ake a good, long look around the motorsports world. It doesn’t matter where you’re looking, either, whether it’s top-flight MotoGP, the Supercross, Motocross wars, those GNCC guys out on the toughest trails and courses or just the everyday privateers and amateur weekend warriors. Winning riders and race teams the world over choose Bridgestone. It’s been that way for a long, long time, too. For decades, in fact. In Supercross alone Bridgestone has won more championships in the past 10 years than all other tire manufacturers combined.
     Given all that, when tire-replacement time rolls around–or when a smart rider is just looking for something better–it’s only natural for savvy enthusiasts to choose Bridgestone. For sport bikes, cruisers, dirt bikes and dual-purpose machines, what wins sells, and Bridgestone does both. There’s an absolutely amazing lineup of tires here, all with cutting-edge design technologies and state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques. There are Bridgestones for all occasions, conditions, situations, applications, demands and even budgets.
     The smartest street and off-road riders look for the same things in a tire–performance, durability, quality and it never hurts when all that comes at a reasonable price. That’s Bridgestone. Best of all, those Bridgestone tires are all readily available right through Parts Unlimited, just a phone call away. Bridgestone, the Champions Choice, builds solid profits for shops and dealers everywhere because these tires sell. And they sell because they win. That’s the Bridgestone legacy. Great tires make great business. Talk to your Parts Unlimited sales rep. Soon.

     The 2007 MotoGP season has just started and Bridgestone is already a winner. Australian Casey Stoner’s victory at the MotoGP Season Opener at the Qatar Grand Prix on March 10 started the new season perfectly. Stoner and his Bridgestone-equipped GP7 stunned everyone with their speed, besting last year’s winner Loris Capirossi and ultimately beating Valentino Rossi to the checkers. He even posted the fastest lap of the race on the last lap.
     An obviously elated Casey Stoner couldn’t have been happier. “I feel like we’ll only get stronger as I get more used to the strengths of the Ducati and the Bridgestones,” he said. “But Qatar was perfect. I was able to set my own pace throughout the race, never pushing too much.” And at this track, he said, there’s a premium on quick turns and blistering acceleration. To win you have to be able to enter the corners fast and then get on the gas fast. His Ducati and Bridgestones did just that.
     Casey Stoner started from second on the grid in this first-ever 800cc MotoGP. By the end of the first lap he’d put a move on Rossi to begin a race-long duel with “The Doctor.” Rossi would routinely pull away only to be reeled back in on the straights. It looked like Rossi might hold on for the win, too, but Casey Stoner on his Bridgestones didn’t let that happen. Pulling away on the final lap, Stoner finished with a three-second margin at the checkered.


     Racing is the best test-bed a tire company can have. What works at the limit here will work anywhere, and racing tests tires to the limits. Bridgestone is serious about racing. Once again they’ve signed on as the title sponsor of the WERA National Endurance Series, a form of racing definitely tough on tires. Endurance racing requires tires that not only perform at the limit but also, well, endure while doing it. And Bridgestone is right there.
     The WERA National Endurance Series is a 10-round series with stops at racetracks across the country. Each race varies in length from four to eight hours putting strong emphasis on consistent performance. Tires, obviously, play a huge role. And Bridgestone, with a long history of roadrace involvement, has the tires. Everything learned here to win races and championships, all that knowledge and expertise, filters right into the rest of the lineup to ultimately build better performing, longer lasting tires for everyone.
     Established in 1973, WERA has become the largest motorcycle roadracing organization in the United States. It’s the country’s only national organization devoted exclusively to motorcycle roadracing. The Endurance Series Classes are all-encompassing, too. There’s Heavyweight Superbike, Heavyweight Superstock, Mediumweight Superbike, Mediumweight Superstock and Lightweight Superbike. That’s the full spectrum of the sportbike world and Bridgestone has the winning performance tire for them all.


     It’s happened yet again. Bridgestone just scored another Supercross Championship, one more for the record books. Ryan Villopoto, racing on Bridgestones, did it this time. The 2006 Motocross/Supercross Rookie of the Year, the reigning 2006 AMA Motocross Lites Champion and member of the winning 2006 U.S. Motocross of Nations team picked up right where he left off and continued his hard-charge in 2007 by taking his first Supercross Championship in the AMA Supercross Lites West division.
     Racing on Bridgestones for Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki Villopoto was hot as a pistol this season. He won all but one Lites West race and sewed up the 2007 Championship Title with one race left in the series. The Championship came in San Diego where Villopoto needed only a 5th or better to wrap up his title run. He got that and then some, taking the victory outright. Put one more Championship in the Bridgestone record book.

     The Florida phenom did it one more time. James Stewart took home yet another 1st Place Trophy in Orlando, scoring his 8th victory in the AMA Supercross Series–on Bridgestones, of course! He did it front of a record-breaking crowd of more than 42,000 screaming fans at the Citrus Bowl.
     And it was an exciting run. Chad Reed grabbed the holeshot, but within a few laps Ricky Carmichael took advantage of a bobble by Reed and stormed into the first place position. It wasn’t until the halfway point that Stewart, working his way up from a fifth place start, was able to catch RC and go head-to-head for the lead. Carmichael held him off for a few laps before Stewart finally took the lead, his break coming when Carmichael bobbled just slightly to cross the finish less than a second behind Stewart. Chad Reed followed in 3rd. All three top finishers, Stewart, RC and Reed, were on Bridgestones.


     Racing improves the breed and Bridgestone’s two newest street performers are proof of that. The Battlax BT-021 and BT-002 Racing Street, a pair of sport radial tires to more than satisfy the most serious sport tourers and sport riders anywhere, both come with performance and features straight from the track.
     That Battlax BT-021 is a technological breakthrough in sport-touring tires. This hybrid combines all the qualities of a performance sport tire with the kind of ride and comfort you’d expect from the finest touring tire. Bridgestone has delivered serious appeal across the board. There’s confidence-inspiring feedback at all speeds, a grip that doesn’t quit, absolutely linear handling characteristics and stability in all conditions. Add in a smooth ride and improved shock absorption and you’ve got a sport-performance tire ready for the open highway, the twisty side roads or both.
     The BT-021 has plenty of Bridgestone technology working for it. The fronts use a layer of High Tensile Super Penetrated Cord (HTSPC) for stiffness, handling feel and overall stability. It’s a Bridgestone exclusive. On the rears there’s an Outside Bead Filler (OBF) for added stiffness and stability, and the rears also feature a Dual Tread Compound (DTC) for the double bonus of improved center-tread mileage (great for the highway) coupled with exceptional shoulder grip for the leaned-over action. It’s like having two great tires at once: an aggressive sport tire one minute, a comfortable long-mileage touring tire the next.
The BT-021s are available in all the popular sport-touring sizes. There are 120/60ZR17s, 120/70ZR17s, 110/80ZR18s and a 120/70ZR18 for the front and for the rear there are 150/70ZR17s, 160/60ZR17s, 160/60ZR18s, 170/60ZR17s, 160/70ZR17s, 180/55ZR17s and a 190/50ZR17.
     That’s the first half of the story. The Battlax BT-002 Racing Street is a Z-speed rated sport tire that performs like a full-blown race tire. This one’s perfect for the ultra-serious sport rider or for anyone with a track-day in his future. The BT-002’s balance, stability, feedback, grip, anti-shimmy properties and shock absorption are all on a race-tire level. The DOT-legal BT-002 Racing Street is a direct descendent of all Bridgestone racing experience, MotoGP included.
     The goal here was the ultimate street and track-day tire. The fronts feature that DTC (Dual Tread Construction) using a medium-compound center and a softer shoulder for a race tire’s grip, steering and feel–straight up or leaned over. That compounding is combined with new tread patterns and a new-design fine cord breaker. The BT-002 Racing Street rear has even more features including a Silica Rich Compound for exceptional grip in all conditions and temperatures. Speaking of which, these tires warm up fast. The BT-002 Racing Street is offered in the popular high performance sizes, 120/70ZR17, 180/55ZR17, 190/50ZR17 and a 190/55ZR17.

     Motocross and Supercross tracks are never just one thing. Sometimes it’s hard pack, sometimes it’s intermediate, sometimes it’s loamy soft and sometimes it’s all of the above on the same track at the same time! Whatever the situation, though, Bridgestone has got it covered. Over the past 10 years Bridgestone has won more AMA Pro Motocross and Supercross championships than all other tire manufacturers combined. Guys like Ricky Carmichael, Chad Reed, James Stewart and Ivan Tedesco all race on Bridgestones because Bridgestones come ready for anything, soft, intermediate or hard terrain. There are plenty of tires for those hot 4-strokes, too.
For a soft terrain situation? Bridgestone has the M201 and M202. Intermediate? The M401 and M402 take care of that. For the hard-packed action there’s the Bridgestone M601 and M602 combo. All those tires are available in all the right sizes, too, so there’s a set ready for any rider on any bike on any track.
     There are specially designed Bridgestones for the 4-strokes, too. The fronts are available in all the compounds, a 90/100-21 M201, a 90/100-21 M401A, and a 90/100-21 M601. For the 250 4-strokes there’s a specifically sized 110/80-19 M402A rear and a 110/80-19 M602A and for the 450s Bridgestone has rears sized 120/80-19 M202, 120/80-19 M402A and 120/80-19 M602A. Those “A” series tires, incidentally, come with a more aggressive lug pattern for extra bite.
     There’s serious design and development at work here. This broad range of Motocross tires was specifically designed to deal with whatever the situation demands. Unique casing design, Dual Tread Compounds (DTC), optimum block spacing–it’s all here and ready to win. Whatever the conditions or terrain.
      From the street to the track, MotoGP to off-road, Bridgestone has you and your customers covered. Talk to your Parts Unlimited rep to learn more about all that Bridgestone has to offer.