Bridgestone-sponsored 2004 AMA Supercross champ Chad Reed is right in the title chase for 2006. He took the win in St. Louis and has been on the podium in every other Supercross this season but one.

nywhere you look–Motocross, Supercross, MotoGP, Enduro–the 2006 racing season is shaping up to be carbon-copy repeat of ‘05, at least as far as Bridgestone is concerned. Many of the winning riders and race teams everywhere, track, trail or road course, are choosing Bridgestone. None of that goes unnoticed when it comes to tire-replacement time, either. Everyone, pro racers and weekend warriors alike, want the cutting edge, the best then can have. Increasingly, that’s Bridgestone, and the record books prove it.


2005 AMA Supercross Lites West champ Grant Langston has a good shot at taking home another Lites West Championship for Bridgestone in 2006. At press time, Langston was second in the points, just two points behind Andrew Short.

     Let’s start with Supercross and Motocross. Last year, you’ll remember, it was a Bridgestone sweep. Ricky Carmichael took it all in 2005…AMA Supercross, AMA World Supercross, Motocross Outdoor Nationals, Motocross des Nations and the US Open. And he did it on Bridgestones. Then the AMA Supercross Lites West Series went to Ivan Tedesco (his second straight Lites Championship) along with the Motocross Lites Outdoor Nationals and Tedesco was also part of the winning MXdN team…also on Bridgestones. Then came Grant Langston, wrapping up his Supercross Lites East Championship. Once again doing it on Bridgestone tires. Notice the trend there? You’re not alone.
     And all that is happening again in 2006. There’s still some hard-fought racing left, so let’s not pass out the trophies and laurels just yet, but Ricky Carmichael, Ivan Tedesco and Grant Langston are all back on Bridgestones for ‘06. So are Chad Reed, James Stewart, Heath Voss, Nick Wey and Kevin Windham. Those superstars might be riding and winning on different color machines–green Kawasakis, red Hondas, yellow Suzukis or bright blue Yamahas–but the black tires mounted on those rims all have the same name right on the side–Bridgestone. It’s not hard figuring out why. That amazing 2005 Supercross sweep was the 2nd in a row for Bridgestone, the seventh time in the last 10 years that a Bridgestone rider has won the AMA Supercross title. And when you look through the Supercross Lites record book you’ll find a Bridgestone rider named Champion 12 out of 20 times in the last 10 years. Put all that together and you’ll come up with more Supercross wins on Bridgestone tires than on all other tire brands combined.
     That’s some impressive performance, and all those Bridgestone tires chosen by those 2005 Champions and the ‘06 “Champs In Waiting” are in the Parts Unlimited catalog. The M201 and M202 soft-terrain tires are there. The M401 and M402 intermediates are there, as are the M601 and M602 hard-terrain Bridgestones. Bridgestone also has the popular 90/100-21 fronts and 120/80-19 rears available in the soft- and intermediate-terrain styles.
     This year there are some new Bridgestones available just for all those hot 4-Strokes out on the track too, tires designed and developed specifically to get the most out of bikes with valves in the engines. There are sizes to suit them all, too. The new 4-Stroke fronts include a 90/100-21 M201, a 90/100-21 M401A and a 90/100-21 M601. For the 250 4-Stroke rears there’s a 110/80-19 M402A and a 110/80-19 M602A, and for the more powerful 450 4-Strokes Bridgestone has rears sized 120/80-19 M202, 120/80-19 M402A and 120/80-19 M602A.

It’s looking pretty certain that Bridgestone will have a clean sweep in the Supercross class again in 2006. Bridgestone-sponsored riders Ricky Carmichael, Chad Reed and James Stewart were first, second and third in the points at press time.

     It isn’t just Motocross and Supercross where Bridgestone delivers that winning advantage, either. Take a look at the down-and-dirty world of Enduro, and the slightly less frantic offshoot of Dual-Sport performance riding. Bridgestone’s got it here, as well. They’ve filtered everything they’ve learned from years of successfully racing and winning in European Enduros and Cross Country right into a full lineup of ED-series tires, both D.O.T. approved and pure competition. These are serious tires. The Bridgestone EDs are able to take on the toughest conditions of the desert or the deep woods, or even a full-bore blast down through Baja. There are tires like the Bridgestone ED03/ED04 combo aimed primarily at street use, too. And take a good look at the ED663/ED668s. These Bridgestone Dual-Sports are tailored for 80% off-road/20% street use, beautifully bridging that performance gap. They’ll give serious trail and Enduro riders everything they want, and because they’re D.O.T. approved this front-and-rear tire set will have recreational Dual-Sport riders just as happy. The ED663/ED668 Bridgestones were specifically designed for soft-terrain conditions, where they truly excel. A special soft-terrain tread pattern coupled with a soft-terrain compound and tire profile lets these tires dig in and dig out. The tread patterns offer maximum performance, the individual blocks bite deep and the shoulder blocks are diagonally cut for enhanced cornering traction. With Bridgestone Enduro and Dual-Sport tires that big-bite is always right there when you need it.
     While we’re talking about the dirt let’s not forget those top-performing Bridgestone tires for the ATV market. Bridgestone’s Dirt Hooks are OE on plenty of brand-new Honda models, which should tell you plenty. And taking things a few steps further Bridgestone’s Mud Hooks and Mud Hook XXTREMEs are the tires to conquer just about anything a Sport Quad will encounter. They’re real performers. The XXTREME, especially, is a serious tire for the toughest conditions. Its deeply recessed lugs, on both the fronts and the rears, will have you powering through just about anything. These tires are 6-ply tough, too, and they feature Bridgestone’s slick and trick rim and bead protectors to shield the wheel and the tire sidewall from damage.
     Moving over to the pavement Bridgestone tires are equally impressive. For quite a while now Bridgestone has been more than just a little invested in the MotoGP Series. They’ve been getting some fantastic results. The first round of the 2006 MotoGP season in Jerez, Spain was won by Loris Capirossi aboard the Bridgestone-shod Ducati. Teams Suzuki, Kawasaki and Ducati all race on Bridgestones, and the performances turned in by Loris Capirossi, Sete Gibernau, John Hopkins, Chris Vermeulen, Shinya Nakano, and Randy de Puniet are all nothing less than stunning. All due in large part to the Bridgestone tires they race on. All that racetrack expertise has gone straight into the whole Bridgestone Sport Tire lineup of High Performance Radials for the street.

Bridgestone’s test track in Japan is crucial to the research and development of their tires. All tires are rigorously tested to ensure top quality, performance and safety.

     Bridgestone’s entire Battlax lineup of High Performance Radials, the BT-014s, the Super Sport Radial BT-012SS tires, the Race & Track Radial BT-002 tires and the Sport Radial Battlax OE Ultra High Performance Sport Radials are all the kind of tires the most aggressive riders demand. They’re all a direct result of Bridgestone’s R&D investment in MotoGP. Everything learned on the track has gone straight into these tires. Ride quality, sharp and confidence-inspiring handling, a fantastic grip in both wet and dry conditions, overall stability, cornering ability, shock absorption, reduced shimmy or improved contact feel–the Bridgestone Battlax tires have it all. These High Performance tires were developed with real MotoGP technologies. From their optimized profiles for quick and easy turn-ins to the refined tread patterns with dual-directional diagonal grooves on both the fronts and rears to control deformation and enhance straight-line handling the Bridgestone Battlax tires are ultra-impressive performers. Street or track. These tires also feature Bridgestone’s unique rubber-insulated steel Mono-Spiral Belt (MSB) construction, a tire design that reduces heat and adds loads of confidence-inspiring stability. And for good measure Bridgestone has included a brand-new and super grippy silica compound in the Battlax lineup. All this comes packaged in a lightweight tire for reduced unsprung weight, another performance advantage lifted right off Bridgestone’s MotoGP page. Talk about a bunch of all-around performers. No wonder Honda has chosen the Bridgestone Battlax for OE fitment on the new CBR1000.
     And Bridgestone hasn’t left out the cruiser-bike riders. Those big V-twin metrics are a huge market and there’s genuine Bridgestone performance here, too. The Exedra G850/G851 combination was designed specially for these high-performance bikes, and these tires combine solid performance with some pretty impressive mileage levels. Smooth riders and great handlers, these Bridgestones last like there’s no tomorrow. Bridgestone has even included that MotoGP style silica-enriched compound here, giving these cruiser tires real grip on both wet and dry surfaces.      The goal was a high-performance/high mileage cruiser tire that could deliver confidence-inspiring stability and exceptional grip. Mission accomplished. The Bridgestone cruiser tires, especially those G850/G851s, are pretty special. They combine Bridgestone performance with a smooth and rider-friendly feel. There are sizes and applications for all the big cruisers, Kawasaki’s MeanStreak, the Yamaha Warrior and Star Roadliner lineup, Suzuki M/95 and those Honda VTX 1800C models.
     Supercross, Motocross, Enduro, ATV, Dual-Sport, MotoGP, High Performance Street & Track Day and Performance Cruiser–there’s a Bridgestone tire for the job. More often than not, that tire is the 1st choice of a champion, too. They’re all available through Parts Unlimited, so call your rep today.

The Bridgestone-shod 2006 Honda 1000RR