FEATURE I 30 YEARS OF THE 0° STEEL BELT RADIAL TIRE
P108
A year later at the Nardo
proving grounds in Italy, Salvo,
Suzuki Germany, German maga
-
zine Motorrad and a selection
of Metzeler riders broke six
world records in 24 hours by
riding a MEZ1-shod Suzuki RF
900 R 5900.426 km (3666.354
miles) with an average speed of
152.764 km/h (94.448 mph).
Some 10 years after Freddie
Spencer won the first 500cc
Grand Prix using a radial ply tire,
Metzeler had delivered and prov
-
en the first steel-belted radial tire
and delivered it to the public.
Fast forward four years to
1998 and when Suzuki released
their great flop, the TL1000R,
it came to market with the first
front 0° steel belted radial tire—
the MEZ3. Front and rear 0° steel
belted radials were now a thing
for the buying public.
Over the years, the technology
has steadily progressed. In 2002,
Metzeler patented the Metzeler
Advanced Winding (MAW) tech
-
nology, a system that optimized
the spacing between the steel
belts that allowed the engineers
to manufacture in certain han
-
dling characteristics.
Another six years passed
before Metzeler started altering
not just the spacing between
the chords—each made up of
12 strands of twisted steel—but
also the tension of the chords
themselves. The pro
-
cess allows for differ-
ent stiffness levels to
be created in different
areas of the tire.
The next realms of
0° concept is slated for
2024, one that is likely
to focus on ultimate racetrack
performance, which we'll no
doubt be front and center to test
when it becomes available.
Thirty years on, the inception
of the 0° steel belted radial tire
remains one of the true mile
-
stones in tire production, making
riding faster, more enjoyable, but
most of all, safer.
CN
Metzeler radials
have been standard
fitment with
compatriots BMW
for many years.
