Want more grip in your cruisey day? Metzeler has an option
For years power cruiser, custom and tourer riders have had few tyre options to dive into, and to be fair, probably haven’t stressed about that too much. Longevity and stability rank higher than side grip and drive traction for these riders – or do they? Metzeler has spotted a hole in the market and gone for a niche within a niche and it’s so sure it’s a top angle, it set us free on road and track to find out for ourselves. Showers of sparks ensued – and a thorough test of a tyre across a range of situations.
For a start, it was freezing. When this launch was planned from Queensland, the heady heights of New South Wales’ Southern Highlands seemed a good option: and that it is for the variety of excellent biking roads on offer around Robertson, Kangaroo Valley and sunny Goulburn. Unfortunately, it also collided with the onset of winter, and it was freezing. Hand numbing, nose running, excessive piss-stop-inducing freezing. In other words, a top test for tyres – and Metzeler wasn’t afraid to give us every opportunity to run them through the paces.
The variety of machinery on hand was breathtaking. The fleet consisted of the target market for the new rubber: two Harley-Davidson FXDRs, a Honda Goldwing, Yamaha’s wicked little Bolt, a Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail and everything else that might wear the cruiser-focussed rubber.
The plan was to brave the wind and cold of the southern highlands, before hitting the Pheasant Wood circuit in Marulan to test the grip and tyre feel in tyre tearing weather. There was the promise of a watered-down track, too, as wet-weather performance is an important angle for Metzeler. Cruiser riders are, after all, likely to encounter all weather in the big rides they are inclined to take – particularly the likes of Softail Heritage and Honda Goldwing riders who roam far and wide across this country.
Check out the full rundown in the latest issue of AMCN