Metzeler has introduced the Sportec M-1, the first of the company's second generation of high performance street sport radials.
According to Metzeler, the Sportec M-1 represents a significant advancement in its patented 0( steel-belted radial technology, construction, and compounding: a street radial whose performance abilities are so advanced, the tire is suitable for the demands of trackdays. Yet it can still boast of "excellent durability". The Sportec M-1 is designed to fit between Metzeler's multi-championship-winning DOT Rennsport Race radial and the highly-praised MEZ4 Sport Touring radial.
The Sportec is the first street radial to employ Metzeler's advanced MAW (Metzeler Advanced Winding) construction on its 0( steel belts. Previously, the individual steel belts were wound evenly across the tire carcass. MAW encases two or three strands of belt - depending on the application - in a special rubber "bandina". The bandinas are then wound onto the carcass with wider or tighter spacing to more precisely "tune" tire performance across its entire surface. The company says MAW represents a significant milestone because it allows Metzeler engineers to not simply optimize the tire's overall performance, but to tune each part of each tire more precisely for its task - from upright to maximum lean - to deliver "an extraordinary level of compliance, grip and drive, directional stability and control." Also, because its spacing uses fewer of the steel strands, the MAW process creates tires that are even lighter in weight than other Metzeler 0( steel-belted radials, resulting in less unsprung weight and rotational mass.
Sportec construction also includes new multiple-radius tire contours - two radii in the front tire, three in the rear - designed to work with MAW to further optimize tire performance by providing "an extremely wide stability range in braking and a speed - that 'planted' feeling - plus a wider feedback range out to the limits of traction".
Yet another feature of the Sportec is its "state-of-the-art" Silica-Silan matrix tread compound with new high-tech structure Carbon Black, which brings the Sportec up to temperature quickly and evenly on the street. But Metzeler engineers say the most important feature of the new compound is its ability to deliver excellent grip across a very wide temperature range - from cool and wet to hot and dry.
Like all current Metzeler radials, the new Sportec M-1 has Metzeler's patented 0( steel-belted radial construction front and rear. This proven combination works like a built-in steering damper to minimize shimmy up front, to optimize high-speed directional stability, to greatly minimize the tires' tendency to stand up under braking, and to produce a more stable contact patch with minimal centrifugal tire growth or deformation at speed.
Sportecs are available in all of the most popular Sportbike sizes. (See box below.) Suggested retail prices are: Fronts - $145.95 to $149.95; Rears - $178.95 to $241.95.
For full information on the new Metzeler Sportec M-1 tires and the entire 2002 Metzeler line, visit your nearest Metzeler dealer. Details, fitment charts and full technical specifications are available at www.us.metzelermoto.com, and in Metzeler's free 56-page 2002 brochure, available at your dealer or from Metzeler directly at: Metzeler Motorcycle Tire North America, 300 North Pottstown Pike, Suite #280, Exton, PA 19341. Phone: (610) 524-2190; 24-hour fax: (610) 524-2191.
SPORTEC M-1 Front Sizes
130/70 ZR 16
110/70 ZR 17
120/60 ZR 17
120/65 ZR 17
120/70 ZR 17
SPORTEC M-1 Rear Sizes
150/60 ZR 17
160/60 ZR 17
170/60 ZR 17
180/55 ZR 17
190/50 ZR 17
200/50 ZR 17