Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1542338
Buttonwillow Raceway Park outside of Bakersfield. But that's just half the story because we did a 12O-mile street ride from Ojai to Button$/illow on one of California's nicest roads, Highway 31, and back. The first area that the lvleueler engi- neers tackled were the compounds of the new tire. Not only are the compounds optimized for good dry grip, but they are also designed to heat up quickly for imme- diate confidence on those chilly mornings. On the street the M3 provided excel- lent feel, response, and stability right from the get go. Our tires had zero miles on them and weren't even scrubbed in yet. but they provided excellent performance from the second we started the ride up Highway 33 to commuting and ridinS weeks later The tires warm up quickly with just a sliSht squirm on rhe coldest of On your typical Southern Calilornia twisty canyon road, the M3 perlorms excellently. Not that the Ducati is an),thing but stable. but the IY3 iust accentuates the sen- sation. Under braking the tire com- municates very well and Sives the rider a lot of trus! approaching impending lockup. Turn-in from the front tire is quick yet the transition is linear. Both the front and rear tires have lYultiradius technology, which allows the tire to perform opti- mally at all angles of lean. The front tire has a rounded profile. but the ac(ual crown area of the tire has a sharper pro- file to allow the bike to snap into corners quickly, but still feel progressive. There is more than enough grip for very spirited street riding, and our long- term pro,ect Ducati 999 is no slouch, mak- ing 132.33 horsepower and 72.54 ft.-lbs. of torque at the rear wheel (Termignoni exhaust, uprated ECIJ, air filters and l4 tooth countershaft sprocket). Out back, the rear tire is des,gned with a flafter shape on the shoulder for a larger contact patch at full lean angle. At the racetrack the M3 worked surprisingly well, especially consider- ing that the tire is a true Performance street tire and not a raae oa taaak- day ti.e like l'4erzeler's own Racetec tire. The sidewalls have a new construction that is designed to reduce defor- mation while heeled over This was achieved by chansin8 the sidewall filler compoudd, making it stiffer and at the same time reducinS the operat- ing temperature. Buttonwillow offers plenty of time on the side of the tire, but also has a lot of tricky transitions where different parts of the tra.k converge. The track demands not only excellent side grip for the faster corners, but quick turn in for the tight bits and lots oftrust from the front because the pavement is sketchy in a couple of areas. The key to all of this is l"leueler's pro- prietary and patented o-deSree steel-belt technology. Not only is this desi8ned to eliminate tire growth at speed - it reduces tire temperature and allows a softer com- pound to be used for improved stabilit/ under braking. The belt density gets spars- er as it approaches rhe shoulder of the tire for improved side grip, which allows the tire to basically act like a multi-compound tire with a single compound. lt also allows the enSineers to fine tune the contact patch across the entire radius of the tirc. When pushed very hard on the track the IYJ will eventually spin up pretty good, in fact I almost got chucked off. However, it was late in the day and the trres had quite The M3 wos designed to loll somewhere between Ml rtreet tire ond the Rocelec tro.k-dqy tire. a few laps on them in a lonS session, and remember this isn't a race tire. As for the M3's o'rerall tr"ack performance, it's pretty impressive considering that it really isn't designed for that. All of the tire's attributes that were apparent on the street - such as brakinS stability, quick turn in and quick warmup time - were backed up at the track even at the quicker pace. The tire's tread pattem was designed to disperse the maximum amount of water in wet condi- tions while still get- ting as much rubber on the road as pos- sible for dry conditions. Although I haven't had the chance to ride them in the wet yet, the combination of high silica, quick warmup and plenty of water-dispeBion capability should perform well. The key to all of this is whether the mileage is as good as Metzeler claims. judging from the minimal amount of wear from the 240 miles to and from the track, all afternoon at Buftonwillow, and now weeks of commuting and riding, I'd say they're wearint very well. lf they can provide good mileage for the average street rider then Metzeler has done their iob and done it quite well. Cll Engineers worked hord to reduce operoling lemperqture lo Prolong mileoge, mornings, and even that is gone within in a block or two. The compounds differ from the front to the rear tire, as there are very different demands from the rwo. The [ron! trre needs to provide a high degree of precision for maintaining the bike's traiectory while ar the same rime providing lots of stability. The front-tire compound was developed to reduce the bike's tendency to under- steer on corner exits. The tires are designed and optimized a5 a set and there- fore offer the best balance and grip with a matched pair The new DuraSjl compound has high sil- ica content and new reinforcing elements to provide the tire with better mechanical grip by improving its elasticiry (which also helps give ir improved mileage by reducing overheating). of the A .I,ETZELER t I FRONT t30l70zR t6 t t0l70z( t7 t20l60z t7 t20l65z( t7 tz0l70zP- t7 t(t,\lt r50/602R t7 t60l60zR t7 t'101602R t7 t80/552R t7 t90/502R t7 2001502R t7 $ t94.95 $ r96.95 $200.95 $2t0.95 $234.95 $255.95 130 J 20 0 100 90 80 i.dddthdbar hl* SEEg iMETZELER I CYCLE NEWS . FEBRUARY l, 2006 27 -:/ ( t3 \ l t \ I I I ( I \ --2.. .\ 7, h MCTZ€LER SPORTCC M3 StZ€ RANG€ $t60.95 $ r59.95 $ rs9.95 $ r64.9s $162.95 *# t---:.!