Continental "ContiRoadAttack" tires for the XX?

[wrgoudy]

For what it's worth, a friend has a new set of the Conti-Force tires on his T-595 and they handle great and seem to be holding up well.

I'd mentioned in a reply to a different thread that I recently put a set of Tomahawk recaps on my XX (Sport Compound). The grip is phenomenol and assuming they last at least 4K miles without falling apart I'll probably stick with them. Cost per set delivered was about $147.00.

[Pete in PA]

So what color did you go with :?: :?:

I would love to leave RED burnouts on the pavement.

BTW we still need to get together, Were you at Ephrata? What color is your bird?

[Warchild]

THESE ARE BULLSHIT TIRES!!!!!!

AVOID!! AVOID!! AVOID!! AVOID!!

The following is a lengthy Warchild Review of the new Continental "Road Attack" tires I just wrote up tonight for the FJR1300 forums. While this review was for the FJR1300, but I can't see it being any better on the XX. :evil:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

These tires are about as fücked up as a soup sandwich. Two thumbs down. Save your money.

Background:

Always keen to expand the range of possible FJR-worthy tires, I read (with some bemusement) some glowing reports of the new Continental "Road Attack" tires a couple of weeks ago. My experience with Continental motorcycle tires has always been poor, though admittedly, the last time I tried them was many years ago. Too, I know a lot of veteran Endurance Riders think the Conti's are generally crap tires, maybe one or two rungs above the Cheng Shin line of Chinese tires. However, these "Road Attacks" were suppose to be "new technology" from Germany, and it had a bunch of glowing marketing hype surrounding it (ex: www.conti-tyres.co.uk/con...attack.htm ), and they could be had for under $200 for the pair. So I thought, what the hell, I'll try 'em.

Mounting the Conti's:

Yesterday (Friday, 23 July), I go down to Sunnyside to mount the new tires on Timex, replacing badly worn BT-020s. When I literally picked up the tires from Guru Glen, the *first* thing that popped into my head was: "DAMN, this feels like some super-soft compound!". And I was right, they were extremely soft, softer than any tire I recall mounting before. Ever. After prying the stiff old rear Bridgestone off, I pretty much knew something was amiss when I was *easily* able to fit not only the entire lower bead of the tire on the rim using only *light* finger pressure, but I could almost - almost put the entire tire on without using tire irons or the Coats machine! Even more troubling were the sidewalls, which were NO WHERE NEAR as stiff as the Bridgestones, Avons, or Pilot Roads. This concerned me greatly, and as I was shortly about to discovered, I had good reason to be concerned.

When I went to seat the bead of the tires (using compressed out without the valve core in place), there was none of the typical loud "POP" noise that usually accompanies seating the bead. The tire beads slipped over the rim as easy as pie. This sent more alarm bells ringing.

I went to balance them, and this is one of the high points of the review: they front took but 5 grams, the rear only 15g. Pretty good.

After reinstalling the wheels back on Timex, I realized I had left my good-quality air pressure gauge at home, so I found a crusty old pencil-style gauge in the bottom of my tool bag, aired them up to 42 psi front and rear, and took off to scrub them in for the 45-mile ride back to Tri-Cities.

Scrub in:

I didn't even go 2 blocks before I realized these tires were a HUGE mistake!

The rear tire literally squirm from a firm yet routine launch from a red light! I was stunned at this. The front was equally bad under heavy braking; the front end was all over the place! I couldn't believe how bad this was! I actually pulled over and checked the tire/wheels carefully before getting on the interstate home. Finding nothing obviously wrong, I started bumming heavily. I got home with only two incidents: a trucker cut me off climbing a steep grade near Prosser, forcing me to squeeze firmly on the front brake. HOLY SHÏT, the front tire squirmed so bad, I though I was going to low-slide! The second incident was the reverse situation, where I had to step down to fourth and punch it to get out of some traffic, and the rear end actually moved around to an alarming degree I never experienced before. I was already kicking myself for wasting $200 bills on these chessy-ass Conti's.

Full-on Road Test:

Fast forward to this morning, Sat, 24 July.

Today I had a 600-mile run around the Columbia Basin that included last minute activity at the Moscow University Inn for WFO-3, so before me 7AM departure, I checked the tire pressure and was surprised (and relieved!) to find that my crusty old pencil-gauge was WAY off the mark: both tires showed only 34psi! YEAH, maybe this was the reason for the crappy performance on the way home yesterday!

Aired them up to 42 psi (accurately, this time), and hit the road to Moscow. Taking the Pasco-Kohlatus Highway (a pleasant mixture of plains, lots of sweepers and a number of good tighter curves), my confidence in the Road Attacks started to improve. They are pretty damn grippy after all, and soon I was leaning Timex over pretty well, though not with the same level of confidence as the Avons. The grip was not to that high level of performance, but I would say they were at least approaching the grip/performance level of the Pilot Roads. Maybe.

Sadly, as the day wore on and got hotter, the problems started to show again. Once again, under *heavy* acceleration, and *hard* braking, I could feel the bike moving around to an alarming degree. To the Conti's credit, even though I was moving around all over, the tires never scared me like the day before, and after 300 or so miles, I was even able to start predicting when they would squirm and start dealing with it. I even took perverse fun in mimicking Ben Bostrom's style of braking down a long straightway, the way his World Superbike Ducati would weave and dance while he was braking hard in setting up for the next turn.

I decided to hit Post Falls and Baudry Motorsports to drool over their three Aprilia Millie Factory bikes they have on their floor, then headed back to the Tri-Citiers. It was hot by the time I reach Washtucna, 105F according to the Datel air temp gauge. The Conti's were simply not up to the task. Both accelerating and braking, I could now get them to squirm at will, and while they never scared me on the way home, they sure didn't inspired any confidence.

When I got home and started research WTF is the deal with the Road Attacks, I found out the reason why I can now safely NOT recommend this tire for the FJR1300 or any heavy sport-touring machine: the sidewalls of both the rear AND the front tires are identical - are you ready for this - BOTH tire sidewalls have ONE, SINGLE ply of nylon. That's it. Nothing else.

Man, I just about blew a gasket! Fücking ONE PLY OF NYLON?!!!!! Damnation, no wonder the monster torque put out by the FJR makes this tire squirm! And no wonder I could just about mount the entire tire using fingers only! The sidewalls are paper-thin!

The sidewalls of Bridgestone BT-020s and Michelin Pilot Roads, in comparison, contain two plies of polyester/nylon.

Interestingly, the tread of the rear Road Attack has 3 plies (one steel, one nylon, one rayon) and is, in fact, made in Germany. Mine had a Dec, 03 build date. The front Road Attack has four (4) plies (2 Aramid, 2 nylon) and is made in Korea. Again, my front was a Dec '03 build.

Bottom Line:

I could see if you are an incredibly gentle rider and weight about 150 lbs, maybe you would like these Conti's.

But if you are a big linebacker type and/or carry a lot of gear, OR, you are an assertive rider who performs hard accelerations and heavy braking as a routine, I WOULD NOT in any way, shape or form recommend these tires for the FJR1300 (edit: and the XX as well! ).

I realize tires are extremely subjective; (one man's bullshit trash is another man's treasure chest, yadda, yadda), but those of you who know me and how I ride also know that I wouldn't bad-mouth tires unless it is absolutely warranted. Save your money. Avoid these bullshít crap tires.

[blackhawkxx]

Avoid these bullshít crap tires.

Come on, tell us what you think.

[Pete in PA]

At the press launch of these tires in Germany, the editors noticed a lack of high horsepower bikes.

They also reccomend running a few more PSI in the tires, but the max on the sidewall is 42. :roll:

Almost bought these tires, glad I didn't. I'll wait for more input.

Easy to mount though, huh? Could do it in the dealers parking lot without tools.

[wrgoudy]

Pete,

Got the standard black ones since the colored ones run about $129 or so if I remember correctly, and from what I've read the color wears off the tread area fairly quickly anyway. I'm not so sure the Tomahawks are going to be so good in the rain, as I rode home from a friends the other day during a light shower and the bike seemed a little skitish, sort of like my F250 Powerstroke does when wearing BF Goodrich tires that are half worn out. I'm thinking it's due to the same reason as the truck, since the tread sipes stop short of the sidewalls and can't effectively channel water away unless you're riding straight and vertically.

[xrated]

Dale, Thanks for the review. There is nothing good enough about these tires that would make me want to buy them. I feel like I've found Nirvana with the Avons, and I'm going to stick (get it....stick) with them.

[Dion]

Thanks Warchild, that pretty much makes up my mind.

[demon]

X-rated wrote:

. I feel like I've found Nirvana with the Avons, and I'm going to stick (get it....stick) with them.

Ditto

Just about bought an Attack before I found out that the shipping date would be to late for my needs and went ahead with the rear Avon to match up with the front. To me the Avon is a very good tire for a "Sport Touring" type tire. The grip is WAY better than the Dunlop 220 that it replaced in both straight line and leaned over. Best tire I've ever run IMHO

[Furbird]

Hmm, well, all I can say is, crap. I guess I'll stick with my ContiForces, because I can attest that those are the best tires I have ever had on any motorcycle in my 9 years of riding. 10,000 plus miles on rear tires with mostly straightline and drag racing, with no tire spin. The front lasted about 12,000.

[Guest Jetpilot5]

Well, I've got the Road Attacks mounted now but haven't had the chance to get out on the bike yet to try them out. Guess I'll take it easy for a while and see how they do. If I hate them, I can always get some Pilot Roads.

[jrdxx]

Don't bum out. Just keep an eye on your inflation pressures, and keep us posted on their progress.

[Guest Jetpilot5]

Don't bum out.  Just keep an eye on your inflation pressures, and keep us posted on their progress.

Thanks, I will.

[sr71cbr1100xx]

Thanks for the detailed review on the Conti Road Attacks on your FJR1300. The wet weight on your FJR1300 is 641lbs compared to the XX's weight of 556lbs a difference of 85lbs . I am a novice rider on an XX and I weigh 195LB and so far I have not noticed any of the problems that you have encountered on your FJR although I admit that I am probably not as extreme rider as you.

Perhaps the problems that you are encountering are due to the Conti Road Attack's load rating is not high enough for the FJR since it almost weighs 100# more than the XX.

So far the Road Attacks have been very confidence inspiring much better than my old Dunlops 205Gs. There is another site on zzr120.net that has also reviewed the Conti Road Attacks see link:

http://www.zzr1200.net/modules.php?name=Fo...der=asc&start=0

Thanks again

[Pete in PA]

Dale, in reference to your sidewall ply count on the rear, I've still got 5 old tires in the basement. (got to find a way to get rid of them)

I checked and both the Avon 46 has 1 ply sidewalls and the Metzeler Z6 (non B version) has 1 ply sidewalls.

I don't think that is the problem.

When you ran them at 34 PSI do you think you damaged them?

Is your good gauge accurate?, I use digital.

I'm good for at least another 4k miles till I need tires so by then the verdict should be in.

[Pete in PA]

Just bumping this one up with the other thread.

[blackhawkxx]

Dale, in reference to your sidewall ply count on the rear, I've still got 5 old tires in the basement. (got to find a way to get rid of them)

I checked and both the Avon 46 has 1 ply sidewalls and the Metzeler Z6 (non B version) has 1 ply sidewalls.

I don't think that is the problem.

When you ran them at 34 PSI do you think you damaged them?

Is your good gauge accurate?, I use digital.

I'm good for at least another 4k miles till I need tires so by then the verdict should be in.

Did anyone find the answer to this? Are the Attacks good tires?

Here is a link that I found:

[sykotek-xx]

Got them. Love them. Sport attack front and road attack rear. About 4000 miles on the so far, huge handling improvement over the stock dunlops and they are wearing much better too, no flat spot and I do a ton of highway. 42psi, checked about every 3-4 weeks. Didn't notice anything that Warchild was ranting about, including the sidewalls. I installed mine myself and definitely needed the irons. Handling has been dead solid. I have them completely chicken-stripless and they have never stepped out, the factory dunlops slid on me quite a few times. Love these tires.

Tread pattern looks cool as hell too.

[parafon]

Got them. Love them. Sport attack front and road attack rear. About 4000 miles on the so far, huge handling improvement over the stock dunlops and they are wearing much better too, no flat spot and I do a ton of highway. 42psi, checked about every 3-4 weeks. Didn't notice anything that Warchild was ranting about, including the sidewalls. I installed mine myself and definitely needed the irons. Handling has been dead solid. I have them completely chicken-stripless and they have never stepped out, the factory dunlops slid on me quite a few times. Love these tires.

Tread pattern looks cool as hell too.

+1

I've got 3500 miles on mine and love them. Same goes for the mounting. Very stiff sidewalls (compared to the Qualifiers I took off and the stock Stones). I will be buying another set when the time comes.

[Warchild]

Didn't notice anything that Warchild was ranting about, including the sidewalls. I installed mine myself and definitely needed the irons.

Surprise. Based on my feedback and many others riders (both here and in Europe), Conti changed the design of the tire sometime last year to eliminate the problems myself and others were seeing (note my original post is over two years old).

The sidewalls were indeed the primary culprit... they stiffened them up considerably from the 2004 version of the tire, which is is why you needed tire irons, but I could literally mount the 2004 version onto the rim with my hands.

Glad you like 'em, but others aren't finding a very good treadlife even on the newer design of the ContiAttacks. Here's a guy's report (posted just yesterday) on his Conti Road Attacks he used on his FJR:

Well the road attacks are toast. They lasted a total of just over 2100 miles. So far, that is a record in my book. I did have a set of Avon wore out in 2500 last year. Here is how I would rate this set of shoe's....

Grip... "A" I could drag both pegs in confidence... Only felt them get loose a few times, but controllable..

In the wet??? Don't know, they didn't last long enough to get rained on..

Wear??? "F" What do you guys think... 2100 miles, and the steel belt on the rear is showing. The front is well into the wear bars on the sides.

Front tire wobble... "F" Worse than any Avon I have used to date. I really think at 50 mph if you let the bars go and not put your hands back on you would crash. It would shake the bars to the point it was hard to get your hands back on them.. Really spooky!!!!

Well it is back to Pilot Roads till I find something better... Just my 2 cents, Smitty

Heres the front...

Like I said in my July 2004 review of these Road Attacks, tires are extremely subjective, and unless all riders considering a certain tire all have the same riding style and riding environment, tire comparo's are generally not all that useful.

[blackhawkxx]

I read a review on them a couple of months ago in Motorcyclist magazine and they really liked them. They look like a great dry weather tire but without using them, who knows. They may be like the Avons, some people love them (get a million miles on them) and others get no mileage, the front of the bikes shakes and they hate them.

[sykotek-xx]

Surprise. Based on my feedback and many others riders (both here and in Europe), Conti changed the design of the tire sometime last year to eliminate the problems myself and others were seeing (note my original post is over two years old).

The sidewalls were indeed the primary culprit... they stiffened them up considerably from the 2004 version of the tire, which is is why you needed tire irons, but I could literally mount the 2004 version onto the rim with my hands.

That makes more sense then.

By the way, like I mentioned, I have almost 4000 miles now and I can still read some of the shallow lettering that was molded into the tread. I'm expecting at least the mileage I got from the stock Dunlops which was 8640 before there was no tread in the center 2 inches (no exposed blets though). I do not know what thay guy on the FJR could have possibly done in 2200 miles to do that to the tires he has.

[Warchild]

I do not know what thay guy on the FJR could have possibly done in 2200 miles to do that to the tires he has.

Well, he does ride the big Yammy pretty hard, maybe even unneccessarily hard... perhaps it's an issue involving throttle discipline (rather, lack thereof.... )

Too, the FJR has a good bit more torque than the XX, and weighs a goodly bit more as well. So this, couple with an overly enthusiastic throttle hand, no doubt contributes to his abbreviated treadlife.