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:
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.
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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