Natural Born Biker. On the Road since 1892.
In its 130 year history Metzeler has always
satisfied market demands with innovation. Metzeler
has always been an industry leader, setting trends
that others are still trying to achieve. Here are
the milestones in the company's long history:
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1863 - Robert Friedrich Metzeler opened a commercial
firm selling rubber and elastic goods in Munich,
Germany. Some of Metzeler's early products included
technical and surgical articles, sports equipment,
toys and weatherproof clothing.
1871 - Metzeler established their first factory for
rubber products in Schwanthalerstrasse. By 1887 the
factory's capacity was unable to satisfy
demand, so
a new factory was built. Thanks to new procedures
the India rubber processing was revolutionized, it
then was granted the patent for this process.
1890 - Metzeler became leaders in the growing
aviation industry, developing a multilevel rubber
manufacturing method for linen and cotton fabric.
This product was used for balloon, airship and
aircraft construction.
1892 - Metzeler played an important role in tire
development for the bicycle, motorcycle and
motor-car industry.
1933 - Metzeler set an impressive achievement in
tire manufacturing by making the first useful tire
using the new synthetic rubber 'buna'.
1937 - Set the high-speed world record for
motorcycles at 279.5 km/h
1945 - The factory was completely destroyed during
the war. Reconstruction
began immediately and in the
following years, apart from traditional tire
manufacturing, other activities were developed in
the technical rubber segment and for the leisure
market.
1974 - First low profile tire in the 80 and 90
series of products.
1978 - Developed the first tubeless tire in Europe.
1978/79 - Metzeler changed its company focus due to
economic reasons, and started producing only
motorcycle tires. The Munich manufacturing plant was
closed and all of the production was moved into the
second Breuberg factory
in Odenwald.
1982 - Metzeler developed the first tread pattern
with crosswise oriented
grooves, instead of the
usual lengthwise - the ME 33 Laser.
1983 - Metzeler introduces the first cross ply tire
with a kevlar belt for mass production. This leads
to the introduction of the "MBS" - Metzeler Belt
System.
1986 - Since the 1st January 1986, Metzeler had been
a member of the Pirelli Group. A restructuring
period of the existing different branches into
independent companies took place, and in 1989,
Pirelli founded Metzeler Reifen GmbH. In
the same
year Metzeler introduction of the arrow parabolic
tire to the rear
wheel - the ME 1.
1987 - Metzeler launches the first Silica-tread
compound for motorcycle tires, called "CompK".
1992 - Metzeler introduces the worldwide first 0°
steel belted radial rear tire for motorcycles - the
ME Z1.
1994 - Metzeler set the motorcycle world record for
24 hours at 246.0 km/h.
1995 - The Metzeler Quality Management System was
certified by DIN EN ISO 9002. |
1996 - Metzeler develops the first 0° steel belted
radial front tire. The ME Z4 was the worldwide first
tire
set with the revolutionary 0° steel belted
radial technology.
1998 - Metzeler introduces the ME Z3. These tires
use all the advantages of the 0° steel belting for
the
fist time for a supersport tire in history.
2000 - Metzeler introduces the new Metzeler ME 880
in the size of 240/40 R 18 to meet the demands of
tuners world wide. With a width of 243 millimeters
it was the world's widest motorcycle tire. Furthermore
it featured the patented 0° steel belted technology.
2001 - Introducing the new RENNSPORT radial racing
tires, Metzeler sets a new breakthrough. It
succeeded
in developing a supersport fitment that combines the
outstanding performance of racing tires with the
all-round characteristics of a normal road tire.
2003 - Unveiled the ME880 280/35-R18, the world's
largest steel-belted motorcycle tire.
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All this developments for the world of motorcycle,
which seemed sometimes to be impossible, shows that
Metzeler, with it's more than 100 years long
experience in development of high quality motorcycle
tires, is looking forward to a very interesting
future. METZELER . Natural Born Biker.
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