Conti Road Attacks

[TimC]

I bought a set of Continental Road Attacks from TireExpress.com last month for my '04 VFR (tires in stock sizes). Their price for the set was very good, shipping took about a week or less, packaging was good and their customer service was also pretty good. This was my first purchase from them and I wouldn't hesitate to buy from them again. I could have bought the same tires on eBay and saved a few bucks but I decided to go with an established dealer who I knew I could contact if problems arose from my order.

Please be aware this was my first brand new set of tires since I'd only bought used bikes with used tires on them up to now. So keep in mind I've not ridden any other "new" tires in my 15 months of experience, so I have nothing to compare these to other than the OEM Bridgestones that were on my old Kawi and on my '04 VFR.

I had my new front tire mounted first, then the rear a few hundred miles later. I needed new tires anyway, but especially wanted them on the bike and "broken in" a bit before my trip to southern Virginia to ride some twisties in the Blue Ridge Mountains last month.

Overall, I am very happy with the Conti Road Attacks. Other than wearing out the "Conti Road Attack" imprinted on the treads, there has been no noticeable tread wear over the first ~2.2k (rear) to ~2.6k (front) I've put on these tires. No cupping in the front tread either.

Turn-in on the new front tire was very quick, although that could just be my perception after having the OEM Bridgestone left on the front wheel a bit too long. The tread was flattened and cupped quite a bit toward the end, so the new Road Attack front tire felt lightning-quick on turn-ins at corners and easy to lean on curves. I got used to the faster tire quickly enough, though of course I babied it for the first few rides while the tread was being roughed in.

I felt more comfortable once I had both new tires mounted. The set felt very good and also looked great on my bike. I was very interested to see how they would perform during my long trip south (and back) and in the twisty mountainous roads during my 4-day/1300 mile trip.

No surprise to me, really, they performed very well in the twisties, as my chicken strips are very small - 1/8" to 1/4" - and I probably could have gotten them even thinner if my riding abilities were better. I would say they need to warm up a bit before trying to lean the bike to a lot, and they'll probably take longer to warm up than sport tires like Pilot Powers, but that's normal for a sport-touring tire like these.

They also performed well under hard acceleration and braking. You have to trust your tires and I got comfortable pushing mine pretty hard. They aren't sport tires, but they performed well. I did notice a little bit of "shuddering" a couple times when braking very hard, though I don't know whether it was the tires being pushed to their limits, the front brakes being pushed to theirs, or a combination of both. I mean, we are talking about hauling down about 800 pounds from 50 or 60 mph in a flash. I don't know how well any tire performs in such situations, but I never felt like the tires were about to break loose, even when braking hard or accelerating out of a corner.

I did not experience much wet weather riding on these, just a few miles really during one afternoon, so I cannot say how well they perform in wet conditions, but I have no reason to believe they wouldn't perform as well as other sport-touring tires in this class.

I am a heavy rider, but even with the bike loaded down with me, my jacket and helmet, and packed soft bags (expanded saddlebags, tailbag and a small tankbag) the bike performed very well and the tires handled the 400 miles of slab (I-77) to southern Virginia very well (and back 3 days later), including 70-90 mph (indicated) on the West Virginia turnpike.

I would recommend the Conti Road Attacks to anyone who is looking for a good quality, long-wearing and affordable sport-touring tire, and who is ready to try something different from the Michelin Pilot Roads and Pirelli Diablo Stradas.

NOW - Having said all that, there was a small issue that you need to know about if you're buying these from TireExpress.com, and perhaps other vendors selling the same tires. On my front tire there is a discrepancy between the directional arrows on the sidewalls and at the edge of the actual tread (which has half-arrows). They were pointing in different directions. The shop that mounted them went with the sidewall directionals, which was the right thing to do even if they didn't know it. If your front tire has this same issue, check out the link below. I was worried that the shop had installed my front tire incorrectly until I read Conti's own info on this issue. You can find that info (on the left side of the linked page) using this link:

http://www.conti-tyres.co.uk/contibike/tyres/road-attack.php

I worry a little bit about the directional issue in wet weather - how well will the reversed "C" channel water away from the middle of the tread? I decided I could live with it and just ride more carefully in wet conditions until I was comfortable that the tire performs well no matter which direction the C's point. I haven't hit any rain since that one day, so I can't say how well they work. I'll probably hit some rain this week (or eventually anyway) so I'll post my thoughts about the tires' performance on wet roads once that happens.

As I said above, I've been very happy with these tires, and will likely buy them again. I'd like to try Diablo Stradas at some point, but these Contis have proved themselves well enough (IMHO) to justify buying another set once these are worn out.

Please feel free to ask me any questions and I'll try to answer them. Thanks for reading my review!

[fallzboater]

The change in rotational direction thing is funny. The directional pattern was so cleverly engineered that it was found to work better backwards.

I guess you're still supposed to put the air on the inside, though.

[V4 Rosso]

I worry a little bit about the directional issue in wet weather - how well will the reversed "C" channel water away from the middle of the tread? I decided I could live

I was wondering the same thing about the front PR2 tread pattern.

I doesn't look like it's ging to channel a lot of water away from the center either.

I think that the tread on a MC tire, with it's round cross section, has another function than that of a car tire with it's square cross section.

Entry speed 45mph, max depth 3". Try this with your car :salesman:

[Piperdown]

Wow, that second pic is really impressive! I guess the trick would be just keeping it straight no matter what? I would think the force created on the front would probably throw the bike pretty quick if you had to turn at all? Could you do this and keep power up or not?

BTW, nice review. :thumbsup:

[vanion2]

I have the Conti Road Attacks on my R6 and have had no issues with wet riding in the 4000+ miles I have put on them. And sport touring tires actually have a lower operational temperature range than sport tires so they don't need longer warming times. I learned this the hard way in the winter with sport tires on my ride home one night. <_<

[V4 Rosso]

I guess the trick would be just keeping it straight no matter what? I would think the force created on the front would probably throw the bike pretty quick if you had to turn at all?

Yes, keep it straight and slowly off the throttle a bit. At lower speeds you definately can steer the bike through the water. Braking and taking evasive maneuvers in the water is also part of the training.

[Guest]

10,000 miles on my Conti front tire.. 3,600 on rear tire.The date on the pics are wrong as they were taken today .

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