1969 Motorcycle Racing Tires History - 6-Page Vintage Article

Description

1969 Motorcycle Racing Tires History - 6-Page Vintage Article
Original, vintage magazine article.
Page Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
Motorcycle tires have come a
long way since the days of this
1914 Harley-Davidson now on
display at the Western Reserve
Auto-Aviation Museum in
Cleveland. The new Sports Stud
tire, for off-road competition, is
nearly dwarfed by the vintage
street tire.
tread.
the blue streak, incidentally, was
in the middle of the
Occasionally we receive an in-
teresting paper from one of the
branch industries of the motor-
cyclebusiness. The tire and rub-
ber industry has become in-
creasingly harmonious with
present day motorcycle activity.
The epilogue of the motorcycle
tire's history has been virtually
absent from the general body of
motorcyclists. The past decades
of motorcycle evolution and its
subsidiary, racing, have been in-
strumentalin design and tire de-
velopment. Motorcycle racing
has been the main testing
ground to provide the propellant
that has lead to the design of
modern motorcycle tires. This
article, the history of racing
tires, is a study of past environ-
ment that has lead to the design
of today's modern motorcycle
tire.
American motorcycle racing tires may
have been born back in the World War I
era of the Red Baron, but brother, since
their rebirth, they’ve sure been shooting
down the best that Europe has to offer.
In only 5 V2 short years, Yankee racing
rubber has risen from non-existence to
dominance in the professional series, run
for riches on the paved road courses.
In 1967 and '68. all the winners of
American Motorcycle Association paved
events rode American racing tires. After
50 years of unchallenged European su-
premacy, the U.S. cycle racing tires have
bridged a couple of generation gaps.
The renaissance on this side of the
Atlantic dates back to 1963 when Har-
ley-Davidson. the only American motor-
cycle manufacturer, asked Goodyear to
develop a racing tire — and pronto.
The first competition design came off
the drawing board in December of ’63
Five designs and five years later, the tires
have reached a point where, according to
racing tire designer Vito Caravito, "we’re
past the basic designing stage and down
to the refining stage. Instead of worrying
about seconds on lap times, we’re con-
cerned now with fractions of a second.
"We were under one heck of a lot of
pressure," recalls Caravito, "because we
were the only American company to
challenge the European racing tire
builders."
Goodyear's Racing Division still is the
only organization in the U.S. devoting
effort to the highly specialized subject of
cycle racing rubber.
When Goodyear went racing in 1910,
several major U.S. motorcycle makes
were in competition including Excelsior
(Schwinn), Harley-Davidson and Thor.
Then motorcycling racked up a big
"first." No automobile racing tire — that
is, no special design for racing — had
been produced prior to the 1910 motor-
cycle Blue Streak tire, the grand daddy of
racing tires, introduced by Goodyear.
The special U.S. racing tire was an
instant success, and by 1913 all profes-
sional and amateur world records for
motorcycles had been established by...
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