Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Pirelli's new MP7R 60 t ire series, fitted as original equipment on a new Cagiva (above), is the world 's first 60% aspect ratio. road -going radial. and is capable of withstanding speeds up to 170 mph, according to Pirelli officials. Pirelli recently introduced two new front motocross t ires. the MT44 Lagu nacross, for soft and mixed terrai n (above left). and the MT46 Hardcross, f o r hard. dusty. slighty muddy surfaces (above right ). Both t ires w ere used by David Thorpe (Ho nda 500cc) and Pekka Vehkonen (Cagi va 125cc) to w in thei r 19B5 World Motocross C hampionships. "u.s. Premiere '86" Pirelli introduces true radial U N IVERSAL CI TY, CA, DEC. I I A n ew American product line of street an d mo tocross tires was introduced by the motorcycl e di vision of P irelli Tire Corpora tion during the co m p a ny's "U.S. Premiere '86, " h eld a t th e Sheraton P re m iere H Olel. . P irell i's latest stree t line in cludes a n ew , seco n d gener a- 10 tion o f " ra dia l co nce p t" tires for mot orcycles, ca lled th e MP7 R. T his line offers not o n ly a h igher- per formance tire designed specifica lly fo r th e Un ited States market . but a lso the world 's fir st 60% as pect ratio, road go ing ra dia l, wh ich is ca pa ble o f withstand in g speeds up to 170 mph , accord ing to co m pany official s. For motocro ss riders, Pi relli int ro d uced two new front tires, the MT44 Lagu nacross (for so ft a nd mixed terra in), and the MT46 Hardcro ss (wh ich Pi relli claims exce ls o n hard , dusty a nd sligh tly muddy surfa ces). Both tires were used by David T h orpe (Honda 500cc) and Pekka Vehkonen (Cagiva I25cc) to wi n th eir 1985 World Mo tocross Championships. Th e tire whi ch will draw th e m ost interest from performance-orient ed America n road riders will be th e M P7 R 60. T his tire is a n extreme ly low-profile , pure radia l.onlv 60% as high as it is wid e. Previo usly, 60% aspect rati o bike tires ha ve been co nfined to the race track, but the introduction of the P irell i model to the marketpl a ce will bri ng lo w, wide radials to big-bore road bikes. T he MP7R 60 rece n tlv has been specified as original equ ipment by Cagiva-Duca ri a nd Birno ta , and is now under eval uation by other manufacturers. P irell i feels its new 60 series rad ia l will beco me origi na l eq u ipme nt o n a growi ng number o f , th e world's top performan ce road bikes. Th e 60 Series lire, w hich ta kes a larger rim th an is used by co n ven tion a l bias p ly tires, will not be ava ila ble to th e rep lacem en t market un til 1987. Pirell i's new tire, p roduced especia lly for th e Un ited Sta les, is the MP7 America . design ed specifica lly for h igh speed . Iong-dista nce cr uisers (l ike th e H onda Asp en cade, Suzu ki Cavalcade. Yamaha Vent u re a n d Kawasaki Voyager ), a nd muscle bikes (l ike th e Yamaha V-Max a nd Ka wa - sa ki Eliminator). Su ch motorcycl es make a 10 1 of to rq ue values a n d ca n weigh in excess of 1000 lbs., when fu lly loaded wit h rider. passenger a nd luggage. The M P7 R Am eri ca is th e first radia l tire de signed especia ll y for big tou ring a nd mu scle ma chi nes, and ca n withsta nd speeds just over 150 mph - at least 20 m p h great er than th e most durab le cross-p ly tires accord ing to Pirell i sp o kesme n . "T he new radial's performance va l ues a re well a hea d of those of cross-p lies," said Guido Gi ancola, Pirell i Group technica l di rector for motorcycl e tires. "Compared to co nventional tires. the MP 7R America del ivers in ex cess of 15% more wet grip . bra king power a nd mil eage. Its ro lling resista nce is 10%lower and its tread deforms a t speed a n impressive 60% less." T he weig ht o f the new tire a verages 10% less th an a n eq uiva len t cro ss-p ly. P irellis MP7 a lrea dy ha s been ap proved by Yamaha fo r its FJ 1l00 and FZ750; by BMW for its KI OORS, as well as by Bim o ta, Eg li, Laverda a nd Mo to G uzzi. Another a dd itio n to Pirellis h igh perfor mance street lin e is th e new Sportscornp a nd Sportsco m p Front, designed to meet th e need s o f spo rts rid ers who own machines ra nging fro m 350cc u p . T hese cross- p ly tires were introd uce d to a ugme nt th e Pha nt o m p lus-I lin e n ow a vai la ble to th e America n mark et. a nd are available in 14 sizes for 350cc to 1400cc machi nes . T he Sportscornp has been developed for th e expa nd ing ent h us ias t seg me nt o f th e market. wh ile th e Phantom (fo r machines ca pa ble o f up to 140 m ph ), rema ins th e tire for th e rider who needs ba la nce bet ween hi gh pe rforma nce , h igh mileage and co mfort . . Pirell i views the new Spor tsco rn p a s a sporti ng tire whi le th e o ld sta nd by Phantom is look ed upon as a sports-to u ring tire . T he Sportsco rnp has a new inter na l str uc tu re in whi ch hi gh -ten sile rayo n co rds a re set a t ext reme ly low cro w n a ngles to prod uce a lig h t but efficien t ca rcass , acco rd ing to th e Ital ian tire co m pa ny. "Even m ore o f a slick th an th e P ha nt o m plus-L th e Sportscornp 's aggressive tread profil e, pattern and ' tac ky ' co mpoun d co m bine to p ro duce sports performance sa tisfactio n. better wet a n d dry gri p a nd easy lea n angle transi tion ," sa id Giancola. The new tire ha s a claimed speed capabi lit y of over 150 mph. During th e years Pirell i was designin g , de velopi ng a nd introd ucing th e world 's fi rst produ ction lin e of rad ial co nce p t motorcycl e street tires , world class ca liber motocross riders were u sing P irel'l i's M X tires to wi n World Mo tocro ss Championships. Not o n ly did riders using Pirel li ti res cla im th e 500cc a nd 125cc World Cham p ionships in 1985. bu t riders whose mach ines sported Pirell i rubber a lso have claimed 14 of a possibl e 18 world titles sin ce 1980. To wi n th ei r 1985 Wor ld Cham p io ns hips , Vehkonen a n d T horpe used Pi relli 's new MT44 Lagunacross and MT46 H ardcro ss fro nts , co up led with th e co m pa ny's establ ish ed MT 27 Deltacro ss, MT 32 Sandcross, MT35 H a rd cro ss a nd MT 37 Lagu nacross rear tires. T he new Lagunacro ss Iroru, whi ch will be avai la ble to th e p u blic in 1986. is designed for use in sa lt and mixed terra in. It is 90%as h igh as it is wid e. for better bum p absor p tio n, a nd it has a tread wid th of 90m m, wh ich co m bines wit h specia l rubber co m pou nds a nd sharp tread blocks to bite th rough sli ppery surfaces a nd find ha rd er earth to grip. T he :\IT46 Hardcross fron t, also avai la ble i n 1986, is made for p rim e performa nce o n h a rd , d us ty a n d sligh tly mudd y surfaces. It is a tire o f 100%aspect rat io , which del ivers good bump absorption. Its 80m m -wi de tread gives maxim u m co ntrol on straights a nd red u ces un sp run g weig ht. P irell t's Mo to rcvcle Tire Division will make a fres h' sta n in Ame rica during 1986. T h e Ital ian par ent co m pa ny has establis hed a new U.S. head q uarters, a new U.S. Marketing Manager. a new U.S . distribut io n net work an d a new U.S. co rpora tio n. As o f J anuary, Pirell i T ire Co rpo ra tio n o f Ameri ca will be di rectl y resp onsib le for the sa les, marketing a nd di stribution o f P i rell i m o torcy cl e ti res throughout th e U n ited Sta tes. Fo r th e fir st time. a U.S. Market ing Man ager (Dere k M. Wa lters), ha s been n am ed , who will report to Presid ent Da vid J ames in Pirelli T ire Corporatio n 's Sa n J o se headquarters, Eig h t U.S. distribu tors recently were set in pl ace, with 14 o u tlets i n I I states . T he new U.S. divi sion of Pi relli T ires is loca ted a t 200 1 Gat ew ay Pl ace, Su ite 220, San Jose, Califor• ni a, 95110, 408/9 95-6222. ' . r

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