Issue 3, September 2003

Piillot ®® Sport rear tiires emerge from curiing mollds at the Miichelliin pllant iin Lasarte,, Spaiin..

A rare look inside the motorcycle Chamber of Secrets tire factory

sk anyone who’s attended a Grand Michelin for its own use – ensure that Lasarte employees engaged in the development and Prix or World Superbike race in Spain, is one of the world’s most modern and effi - production of motorcycle tires must be high - Aand you’ll quickly learn that no fans cient tire production facilities. Indeed, the ly flexible to respond to market demand. are more rabid than the Spaniards. So it’s plant has been certified to ISO 14001 environ - During the busiest times of the year, the fac - only fitting that most of the Michelin ® motor - mental management standards. tory operates with three shifts, seven days a cycle tires sold worldwide are made in Spain. The seasonal nature of the motorcycle week. Though Michelin has its headquarters in market means that the 500 or so Lasarte In a highly competitive market, Michelin Clermont-Ferrand, France, its 70-plus has a well-earned reputation for mak - tire factories are located in 16 coun - ing high-quality, high-performance tries, the U.S. among them. The bulk tires, so it’s understandable that the of the company’s motorcycle tire out - company closely guards its production put, however, comes from a single methods. Relatively few outsiders have plant located in the Basque region of been granted permission to tour the northeastern Spain. The Lasarte facto - Lasarte facility. A Performer staff mem - ry builds some 2 million tires annually, ber was among the recent visitors. for on- and off-road bikes, scooters Tire production at Lasarte involves and racing. four major steps: preparation, assem - The factory opened in 1934, but bly, curing and inspection. Let’s take a continuous updates in technology and closer look…. A worker iinspects rubber striips as they lleave the extruder.. machinery – much of it developed by (Continued on page 2)

INSIDE THIS ISSUE… • Featured Tires: The new Anakee ™ for adventure touring, and the Pilot ® Sport HPX • Racing Roundup: Michelin riders rule both on- and off-road championships • Win a Rossi or Bayliss Replica Helmet: Another thank you from Michelin to our dealers Selling Points Anakee ™ Pilot ® Sport HPX New adventure touring tire Extreme bikes need an extreme tire

arge dual-purpose bikes improved wet grip and durability hen you’re putting 4Special tread compound developed compared with the T66. for sustained high speeds. were originally designed 150-plus horsepower 4 L to invoke the image of Tubeless or tube-type in all sizes, through the rear 4Rear tread pattern combines large thanks to a redesigned bead. W tread blocks and uniform distribution Dakar-style rallies, but in recent wheel of a 500-pound sportbike, 4Bias-ply or radial construction of the tread grooves, for excellent years, these bikes have become you’re asking a lot of your tires. on the front; radial construc - grip, efficient water evacuation, and more oriented toward all-around tion exclusively on the rear. That’s why Michelin optimized wear pattern. use. Trail-styled 4 4A versatile tread with developed the Front tread pattern bikes with sport - deep channels for water Pilot ® Sport HPX. similar to that of the rear tire, for powerful bike-derived evacuation and a high While it uses ratio of rubber surface braking, grip on wet engines, such as the proven Pilot ® to grooves for stable roads, and even tread - the V-Strom, handling. Sport tread design, wear. have exposed the need for a new 4Homologated as original equipment the internal construction of the *Michelin does not condone the use of ® type of tire. The Michelin Ana - on the Suzuki V-Strom and Triumph Pilot ® Sport HPX is considerably its tires in excess of posted speed limits.

™ kee is the first tire to combine Tiger. different. It’s specifically rugged off-road styling with seri - designed for the demands of ous all-season road perform - heavy, large-displacement ance. hypersport bikes like the Suzuki 4Improved lateral rigidity and sta - Hayabusa, Kawasaki ZX-12 and bility through additional casing CBR 1100XX. reinforcement compared with ® 4 ® Anakee’s predecessor, the T66. ANAKEE Engineered for high-speed stability, PILO T SPORT HPX the rear Pilot Sport HPX has been cer - 4Silica-based tread compound , tified by European authorities for a first for this type of tire, for speeds up to 200 mph* (320 km/h).

Though the Lasarte factory …Factory Tour (Continued from page 1) is highly automated,, assembly still involves a good deal of skilled labor.. Preparation Some 200 different raw materials can go into the construction of a single tire, so it’s critical that every individual component is precisely cut and formed before assembly. In the preparation stage, textile fab - rics such as polyester, nylon or Kevlar are cut into strips of predeter - mined angles and widths, using computer-controlled cutting machines. These strips are joined end-to-end in order to form the plies that make up a tire’s carcass. Also in this stage, raw rubber com - pounds are rolled or extruded into strips that will be used to build up the tread, sidewalls and interior of the tires. Assembly It all begins on the tire-building drum, which is a rotating cylinder with a flexible center, so that its edges can be brought closer to each the tire beads. The edges of the casing ply are then folded over the other. First, a thin, airtight sheet of synthetic rubber must be laid beads to hold them in place. At this point in the process, if the tire down on the drum. This serves as the inner surface of the finished were removed from the drum, it would look more like a rubber cylin - tire. The second layer is the casing ply, which comprises the fabric der open at both ends, rather than a tire. core that makes up the vital sub-structure of the tire. Next come high- Other components are then added with extreme precision; some strength steel hoops, embedded in profiled rubber strips; these are tires have dozens of them, including sidewall reinforcement, zero- Winning Formula From MotoGP to AMA outdoor nationals, Michelin riders rule

hen the 2003 AMA National to choose the sponsors he wants to work Motocross Championship began with, including Michelin. “With the power Win May, Honda’s Kevin Windham of the Honda four-stroke, tires are a big hadn’t competed on a national level in 15 issue,” he says. “I'm convinced that Miche - months. But if he was at all rusty, it hardly lin gives me the best chance of running up showed. Windham reeled off a string of front.” podium finishes and moto wins, culminat - • Branden Jesseman (SoBe Suzuki-Miche - ing in two consecutive overall wins at lin) gave Suzuki and Michelin their second Unadilla and Washougal that broke Ricky AMA 125 East Supercross Championship in Carmichael’s two-year unbeaten streak. three years. Just a year after posting his While Windham has the use of a factory- first-ever supercross main event win, Jesse - Kevin Windham’’s sabbatical spec CRF450R, he races out of his own man made the series his own, winning seems to have made him truck. The arrangement allows Windham (Continued on page 4) faster than ever..

Win A Race-Replica Helmet!

his month, all Michelin Performance champion . Center dealers are automatically This is just one of the ways that Michelin Tentered in a drawing to win one of two would like to thank you for being part of its race-replica helmets: an AGV with the colors Performance Center program. The drawing of MotoGP world champion , will be held October 15, 2003. The winner will Rossi (left) and Bayliss are battling for the 2003 MotoGP or the Suomy of former World Superbike be notified by mail or by phone . crown. Actual helmets may vary slightly from photos. degree belts and crown plies, just to name a few. After all these com - Inspection ponents are layered on the drum, its edges are moved closer together Because the safety and while a flexible bladder in the middle of the drum inflates, which satisfaction of the end user gives the tire assembly its basic shape. The textile tread plies are then are of paramount impor - added, followed by the strips of synthetic rubber that will ultimately tance to Michelin, every become the tread pattern. At this stage, the tread is still completely single motorcycle tire smooth. Each tire’s tread pattern is formed in the curing process. undergoes a rigorous man - Curing ual and visual check. Addi - The unfinished, or ‘green’ tire is then put into the curing mold, tional checks are performed which impresses the tread pattern and sidewall markings, gives the by machine, and a tire can Every tire is thoroughly inspected before it leaves the factory.. tire its final shape, and vulcanizes the various rubber components. A be rejected for even a minor bladder inside the tire, filled with hot, pressurized water, forces the imperfection. Sample tires are also pulled from production, cut into rubber into the mold cavities. This process intimately binds the rub - sections and inspected internally to ensure they’re within specified ber compounds to the casing reinforcement components. During this tolerances and dimensions. chemical reaction, the tire goes from a plastic to an elastic state. While selling motorcycle tires is all about helping customers get Curing is one of the most important steps of the manufacturing more enjoyment out of their bikes, it’s easy to forget that producing process, as it determines the performance characteristics of the rub - tires is serious business. As we saw in Spain, Michelin is committed ber compound. Temperature, pressure and curing time can all vary, not only to making tires that push the boundaries of performance, depending on the specific tire being manufactured. At Lasarte, the but also to employing the most advanced techniques to ensure that process for curing radial tires is completely automated. quality and reliability are never compromised. AMA 125 East Supercross champion Branden Jesseman …Racing Roundup (Continued from page 3)

three of the seven races, and never finishing presence of no less than four Americans: lower than sixth. ( Honda-Michelin), • In the Moto Grand Prix World Champi - (Alice -Michelin), onship, Michelin is again the dominant tire Jr. and John Hopkins (both maker, supplying the Honda, Ducati, Aprilia, Suzuki-Michelin). GP rookie Hayden in par - Yamaha and Suzuki factory teams. Michelin ticular has been the subject of intense inter - has won ’s premier champi - est, as the reigning AMA Superbike champi - Michelin 2 Wheel onship the last 11 years running, and is all on. But the Kentuckian has withstood the Director Dick Demarse but assured of an even dozen in 2003. After pressure well, with a best finish to date of Product Manager Bernard Jarrousse 10 of the season’s 16 races, Michelin riders fifth, and tenth place in the points. Sales Manager Steven Voorhies held the top 11 positions in the points stand - • At the end of 2003, Michelin will finish its Off-Road Racing Manager Randy Richardson ings and had won every single GP. involvement in the World Superbike Champi - Road Racing Manager Jim Rhodes Unlike 2002, however, defending world onship with ten consecutive titles. Through Business Development Ron Wood champion Valentino Rossi (- 18 of this season’s 24 races, and Administration Angie Flarity Michelin) is faced with a serious challenge his Ducati Fila-Michelin teammate Ruben Customer Service Allison Adams for the title. At press time, both Rossi and Xaus had won 14 times, mathematically Spain’s (Telefonica MoviStar eliminating the rest of the field from champi - Mail: Michelin North America 2 Wheel Dept. P.O. Box 19001 Honda-Michelin) had won four Grands Prix onship contention. This dominance has led Greenville, SC 29602-9001 apiece, though the Italian’s consistency kept WSB organizers to arbitrarily exclude Miche - Phone: 864/458-5000 him atop the championship. lin from 2004 onward, by limiting all com - Fax: 864/458-4153 Adding interest to the series this year is the petitors to the use of a single tire brand. E-mail: [email protected]

2 Wheel Department P.O. Box 19001 Greenville, SC 29602