Conti Road Attack

[SPORT]

Just mounted a fresh set of skins and wanted to log some POI's.

Edited due to comments below:

(Weather ~ Rain in the morning 50F on the way to work. On the way home, sunny with discolored roads (due to wetness), but no puddles. Tire Pressures, 40psi.)

As a note, I was riding MEZ4 and they SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1) Under 20 miles. Yes the rubber is slick going around corners on the way home...Wadya expect!

2) Initial feel of corning seemed a bit unnerving at first, but well planted. After a few warm-up turns I began to feel more at home and rather enjoyed the feeling of how it wants to lean, but not dive. It almost felt as though they were 'carving' the roads; definitely a different feeling.

3) Don't particularly care for the tread pattern, but not a big deal.

4) the ride seemed supple yet firmly intouch with the road. Feedback was nice!

Will continue as they become scrubbed-in.

 

[cadman]

I have about 2800 miles on my set, and they feel very stable. I'm running the front and rear @ 40 psi.

The tread pattern, i agree, is not that great to look at, but from where i sit i can't see it!

I don't purposely ride in the rain, so i don't know if they are as good in wet weather as on dry pavement.

The weather changes frequently here on the gulf coast, i havent yet but I'm sure one day i'll find out.

 

[Plant City Pete]

Just mounted a fresh set of skins and wanted to log some POI's.
As a note, I was riding MEZ4 and they SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1) Under 20 miles. Yes the rubber is slick going around corners...Wadya expect!

2) Initial feel of corning seemed a bit unnerving at first, but well planted. After a few warm-up turns I began to feel more at home and rather enjoyed the feeling of how it wants to lean, but not dive. It almost felt as though they were 'carving' the roads; definitely a different feeling.

3) Don't particularly care for the tread pattern, but not a big deal.

4) the ride seemed supple yet firmly intouch with the road. Feedback was nice!

Will continue as they become scrubbed-in.

had them on my 05 took a few rides to get used to , but loved them, did deals gap in rain and they stuck great. highly recommend, will but on 08 when bt21s die.

 

[sml-27]

I had them on my fz1 and there great tires on that machine, took everything I could throw at it, probally what im going to get for my fjr as well

 

[SockMonkey]

All I ever ran on my '80 XS1100 was Continentals and I loved them. I put well over 100,000 miles on that bike and never had a single issue (with tires that is. Nor with the bike come to think of it...). But I know that Conti went through some tough times manufacturing-wise with a few of its tires not too terribly long ago. Tread separations, quick wear, etc.

Keep us posted on how these hold up in the coming months. Always looking for alternatives.... B)

 

[vabrzn]

I used them on my last bike and currently on my second set on the fjr. I rate them highly in wet weather, corner turn in is effortless and the bike holds a line very well. One aspect of the tires I really like is the ease at which I can change my line once I get into a corner; handy where I live since it is common not to be able to see through the corner due to trees and such blocking the view.

I got 5,500 miles on the first set and it looks like the second set will come off at about the same mileage( front and back); the fjr is the first bike I've had that wears out both tires pretty much at the same time. The mileage doesn't bother me because of the price.

The only minor drawback I've found is that since the tire is thicker to compensate for the faster wear of the soft comound , I get that squared off input from the tire sooner than with other tires; not a big deal though.

Another aspect of the tires I like is the ease of mounting them. I can almost get the front tire completely on the rim without using a tire iron; use an iron on the last four to six inches

The only other tire I've used on the fjr were Pilot Roads. These lasted longer but I felt I had to pull the bike into tight corners at higher speeds; didn't have that, flowey effortless turn in.

 

[JerseyEd]

I have about 3000 on the set I'm riding now. I like them, good feeling. Good in the rain to about 72 mph, very stable high speeds, and grip the road when leaning the bike over. The one thing that stands out is the way you feel the road. Put them on before EOM last year and run thru some roads with gravel on them. Scared the shit out of me because you can feel the the tire break loose, but the tire replanted just as fast with out any jerking or sudden action to the bike. After a couple of times I realized that with other tires I would have been testing my sliders. Enjoy, I think you well like them.

 

[teerex51]

Have run 2 sets of Conti Road attacks so far and agree with what has been said above. (The tires came in the designated versions for the FJR: "Z" front and "B"rear).

The first set was replaced after 5,500 kilometers on very hot mountain roads in Spain. There was some tread left (maybe another 1,000 k's) but this tread design tends to "scallop" pretty badly and I wasn't feeling 100% safe in the twisties any more. The next set lasted an extra 1,000 kms on the very same roads, temperatures being quite a bit lower this time around.

Stef

 

[SPORT]

Got a bit over 200 miles on them now and they seem to be sticking better every day. Been riding in rain and cold and the tires don't seem to mind. Friend noticed them, placed his hnad on them after a 20 minute ride and a cool day (50F) and noted how warm they felt. Still have chicken strips, but those will fade as OAT rise and tires begin to soften.

Still very pleased.

 

[El Toro Joe]

I've got about 400 miles on mine...GREAT in the corners

 

[FoolJustRide]

Just mounted a fresh set of skins and wanted to log some POI's.
Edited due to comments below:

(Weather ~ Rain in the morning 50F on the way to work. On the way home, sunny with discolored roads (due to wetness), but no puddles. Tire Pressures, 40psi.)

As a note, I was riding MEZ4 and they SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1) Under 20 miles. Yes the rubber is slick going around corners on the way home...Wadya expect!

2) Initial feel of corning seemed a bit unnerving at first, but well planted. After a few warm-up turns I began to feel more at home and rather enjoyed the feeling of how it wants to lean, but not dive. It almost felt as though they were 'carving' the roads; definitely a different feeling.

3) Don't particularly care for the tread pattern, but not a big deal.

4) the ride seemed supple yet firmly intouch with the road. Feedback was nice!

Will continue as they become scrubbed-in.

Sport,

Let me know how the tires work out. I'm closing in on 7,000 miles and my front is real close to the wear bars so I will be looking for tires soon. I am leaning towards Michelins but if you get good results I may have to change my mind. Either way I'll need a new set before my Lake George ride.

 

[SPORT]

Compared to the MEZ4's, the Conti's are MUCH more responsive and lighter at slower speeds. Infact, it seemed the MEZ4's had a mind of their own when crawling at 5-10 mph and they were EXTREMELY difficult to maintain a straight line as it felt as though they wanted to fall, turn, or just follow EVERY imperfection in the road. The Conti Road Attack; however, are much lighter in the steering at slower speeds and do NOT want to fall, turn or follow imperfections in the road! The Conti's give you a whole lot of road feel, yet the ride feels more plush. As a note, while accelerating through a right bend (immidiately after that left bend ) I crossed from the inside line to the outside line. the middle of the line had a bit of oil, as expected, and the bike slid a bit. This is expected and I was not too surprised by it. The surprising part was that both front and rear wheel slid at the same time and by the same amount! It was almost as if they were talking to each other and said, "hey, stupid up there wants to push me a bit hard and I'm beginning to lose my grip, lets slide together and keep this turkey from too much excitement." Though I do not seek to slide my tires, it was confident inspiring as it felt totally controlled and very smooth.

It still feels like the bike 'carves' its way and is very inspiring. The rear wheel likes to stay in track with the front. I like that feeling...alot!

 

[FoolJustRide]

Sport,

Did you get your Conti's locally or did you order via the internet? From what I am reading they are getting good reveiws. :clapping:

 

[SPORT]

Sport,
Did you get your Conti's locally or did you order via the internet? From what I am reading they are getting good reveiws. :clapping:

Someone had extras on Fleebay. (said they sold the bike and had spares that were never mounted).

$50+ cheaper than any place else I could find.

You planning on riding this weekend?

 

[FoolJustRide]

Sport,
Did you get your Conti's locally or did you order via the internet? From what I am reading they are getting good reveiws. :clapping:

Someone had extras on Fleebay. (said they sold the bike and had spares that were never mounted).

$50+ cheaper than any place else I could find.

You planning on riding this weekend?

No, I have plans to do some remodeling on the house. I was out riding most of last Sunday, went to Ephrata in the AM, then my brother wanted to go in the afternoon so we hit 125 to Shamokin.

I'll check out the net and contacy B&B and see what I can come up with on the Conti's.

 

[SockMonkey]

I took the leap of faith and ordered a set of Conti Road Attacks from Dennis Kirk which is currently selling them for less than anyone else: $ 99.99 front / $123.99 rear (+ $ 5.00 shipping each tire), for a total of $233.98. (BTW: If anyone does order from Dennis Kirk please note that there are a couple of variants of each tire in the 120/70ZR17 and 180/55ZR17 sizes listed on their site. These other variants are the OEM replacement tires for several BMW models. The easiest way to tell whether you're getting the correct tire for the FJR is the price as mentioned above.)

I'm not going to mount them up until a week or so before I leave for NAFO which should allow me time to get them scrubbed in as well as get a feel for them. Based on everything I've been reading, the tires will far outperform my meager abilities and I"m sure we'll get along just fine.

 

[daddyman]

Any additional reviews or updates about tire performance?

The info I have seen about the FJR capable Conti's has been mostly positive, so...

...please feel free to continue my enlightenment.

 

[SockMonkey]

Any additional reviews or updates about tire performance?
The info I have seen about the FJR capable Conti's has been mostly positive, so...

...please feel free to continue my enlightenment.

4200 miles on the set of Road Attacks I mounted just before NAFO, and I guess I would call these a "good news, bad news" tire. The good news: they wear fantastic. We rode really agressive to NAFO and back and they held up great. A bit squared off, but still have got another 2k or 3k miles in them. Secondly, they're really, really sticky and they seem to heat up fast. This can be very confidence inspiring. You'd have to push the bike really hard to break these loose under normal conditions.

The bad news: they turn in really fast. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it sure can be un-nerving if you're not used to it. Going from the (deader-than-dead) Metzeler RoadTec Z6 tires to these Road Attacks was a real experience. Just when you think you understand how the bike handles, forget it. It's a completely different ride. Which brings up another bid of bad news which again isn't necessarily a bad thing: you can feel every grain of sand on the road with these tires. The amount of feedback is incredible. Again, very confidence inspiring - particularly when you're leaned over scraping a peg, but just a tad annoying over long distances.

Would I buy another set of these tires? Maybe. Because of the fast turn-in, I found these tires to be a bit "twitchy", which could easily be me more so than the bike. If my ride was going to be hundreds of miles of nothing but tight twisties, then these would be the tires. No question. But because my riding is somewhat biased towards long sweepers there may be other tires that would handle that role better.

 

[UberKul]

SockMonkey expressed exactly what I have been experiencing with the Conti's. They have been my default tire for the last four sets and have been exactly what I prefer in the twisties I ride. That being said, I ran a new set to NAFO and flattened the middle about 2500 miles into the trip making the handling less than predictable. I'm still trying to ride off corners but I can not recommend these tires for distance. Bluestreek ran a dual compound (make/model?) on the same route and his tires looked great for the whole 4K mile trip.