Metzeler 4.50v-17 And 3.50v-19 Street Tires
Metzeler 4.50V-17 and 3.50V-19 Street Tires
EVALUATION
Racetrack Testing Two High Performance Tires That Work Better Than Their Name Suggests
Motorcycles. (especially big, heavy motorcycles), with 17-in, rear tires are becoming more and more common. The smaller diameter, largerfootprint tires are one way to improve straight-line traction, tire mileage and load-carrying capacity, as well as contribute to the esthetics of the semi-chopper
But most 17-in. tires now on the market are adaptations of existing 18-in. designs and all too often something is lost in the translation from a good-handling 18-in. tire into a wide sidewall 17-in. tire. The tread may look the same, the model designation may be the same, but the 17-in. version of a perfectly good 18-in. will often slide sooner and be less predictable when pressed in high-speed riding, as well as contribute to high-speed handling problems.
What we have here is a tire which not only works very well in the 17-in. size, but also was originally designed to be a highperformance 17-in. tire. Hang onto your hats, though, because the tire comes from a manufacturer with a very good reputation for dirt tires and virtually no reputation for high-speed pavement performance— Metzeler.
The new Metzeler tire was designed by Dr. Peter Kronthaler at the Metzeler design studios in Munich. West Germany. Kronthaler is the man who designed the tiny slicks used by the Kriedler-Van Veen factory to win the 50cc road racing World Championship this year, with rider Euginio Lazzarini. Tire design isn’t as scientific as one might imagine, and during the GP season Kronthaler often spent all weekend at a race, drove back to Munich, designed and supervised construction of new tires, and drove off to another part of Europe for the next Grand Prix.
The same kind of painstaking trial-anderror development went into the new Metzeler 4.50V-17 (and matching 3.50VI9) street tires, which Metzeler designates “Perfect.”
That isn’t to say that some innovative thinking didn't take place in the design process—it did. Kronthaler has definite theories in regards to this tire, including the necessity of relatively rigid sidewalls to minimize flexing and displacement of the contact patch relative to the rim. The tire is
designed to be as large as possible while still fitting on standard equipment rims. The tread design is close to that of a grooved slick-at maximum lean angles used on dry pavement. there are no sipes or
tread grooves, only solid rubber. In wet weather, the bike isn’t leaned as far and the slightlv-inboard grooves and sipes carry water away from under the contact patch.
Kronthaler admits that he designed the 17-in. rear tire first, and that the tread pattern was meant to be a rear tire configuration. But he points out that testing showed it worked well on the front tire, too,. which is why both the front and rear Metzelers have the same tread pattern.
But for all the theory and engineering, what really matters is performance. We were disappointed with the experimental Metzeler slicks our team used in the AFM Six-Hour endurance race in April 1979. but these street tires were a different story.
We tried the new tires on a GS1Û00E Suzuki in club races at Sears Point and Ontario. California. The two tracks are as different as can be—Sears is tight and contorted. Ontario vast and open.
The results were the same at both Sears Point and at Ontario, and we’re not the only people coming to the same conclusion. While trying the tires, we won three club.sprint races with our GS1000E. Meanwhile. Dennis Phelan of AAMRR and several other East Coast riders were also winning Production class races on Suzuki GSlOOOEs fitted with the Metzelers. The winning team at a WMRRA sixhour race in Seattle also rode a GSÍOOOE with a Metzeler 17-in. rear tire.
The new' street Metzelers work very well under high-performance conditions, and the same tire is available with a softer “sport” compound for racetrack use. We tried the sport tires at an AFM event in Las Vegas, and, as expected, the sport versions are even stickier than the street versions. But on the coarse Las Vegas Speedrome track surface, the rear tire was more than half gone after less than 30 miles of practice and racing. You pay for traction with short life.
We really can’t say anything about. mileage or wear of the street versions when used on the street because our Metzelers spent their time on the racetrack. After three races there’s plenty of Iread left, however. We have heard some reports of uneven front tread wear after extended street use. but have no evidence one way or the other.
We do know that for hard riding, these new Metzelers—in both street and sport versions—work very well.
From local dealers, about $62 for the street 4.50V-17, about $53 for the matching 3.50V-19. Additional information and sport version availability and prices from Motorace, Box 861. Wilbraham. Mass. 01095. ES
