Continental
Continental was founded in 1871, and have been producing motorcycle tyres since 1907. Along with their premium Motorcycle, Car, Truck, and Bicycle tyres, Continental also design and manufacture a massive range of products like complete braking systems, ABS systems, instrumentation and electronic automotive aides, and supply premium performance tyres for many prestigious companies like Porsche, Bimota, and BMW (with both BMW cars and Motorcycles supplied with Continental as OEM fitment). Continental have also expanded their OEM Motorcycle fitment to include Honda, KTM and Derbi models. As a Motorcycle tyre manufacturer, Continental are 8 time world championship winners. They have recently made a massive push to move back to the top of the motorcycle market, and have invested over 50 million dollars in advanced production lines. They have had good success in Europe, and with the quality of products that they are producing, success in the rest of the world is sure to follow. Continental have a massive R&D department with some of the best technicians and chemists in the world, and have a dedicated testing track (shown below). Their push for excellence has produced some of the best tyres on the market, and created many technical advances like Black Chilli, Continuous Compound, and Traction Skin technology. The ‘ContiDrom’ testing facility covers 160 hectares and incorporates a 2.8km banked oval, 3.8km dry circuit, 1.9km wet circuit, 1.5km wet braking section with tarmac, concrete and cobblestones, an aquaplaning pool, small circle tracks, acoustic tracks for noise testing, an offroad course, and technical training rooms.