Metzeler launches new high-mileage tire
ME888 to complement Metzeler’s best-selling ME880 Marathon
Metzeler was founded a century and a half ago and for the past 120 years has produced motorcycle tires for riders around the world. The brand’s emphasis on quality and performance has been epitomized in the Metzeler ME880 Marathon and its position as an industry leader fully committed to the V-twin segment, including customs, vintage and touring. In the face of an evolving consumer and marketplace, Metzeler unveiled the ME888 Marathon Ultra, also known as the “Triple 8,” at the V-Twin Expo in Cincinnati Feb. 2-3. This new motorcycle tire maintains the popular characteristics of grip on both wet and dry conditions while seeing a dramatic increase in overall mileage.
“As opposed to rushing the market with a tire that called for compromise, we took the time to engineer a high mileage tire while maintaining all of the characteristics that make a Metzeler tire,” said Chris Wall, Metzeler director of marketing and key accounts. “We fine-tuned all the features that made the ME880 such a success and then focused on a significant mileage improvement.”
Product characteristics of the Triple 8 include newly processed compounds, updated structure and an innovative tread pattern design. All of this resulting in increased mileage while maintaining the ME880’s trademark philosophy of stability, handling, traction and safety in wet conditions.
With an emphasis on mileage improvement through reduced structural fatigue and better wear uniformity, the Triple 8 employs a ply line with a more distributed and wider geometry than conventional tires. This allows for any added stress to be dissipated towards the sidewall without causing additional fatigue on the contact patch. Additionally, an improved tread pattern design with compound bridges aims to increase stiffness underfoot, which in turn prevents stress transmission from the tread to the belts and carcass plies. The tread also features a variable width tread groove that maximizes the channeling of water in extreme weather conditions.
The Triple 8’s contact patch is 15 percent wider than the ME880, making the Triple 8 better suited to distribute force necessary to transfer engine torque on the ground. This results in reduced overheating of the tire’s surface often experienced with slippage under hard acceleration.
Metzeler’s new ME888 Marathon Ultra is ideal for the V-twin motorcyclist seeking high mileage without compromising on performance, while riding in either wet or dry conditions. The ME888 will be available beginning Q1 2013 to fit today’s popular Harley-Davidson motorcycles, including the new FL Touring, Softail and Sportster models.
