Cambrian Tyres tell us that they’ve started the year as they mean to go on, getting 2023 underway by announcing an exciting new partnership with the Lee Walters Off-Road Training School. Thanks to this new partnership, Walters will now be able to rely on Kenda’s wide range of enduro and trail tyres, which can be carefully matched to the type of riding or training he is undertaking.
Dunlop shares that its Geomax MX33, a “proven championship-winning tyre,” has once again been chosen as original equipment on the factory edition models from three of the most successful motocross racing brand’s.
The EICMA motorcycle show returns to Milan this week, and amongst the products on display are two newcomers from Eurogrip, one of the fastest growing brands in the powered two-wheeler tyre segment. Eurogrip globally launched the Roadhound sport touring tyre and the Climber XC off-road tyre.
After entering India’s motorcycle tyre business a good two years earlier, at the end of 2018 Apollo Tyres announced plans to introduce motorcycle tyres in European markets. It even presented the first local products – Centauro ST, Centauro Road and (for Scooters) Staccata early in 2020, along with the promise of a two-wheel TPMS system. But after that, everything went quiet until Apollo Tyres confirmed suspending its European rollout due to “high demand for motorcycle tyres in the Indian market” and “limited production capacities.” Yves Pouliquen, head of sales and marketing at Apollo Tyres Europe, recently provided an update on the company’s two-wheeler plans.
Mitas has signed a partnership with KTM Sportmotorcycle GmbH to fit its Enduro Trail+ tyres to the new 2023 KTM 890 Adventure R motorcycle. Following the Mitas Terra Force-R on the 2021 KTM 1290 Super Adventure S and Mitas E-07 on the 2019 KTM 690 Enduro R, this is the third Mitas original equipment fitment approved by KTM.
Following the news that it is consulting on the closure of the Cooper Melksham tyre factory, Goodyear has announced that it is set to invest 16.5 million euros into the “modernisation” of its Montluçon, France tyre production plant over the next 18 months. The news also marks the end of light truck tyre production at Montluçon. Prior to the announcement, the production of two-wheel tyres accounted for 50 per cent of the site’s activity and the site has also made motorsport tyres during its recent history.
BMW has selected Dunlop SportSmart TT as an original equipment fitment on its new 2023 S 1000 RR. It will fit the tyre in the front wheel size 120/70ZR17 and two rear sizes, 190/55ZR17 and 200/55ZR17.
Pirelli’s Diablo Superbike tyres feature in the latest video game based on the FIM Superbike World Championship. Developed by Milestone, the game allows players to choose the tyres to be fitted, modifying the behaviour of the motorbike based on the compound used. The realism of the game was boosted by the involvement of professional riders and experts, including Pirelli itself. The manufacturer supplied tyre data to help the game-maker simulate the performance of real Pirelli World Superbike tyres. Pirelli branding is also seen in-game in the realistically rendered circuits.
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.
Christian Marx/Profil-Verlag
Mitas
Christian Marx/Profil Verlag
Pirelli