I sent an email a few days ago and got this very prompt reply
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for your email.
I am looking at this because so many people have asked me to do this over the years. My tread pattern certainly has an SP3 look about it, and some say G800 Goodyear also.
I'm looking at making it with nylon belts and see the Aquajet has some steel belts also, so need to look into this.
I spoke to the Blockley Boss today at SIlverstone Classic... the Mini Tyre is not available yet .. they think the small 10 inch structure is strong enough not to use steel banding as they use in all the other size Blockley Tyres... steel banding is a production issue in a 10inch tyre that is not yet resolved.
Blockley are still not sure of the customer demand for the mini 145 x 10 tyre as there is a £45k investment needed for tooling.. he said prices would be circa £50 per tyre with the Dunlop type of road pattern tread .. he also made a note to chase it up next week and i think it will only go ahead "IF" Blockley can see there is the demand for their mini tyre..
Suggest us buyers get in touch direct with Blockley to highlight the demand for a 10inch Tyre.
(There were several & nice looking original early Mokes @ Silverstone used by teams as paddock transport.)
I don't know how to do this but if someone sent this blog to the Ausmini Forum in Australia, I reckon there would be a huge bombardment of emails to Blockley's.
Polarsilver wrote:I spoke to the Blockley Boss today at SIlverstone Classic... the Mini Tyre is not available yet .. they think the small 10 inch structure is strong enough not to use steel banding as they use in all the other size Blockley Tyres... steel banding is a production issue in a 10inch tyre that is not yet resolved.
Blockley are still not sure of the customer demand for the mini 145 x 10 tyre as there is a £45k investment needed for tooling.. he said prices would be circa £50 per tyre with the Dunlop type of road pattern tread .. he also made a note to chase it up next week and i think it will only go ahead "IF" Blockley can see there is the demand for their mini tyre..
Suggest us buyers get in touch direct with Blockley to highlight the demand for a 10inch Tyre.
I've dropped them a line in support of the 145 option.
I can see it's a bit of a dilemma for them as the 10" market is split between the 145 and 165 widths. Personally I prefer the narrower tyre (not enough power?) and have a suspicion that many fit the wider tyres just to get decent rubber at an affordable price.
Out of interest when did the 165 width first appear on the road?
IslandBlue wrote:
Out of interest when did the 165 width first appear on the road?
The first 165 width tyre that I remember seeing and buying for road use was the tarmac version of the 'Goodyear Rally Special' in the 1970's.
Bought my first set around 1974/75 and fitted them on these 6x10 Mamba rims (see below).
InimiaD wrote:Why haven't we got these tyres in the UK yet.?
Those tyres are old, I don't think Yokohama sell the GT Special range anymore. The equivalent are now (where) marketed as the Yokohama S208 Y350. I have done a search and the only places I can find them is Amazon Japan. You may need to translate the page. (right mouse click, translate page)
I can see Y 350 on the labels, but they're still called the GT special. From what I can gather those tyres are new. There would be a market for them in Europe / UK especially with the retro look tread, I'd have thought.
Thank you for your input Stu.
InimiaD wrote:Why haven't we got these tyres in the UK yet.?
Those tyres are old, I don't think Yokohama sell the GT Special range anymore. The equivalent are now (where) marketed as the Yokohama S208 Y350. I have done a search and the only places I can find them is Amazon Japan. You may need to translate the page. (right mouse click, translate page)
I imported a heap of R7s from Japan before they became available here, quite happy to get a load of these Yokys for forum members if they're available!
spoon.450 wrote:I'll have some....
For interest....my first 165's were Kelly Springfields........1984..
I remember Kelly Springfields becoming available as a cheaper alternative 165 road tyre to Rally Specials but not sure what year......
"The Kelly Springfield Tire Company was sold in 1935 to Goodyear. The company operated as a wholly owned subdivision. In the 1990s, Kelly-Springfield was absorbed by parent company Goodyear."
spoon.450 wrote:I'll have some....
For interest....my first 165's were Kelly Springfields........1984..
I remember Kelly Springfields becoming available as a cheaper alternative 165 road tyre to Rally Specials but not sure what year......
"The Kelly Springfield Tire Company was sold in 1935 to Goodyear. The company operated as a wholly owned subdivision. In the 1990s, Kelly-Springfield was absorbed by parent company Goodyear."
