METZELER CRUISETEC TIRE
PRODUCT TEST
P82
B
uilding a cruiser tire used
to be a relatively easy task
for a tire manufacturer.
No need for labor-intensive R&D
for cornering and handling that
the sport tires require, just make
sure that the ride is smooth with
plenty of straight-line stability
and that the center tread has a
long life, and you pretty much
had all the bases covered.
With the latest generation of
cruisers taking over the market,
that's not the case anymore. The
new breed of power cruisers no
longer emphasize only straight-
line brawn; now you need to
have some handling and corner-
ing prowess, while still maintain-
ing a smooth ride and long tire
life despite being subjected to
heavy loads and extended high-
way miles.
Metzeler saw this need com-
ing a while back, and spent a
considerable amount of time
and resources developing a new
tire that would fulfill all the per-
formance requirements of the
modern cruiser, from the Harley
Road King or Sport Glide rider
who loves to run through the
mountains, to the Indian Scout
Bobber pilot who wants a tire
that can handle the torque in the
corners without going bald in the
center at 5000 miles.
Labeled the "Cruisetec,"
Metzeler's latest product incor-
porates the company's extensive
knowledge and latest technol-
ogy to create a tire that can fulfill
all the mission requirements of
today's heavyweight machinery.
In order to build a tire that
would handle all these roles,
Metzeler first concentrated on
the overall tread profile. Because
of their usual focus on straight-
line stability and mileage, normal
cruiser tires have a steep profile
on the shoulders that results in
a very large variation in footprint
size (up to 18 percent according
to Metzeler) as the tire leans into
a turn. The Cruisetec has a more
C o m f o r t a b l e
Cruising
WE CHECK OUT THE ALL-NEW CRUISETEC
TIRE DIRECT FROM METZELER
