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COPYRIGHT 2003 Ehlert Publishing Group
We are oh so familiar with them. They are our friends. We depend on their strength and pliability to keep us upright and in control. They are our most important link to the road that we take to places both mediocre and exotic. We polish our wheels, but we live on our tires.
Yet so many of us don't think about them unless something goes wrong. And when we marvel at the latest in motorcycle technology, we rarely think about the steady advancements in tire tech. Some of us spend a lot more on chrome accessories than we do on our rolling stock, and that's silly, really. State-of-the-art tires can dramatically improve the performance and safety of your motorcycle, and manufacturers like Dunlop, Michelin and Metzeler/Pirelli are working hard to ensure we have safer, better-performing tires in the coming years.
With tire development (as with many things with motorcycles), it's often useful to watch the technical developments in the automotive world to see what may be down the road for us. For example, run-flat tire technology (tires that can still function temporarily even without any air) and the ability to monitor tire pressure through onboard instrumentation are both fast-breaking areas in automotive tires. With these types of advancements in mind, we asked our trio of premium motorcycle tire manufacturers about near-term tire technology and what they may be cooking up for us down the road.
We also asked them a question we hear a lot: Why are the latest generation tires for the Honda GL1800 Gold Wing wearing out faster than the old GL tires? Are manufacturers just trying to sell more tires, or are there other reasons?
DUNLOP
Up in the often snow-covered city of Buffalo, New York, Dunlop builds a great number of motorcycle tires as well as light truck, car and ATV hoops. Because of the diversity of products it makes, this plant is considered to be one of the most advanced in the country. That said, automation is increasing but tires are still built largely by hand. In terms of technology, Dunlop is working in many areas, although lately there are two fronts where things are really advancing rapidly. One of these is the rubber...
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