Think of the safety implications of this thing. I think tires are a motorcycle’s weakest link. You only have 2 of them… and if one goes, you could literally be in a “world of hurt”, unlike a car. When a car loses a tire, you still got 3 more.
The Kneeslider > Michelin Airless motorcycle tires: “Motoblog.it has been at the Milan show and shot these photos of the Michelin airless motorcycle tire. It doesn’t look quite as radically different as the Tweel except for the fact you’re exposing the inner bands, pretty radical in its own right.
Interesting, too, is the tread and plastic sidewalls can be made in various colors as the blue version shows. No word, as far as I can tell, about how close these are to commercial application. It would be interesting to ride an airless tire to see how it responds under various riding conditions. Since a broken band doesn’t require a tire change and there is no air to lose, these would seem to be a natural for extreme offroad use though they would be great for normal riding, too. Cool technology.”
Go here for for some really great shots of the Airless tire.
Wed, Dec 7, 2005
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