Fifty Years For Dunlop’s Motorcycle Tire Factory In The US!

[advrider]

Where are your motorcycle tires made? For most of us, the answer is usually Europe or Asia—but if you’re running Dunlops, the answer might be Buffalo, New York. And as of 2023, the Dunlop factory in the Empire State is celebrating 100 years of manufacturing tires, and 50 years of manufacturing motorcycle tires. And while other tiremakers are still producing rubber in the US, most of them are in extremely limited production, while Dunlop claims it’s the only tiremaker with its HQ in the US, and that it’s the largest North American motorcycle tire producer!

Dunlop’s North American moto tire manufacturing actually goes back more than 50 years, since the Buffalo plant only got its start when the company moved its molds over from Canada to its plant in New York. Dunlop says it started US production with the K81, K88 and K70 tires. One of its biggest coups was to become official supplier to Harley-Davidson (a deal that goes back to the 1980s). But of course, it makes a lot more than cruiser tires. Dunlop makes rubber for dirt bikes, flat trackers, and all kinds of street bikes. While some of its cheaper dual sport rubber may be made overseas, the Trailmax Mission adventure bike tire is made in the US still.

If you want a look in the factory from a couple of years back, here you go:

No doubt things have changed in the years since, just as they’ve continued to change since 1973!  And props to Dunlop on their anniversary, and for keeping jobs for domestic workers over the decades.

Vezi sursa