TimC

Unless you're using the VFR on the track or really railing in the twisties on it, I don't see the benefit of mounting Pilot Powers instead of Pilot Roads or the newer dual compound Pilots intro'd this year. Better traction is always a good thing, but the other tires should still provide decent grip AND higher mileage.

BTW, I love the Conti Road Attacks I've had on my '04 for the last 4 months and ~7000 miles. And still at least 1k-2k of tread left on the rear tire and maybe twice that on the front. BUT...I don't have much to compare them to, other than the already 1/2-worn OEM Bridgestones that were on the bike when I bought it. Compared to those, however, the Conti's absolutely rock.

Also, just to add: I'm sure not many ppl in around Ohio have seen a group of 10 bikers, all wearing helmets, jackets, gloves, boots, and at least jeans... :thumbsup:

:lol: :lol: :lol: Man, that is just too funny! And absolutely true! Probably 90% of all riders (at least in my area of Ohio) must be very allergic to riding gear.

Nice write-ups and pix, everyone. I really wish I could have joined you. Some weekends for me are wide open, while others are very busy, like this weekend will be. Hope I can do the NEXT ride with you folks! :thumbsup:

I'll freely admit that I'm not an ATGATT rider. I don't own a pair of riding pants (yet) but never ride without helmet, gloves, real shoes and full length pants. As time goes by I wear more gear more often, but have been guilty of riding without my jacket on occasion. I tend to wear most of my normal gear most of the time, but especially when I'm doing a lot of miles and/or any sportriding.

BTW, my wife upped my life insurance coverage last year. Of course I hope it's never needed, but it was a wise thing to do, esp. considering we have two young sons. (We have life ins. on each of them, too.)

A couple years ago I tried an inexpensive 'wireless' (i.e. battery powered) detector, but then I just figured I should slow the heck down, so I did. Still, would have nice to simply suction cup mount that thing on the back side of my VFR's windshield. But I don't think it was all that great a device anyway, not as effective as the more expensive ones.

Nice ride reports and pix, guys. Thanks for sharing them. Wish I lived much further south!

I try not to startle other motorists, and tho I have been passing on double-yellows a bit more lately (Shame on me.) it's always safe for me to do so and I've usually been behind the cager in front of me long enough that they should know I'm back there, assuming they've bothered to check their mirrors anyway.

I will admit that I made us look bad this morning. Traveling to work this morning on a fairly wide open 2-lane rural freeway I was behind a guy in a black 3-series BMW coupe in the passing lane. The guy was not going as fast as I was, maybe 70 mph to my 75 or so. The right lane was wide open and he should have moved over. I try not to pass on the right unless I have to. Not wanting to pass on the right, I got behind the guy and flashed my lights. No effect. Flashed again and this time he raised his arm and pointed to the right.

At this point I'm ticked. I should have just passed him on the right but I couldn't let it go that easily. There was also at least one car behind me that also should have been allowed to pass this clown in the legal manner. So I gesture with my left arm/hand that HE should move over, not me. No effect. I waited a bit more and finally downshifted to 5th and passed him on the right. As I passed him I looked over and saw him with his right arm extended with his palm up as if to say, "WTF?" Oh, and his other hand was of course being occupied by a cellphone. I then chose to utilize MY left hand to gesture back to him. Actually, I only used one finger on my left hand, and you can probably guess which one.

Now, this is something I never do. I mean, I haven't flipped anyone off in years, maybe a decade, esp. on the road. Too many crazies out there, but this guy really got me steamed. I've noticed many people unwilling to move over in recent years. I saw many cagers cruising along in the left lane during my brief ride thru Michigan on 6/30/07 and had to pass them on the right b/c they wouldn't move over, but this guy was blatant about it.

If he had finally moved over I just would have passed him normally, tho I would have been quite tempted to raise my visor and scream "Passing lane!" at him as I went by, but unfortunately he didn't yield and I took the "low road" while passing him. I'm not proud of myself but I'm sure it was amusing to the folks behind me, just as I am very sure the BMW driver thought I was a total a$$hat. That's OK, I think the same of him.

BTW, if you're going to buy a car like a BMW (and this was an "M" version) you ought to know how to freaking drive. Same thing with buying a race replica sportbike. Just my little insignificant opinion.

Sorry for the rant, and for sullying the reputation of the motorcycling community this morning, but this one got to me a bit.

I bought an HJC AC-12 Carbon (in the "Vader" style) a few months ago and really like it. Before that I had been wearing a normal AC-11. It was fine but I really wanted something a little lighter and, frankly, a little trick and cool-looking.

It is definitely lighter and I think on long trips this is a positive. I haven't really noticed more neck fatigue from increased wind buffeting due to the helmet's lower weight, but I did notice right away that the chin bar extends outward a bit further on the Carbon model than it did on my AC-11. So there's a little more air flow - and a little more wind noise. Ear plugs handle most of the noise well enough, so I have no complaints.

As much as I love my HJC Carbon, however, I have to agree with the posts above that say buy the helmet that fits you best. You're going to wear it everytime you ride (Right?!) and it can save your life should the unthinkable happen, so buy the one that really fits. Most helmets have at least a couple designs in every model and size, so finding one that fits right AND appeals to you shouldn't be too hard.

As for cost, just think about how to quantify the expense of a very good helmet. If you ride even 5000 miles per year, a $500 helmet only costs you $0.10 per mile - and that's just in one year. If you wear that helmet for just two years, at that mileage it's only $0.05 per mile! Is that worth the investment? You betcha!

BTW, if I hadn't bought the HJC Carbon I probably would have bought a new Scorpion. Nice lids at good prices. Check 'em out.

Nice! Congrats on the cool new wheel.

Got a question for all 8-spoke fans: They look great, but is there any benefit to an 8-spoke wheel beside the look? Not planning to buy one, just curious. Thanks.

Dang, Seb. Really sorry to hear about this, but glad you're OK. Looks like the bike is at least fixable. Hope you can get 'er running again sooner rather than later.

I think Seb already said he'd be 86ing the gloves, too. As for the helmet, it's best to ditch any helmet that's hit the ground hard. I can't imagine Seb using that one again.

As for those warning against mesh and/or textile jackets, I don't think they're so bad, but you have to know their limitations.

Well, I had an unfortunate incident with my bags a couple weeks ago during a trip. The bags slipped backward while I was riding and consequently melted one of the across-the-seat Velcro straps. My underseat exhaust melted the rear-most straps on both bags. I carry extra bungees with me just in case, so I was able to successfully rig the bags for the rest of the trip.

So here's my question: Can straps be replaced on these things? Can they be sent to the manufacturer for repairs like this? Anyone ever try? I'll probably try to get it done locally, esp. if the mfr. can't help me, but I'm really just hoping to save this set of bags.

I just got a pair of cortech sidebags. they are nice but the way they sit on the bike, they are resting on the exhaust of my 2003. they have a soft rubber underneath the area that touches the exhaust and am wondering if this will melt? its factory exhaust and the heat shields seem to work very well so will they melt my bags?

I have an '04 w/stock exhaust and used a set of FirstGear soft saddlebags for a long trip last month. While mounted and bungeed to the bike, the bags rested against the heat shields with no heat problems whatsoever. Your bags will be fine, too, though I would avoid letting them touch the actual exhaust cans underneath the heat shields.

Great thread. Loved Mr. Visible's comment about singing to oneself in the helmet. I did that during my two recent 400-mile slab days and it kept me pretty well entertained for a few of those long hours. (Lucky for me I know a lot of tunes, LOL!)

Among the list already presented, I already did:

Sargent

Extra brake and clutch levers

Tire repair kit w/CO2 cartridges

Extra pair of gloves

Cellphone w/charger

Debit/credit card and extra credit card for emergencies

AMA w/MoTow (instead of HRCA)

Ziplock baggies (in two sizes)

Extra bungees

I would add to the list:

Road ID (www.roadid.com - I have the wrist-worn model)

Well-stocked first aid kit

Swiss Army knife

Good multi-tool

Compass

Small water-resistant LED flashlight

Chain lube

Zipties in 2-3 lengths

Extra set of glasses or contact lenses (if you wear glasses)

AAA card (if you're a member) for hotel discounts

Extra sets of earplugs

Good paperback book (for relaxing at the end of the day or during any unplanned downtime)

Plenty of quarters for vending machines and tolls

Just cruising various threads tonight. I'm guessing Topeka 800 got his Pazzos installed OK. If not, give us another shout here.

BTW, I love my Pazzos. I got the regular length levers in black with silver tabs. They operate and look great!

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!

You could check tireexpress.com. They are the cheapest I've found, especially if you are buying a pair. They have deals for buying pairs of some models.

OK Gentlemen, I thank you for your responses. I ordered a set of Conti Road Attacks (my second set now!) from tireexpress.com. I got the set for $233.00 ($209.99 for set) with shipping added in. Awesome deal and I saved probably $40 over the nearest competitors. That $40 savings will now pay for the mounting and balancing at local Honda dealer. I can't wait to get my new sticky tires for summer!

I bought the same tires from the same dealer. No complaints here. The tires took an extra couple days to get here, but I wasn't in a huge hurry for them. If they don't arrive at your door as soon as promised call Tire Express and check on them, or check on your order's status on their website.

I would love to hear your review on the new ones. I need new tires and am leaning towards the Conti's. Congrats!

If interested, here's a link to my (non-expert) review of the Road Attacks on VFRD:

http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=33212

...don't ride the bike there, take the wheel off and take IT in.

+1. It's cheaper for tire installation, too. Just make sure after you reinstall your rear wheel that you re-torque the lugnuts after 50 miles or so.

I recently purchased a set of First Gear "nylon expandable" saddlebags and matching tailbag from NewEnough.com for my trip to southern Virginia and back. While I'd love to have a set of matching hard bags I would never get enough use out of them to justify their expense. Plus, when I buy a new bike (someday) my soft bags will fit on the new bike easily enough. Anyway, here's my review of these bags.

Quality is very good and they look great, and they look good on the bike. I did have to trim one of the plastic shape reinforcers to get it to fit in one saddlebag, otherwise no problems getting them set up for initial use. Zippers all work great and seal up fairly well. I would recommend stuffing brand new soft bags overnight to get them to fill out to their normal shape prior to using them for the first time. Makes it easier to pack them when you need to, otherwise they're very wrinkled.

The matching tailbag does not hook into the saddlebags the way some other manufacturers' bags do. A drawback when using the set, but I made it work. Just more of a pain in finding places to bungee the tailbag really.

Finding places to bungee the 3 bags to my '04 VFR (w/stock exhaust and rear fender) was a bit of a challenge, but I made it work. I did end up using couple extra bungee cords to keep the bags more secure. I could probably have found a better way to mount the bags without having to use my extra bungees, but I didn't mind using the extras and they didn't look too bad on there either. Once properly secured the bags behaved well during freeway speeds of up to 90 mph. They'd probably be fine even faster but I didn't need to try.

The bike handled nicely with the fully loaded bags mounted on my bike. I took it a little easier around corners - better safe than sorry - plus I noticed the front end was a bit lighter. Always be aware that bags change the handling characteristics of your machine.

These saddlebags and tailbag expand easily and will hold a lot of stuff. I overpacked for my 4-day/3-night trip (a learning experience) but had no problems fitting everything into these 3 bags. The tailbag was actually quite a bit larger than I expected it to be, even in it's unexpanded state. It's really large enough to be used alone for overnight trips instead of having to use the saddlebags.

The backside of the saddlebags rested against the heat shields of my stock exhaust and did not melt or burn. I don't know how they'd be with after-market exhausts, but with the stockers they were fine.

I did not ride through any rain during my trip, so I can't say how well the rain covers work, nor how securely they fasten to the bags. I'll always keep them with the bags but hope I don't have to use them. I know it's inevitable but for now they'll stay in the plastic bag they came in.

Hope other VFRD members find this review useful. Please feel free to ask me questions about these if you'd like more info.

+1 on Jeremy's post about tire wear being determined not just by the tire's characteristics, but also air pressures, loaded bike vs. unloaded bike, your weight, riding style, roads, etc.

+1 on Radar's post about Continental Road Attacks. I've had mine on for about 1500 miles now and like them very much, and they've shown very little wear so far. Also, no cupping so far on the front tire. Got a decent deal on the set from TireExpress.com. Did 800 miles of slab over two days, with a couple days of twisties in between and they performed great in both settings. Got my chicken strips down to 1/8" on both tires, so I can say with certainty that they stick pretty well. Only had a little wet weather with them on so far but I think they'll work well enough, but probably not as good as Michelin Pilot Roads, which I believe have a tread more conducive to wet weather riding.

I would not ride a tire once the cords have started showing. Get it changed ASAP, otherwise you're really asking for trouble.

gunracer:

Congrats on passing the riding test. Glad to hear you finally got to take the test.

Congrats on the 2nd book. Wow, I know an author!

Congrats on the new skins, tho you're right - $400 is a beating. Gotta be at least one VFRD member in Central OH who could help you out.

I opted for Conti Road Attacks, have only mounted the front so far (will get rear tire done next week) and am very happy with it so far. Much quicker turn-in and smoother than my old stock Bridgestone, tho I'm sure a lot of that was due to the tire being very worn.

If the Conti rear is as nice as the front, as I believe it will be, and as long as they wear well, I'll probably buy them again, tho for the next set I may get Diablo Stradas b/c of my curiosity and b/c so many of you guys recommend them so highly.

Looking good! :thumbsup: And looks like you're living up to your VFRD screen name. B)

Nice looking bikes, guys. If you're going to go ALL OUT in one color black is probably best. I can't picture an all red, all blue, etc. bike.

A very sad sight. Hope you can get 'er fixed up again without breaking the bank. I would check on insurance coverage if it's too expensive to fix. That's why we pay those premiums, isn't it?

I've looked at KBCs at a couple local shops and just have not been impressed. Maybe I haven't seen the same model you guys are discussing, but most of the KBCs I've looked at seem cheap and prone to having the movable vent mechanisms break easily. Heck, even in the showroom some of them are already malfunctioning.

I wear an HJC AC-11. Not an expensive or high quality lid by any means, but it's served me well for just over a year now and I have no complaints, other than it fogs a bit in cold weather and rain, but that's true of many helmets. I should just get some anti-fogging stuff for it.

My next lid will likely be an Arai or HJC Carbon, tho I did just see a new Joe Rocket helmet I like a lot, too. But I'm not ready to shell out dough for a new helmet yet. Mine is fine for now.

I rarely wear plugs, but try to always wear them when I'm doing more than 15-20 min. of freeway droning. I need to invest in a better pair than the cheapo foam ones. Not that those are bad, but I'd like to try some that fit and seal better.

I regularly use earplugs on stage with a couple bands I'm in. I gotta remember to try THOSE plugs out soon, just hafta remember to get them outta my gig bag - and then put them back in the bag before my next gig!

Those look great! Nice work. :thumbsup: