Motorbike Tyres
Michelin and Dorna Sports have confirmed a new three-year contract extension with Michelin. The extended tyre supply deal will see the French firm continue as the sole official tyre supplier to MotoGP until at least 2026 and therefore means the partners will reach the milestone of a decade racing together.
Mitas has extended the Terra Force-MX motocross competition tyre range, introduced at the beginning of 2019, to include junior sizes designed for motorcycles from 50cc to 85cc engine displacement. These additional sizes will be available from October.
Pirelli has rolled out a range of larger Diablo Superbike Slick tyres for the Bennetts British Superbike (BSB) Championship. The series will run over six rounds starting at Donington Park on 7-9 August. Each round features three Superbike races. Pirelli has continuously acted as sole tyre supplier to the series since 2008. It supplies approximately 4,000 tyres to each event, as well as offering service and support. The new tyres were developed during the 2019 World Superbike Championship. They now comprise part of Pirelli’s production tyre range, available to racers of all levels.
The new Kenda Knarly extreme enduro tyre is now available in the UK via well-known two-wheel tyre specialist wholesaler Cambrian Tyres.
Developed in conjunction with top US pro riders, the road legal Knarly features a soft compound front and supersoft compound rear designed to tackle the very toughest of obstacles.
Pyramids Tires, a new tyre manufacturer based in Port Said, northeast Egypt, saw its first tyres roll off the production line on 9 May 2020. The factory currently manufactures motorcycle, forklift and agricultural tyres as part of the first phase of the plant’s development. The second phase, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022, will see the company add passenger car, truck and OTR tyres to its portfolio.
Kenda Rubber Industrial has been producing bicycle and motorcycle tyres at its Indonesia plant since 2015. According to local media reports, the Taiwanese manufacturer now wants to move production capacity from China to Indonesia.
“The motorcycle market continued its upward trend in April, with sales up 7.3 per cent ahead of the same period last year and up 9.4 per cent year-to-date”, said Stephen Latham, Head of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA) which represents motorcycle retailers across the UK. The figures were released by the Motor Cycle Industry Association
The Philippine Rubber Farmers’ Cooperative (PRFC), composed of farmers from Mindanao and Palawan in the Philippines, is leading efforts to develop finished products from raw rubber.
Referring to the latest figures from the Motorcycle Industry Association, Stephen Latham, Head of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA) which represents motorcycle retailers across the UK, said: “It is encouraging to see that registrations of motorcycles in the UK grew by 9.1 per cent in August from the same month last year”.
In number terms, August registrations are always low due to the volume of customers who prefer to wait until September to obtain the latest registration plate on their new machine. As a result of the monthly increase, the year to date picture shows a steady growth of 2 per cent for the first eight months of this year.
UK-based motorcycle magazine, Fast Bikes, has named the Dunlop SportSmart TT as the winner of a blind track test of six of the leading hypersport tyres on the market. Testing each tyre independently on the 2018 Yamaha YZF-R1M, Fast Bikes’ Mike Booth considered feel, stability and outright grip on each of the tyres tested.
New motorbike battery laws, effective 1 July, see the most common type of motorbike battery, a ‘dry battery’, become illegal to buy or sell unless customers have a valid Explosives Precursors and Poisons (EPP) licence. The licence costs £39.50.
Maxxis will be using next week’s EICMA event to treat its fans with a sneak peak at its latest tyre innovations. The tyre manufacturer will be exhibiting plans to introduce its latest ATV and motorcycle tyres to the market. It will also be announcing “exciting new [OE] plans in the pipeline”, and will also be joined by a newly crowned world champion.
Beta Boano and Maxxis-sponsored rider Brad Freeman has added another title to his name after crossing the finish line in first place on Maxxis MaxxEnduro tyres and winning the Enduro GP Junior Class title at this year’s Maxxis FIM EnduroGP World Championship.
For the enduro world championship, Freeman used MaxxEnduro tyres, designed to perfectly fit enduro conditions. The tyre features side blocks, which provide accurate steering and handle aggressive cornering in the muddiest of conditions.
Pirelli’s contract with promoter-organiser Doma and the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM) to be the official tyre supplier to the Superbike World Championship for all classes has been extended by two years to cover the 2019 and 2020 seasons. The technical partnership between the Italian tyre manufacturer and the production bike based series, which started in 2004, is the longest running control tyre supply deal in international motorsport history. The previous contract was due to expire at the end of the 2018 season.
Moto-tyres.co.uk is donating 5,000 US dollars to the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, which supports projects to improve men’s health.
On 24 September 2017, tens of thousands of bikers worldwide will once more don their finest threads and dust off their vintage and classic motorbikes for a city tour. And all for a good cause: the event, which is taking place for the sixth time, has the aim of raising money to fight prostate cancer and fund suicide prevention initiatives. Last year it collected more than 3.6 million US dollars, and in 2017 organisers hope to raise over 5 million dollars.
Michelin
Mitas
Pirelli
Kenda
Pyramid Tires