New to the forum but have watched the site for a while - please inculde me in the illusive search for tyres

Today I received the information from Ducati Germany, that they are currently testing 16`` tires in several width dimensions for homologation needs. These tests are not finished yet. As soon as I receive new information, I will post here.

It seems, that our wishes for new wheels will become true... sometime.

Let the Paso´s ride...

Bernd

I keep my fingers here:

Have to start visit in church every sunday to pray....

Anyway very good news from Germany!

good news

Thank you, Bernd. This sounds very promising.

Is there a reason Ducati Germany have decided to take this on? If it's because of your initiative, we are all in your debt. Danke shoen.

Hi Guys,

I have just read this thread after finding out that I cannot get replacement tyres for my 750 Paso. I have been a member of this .org for years, and a reader for many years. As someone has pointed out, people like me seem to visit only once in a while. I have owned this bike from new (1988) and have replaced the tyres many times. While the prospect of new tyres coming from Germany sounds fantastic, I don't know if this will help me in Australia. It occurs to me that to get an idea of numbers required it might be better to talk to Michelin importers around the world. Here in Australia, Wayne Gardner Imports have brought the tyres in to the country for as long as I can remember. I will check tomorrow, but I thought they had something like 40 sets (16" front & rear) on back order from Michelin. If this is true, that seems like a high number for a country like Australia where there would have only been a few hundred paso's sold. I don't know how the tyres are imported into other countries though.

I would like to thank everyone on this site who have put their time into finding a solution to this problem. THANKS!

Fausto

I phoned to Ducati Germany yesterday. Ducati Germany informed me about their progress with Avon/Cooper tires. Unfortunately, there is no progress and Cooper rejected any further cooperation for a rebuild or further build of 16`` tires for Paso dimensions.
So, there is no chance for us to get wheels from this manufacturer...

Very bad news. Pity
We have to hope that another manufacturer comes out.
Ciao

Does this mean Avon are out of the picture as well?

Is it worth a petition to Michelin?

Fausto

Andy, I talked to Maxxis about a year and a half ago. They were not interested.

here a thread that may be interesting for some:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3020

G.

I've been following this thread, and others, for a while now. I would just like to comment from a manufacturing point of view.
As many have pointed out, the demand for these tires drops every year, and the manufacturer needs to make a profit. So at some point the demand is too low to warrant production. This alone may be the reason for stopping production. However, it may be a manufacturing issue.

Why old products die.
1. New Materials. If the new materials that you use to make tires constantly improves, then the old stuff doesn't get used as much. A tire company has to make the tire the same way from the time it is introduced until its death. They can not change it unless they change the model. If they change the model, then they need to re-qualify the tire with all of the agencies who care (TUV, DOT, etc.) This costs lots of money. So if Michelin can no longer get the same cording, rubber or any other component for the tires, then they can no longer make that tire. If a supplier went out of business, or they dropped the line, then that leaves Michelin in the cold.

2. New Tooling. Plants constantly upgrade to make production better. The tire industry went through a bit of revolution in the past 10-15 years in adopting JIT principles (just in time) where they no longer made rubber in batches. If the old tooling that they used didn't fit with the new machinery, then they can't run that mold on the new line. They would just run the old tools in the old way, in a separate part of the factory. I don't know if this is the case, but since this tire was introduced in 1988, that mold is now 20 years old, which is really old for any running tooling. They may simply not be able to run the tools on their line any longer.

Those are my thoughts.

Cheers,

My understanding is Michelin converted the molds to 17 inch