METZELER HONORS THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN AND ITS ROLE IN MOTORCYCLE HISTORY WITH THE 2012 CALENDAR Now in its 19th edition, the Metzeler Classics calendar celebrates two-wheeled competition from the sixties with a series of black & white shots, paying homage to Japan and its motorcycling tradition, marked this year by such terrible adversity Rome, Georgia, December 12, 2011 Legends are born with the passing of the years and the Metzeler Classics calendar has by now earned the right to be one of the most sought after mementos in the two-wheeler world. An exclusive work made even more valuable by its production in a limited series, it provides only a fortunate few with the privilege of hanging a copy of this calendar on their walls. The ingredients of this year’s Metzeler calendar are unforgettable moments in motorcycling from the sixties and slices of history which have dictated the success of Japanese motorcycle manufacturers throughout the decades. In fact, since 2010, alongside the Metzeler Classics calendar, with its fascinating black & white images of the golden years of motorcycling, Metzeler has selected snapshots which are connected by a theme particularly dear to the brand. This is why, after having dedicated the 2010 calendar to the Moto Club Classic Cuba (MOCLA) and the 2011 edition to the historic Café Racer movement, Metzeler decided to entitle the 2012 edition “Homage to Japan”, dedicating it to Japan and Japanese manufacturers. The history of Japanese motorcycle manufacturers began in the fifties when, after the Second World War, Japan noticed the growing popularity of motorcycles in Europe and the United States, and began to manufacture its own bikes for the domestic and international market. Since then Japanese motorcycles have proposed increasingly innovative and technologically advanced solutions, contributing significantly to the development and progress of the two-wheeled world. “An important part of international motorcycling history” said Francesco Pietrangeli, Marketing Director of the German brand, “has been written by Japanese bikes. This is why it seemed only right to honor them and the entire Japanese population at this particular moment, after the great disaster which struck them so fiercely this year – a disaster to which they have reacted in an exemplary way”. Originally launched in 1994 as a special edition of the cult calendar Classic Moments, the Metzeler Classics calendar quickly became popular, winning over a faithful following of enthusiasts thanks to its precious snapshots from the street and off-road motor sport world, in which Metzeler has raced and been successful over the years. The 50 x 53 centimeter calendar is made by Text & Technik Verlag in Weissach, just outside of Stuttgart – the same company that designed the very first Classics calendar in 1994. It is professionally printed on extremely high-quality paper using a five color printing process and an additional opaque finish, while both covers are printed on glossy coated paper. The 2012 calendar features 22 subjects, is printed front and back and provides a bilingual description of each photograph in English and German. The 2012 edition is limited to just 6,000 copies for the entire world.