Tire report - Conti Road Attacks

[02Tac]

 OK, last year I had a set of Continental Road Attacks put on the Bandit.  It has now been just over 8500 miles and the rear is done. The front might just last through another rear.  As far as I am concerned 8500+ miles is pretty good for a rear tire on just about any liter class bike.  The grip was fantastic and never changed over the life of the tire.  Now, I do ride what I would call conservatively.  There have been no drag strip style launches, very little WOT acceleration and almost no real high speed running.  The tire has proved itself as a very good tire.  That said, it is being replaced with a Contimotion instead of another Road attack.  This is more for research than anything else.  The Motion does not have tread that crosses the centerline of the tire so I decided to see how it wears compares to the Road Attack, plus it is a bit less expensive.  I'll let you know how the motion works out.

 Anyone else running Road Attacks please feel free to add your $.02.

[thetable]

Ran them on my Ulysses, hated them, couldn't wait to get them off, which fortunately for me was after only 4600 miles.  They were the worst tire I have ever ridden in the rain (the back end just wandered), wore very quickly, overheated in the dry if pushed at all (regardless of pressure or suspension settings.)  But man did they come up to temp quickly.  I'm now over 2000 miles into a set of PR2's and loving them.  The PR2 is just an absolutely brilliant tire in everything I have put them through.

[Playinthestreet]

Had about 2800mi on my Conti Road Attacks with 2200 to get home and didn't think the rear would make it. Hard/fast riding in 90+ degree weather for most of that 2800 mi.

[Lawn Dart]

Here's my long-term review:  http://lengtheningshadows.com/Contiroadattack.html

In other news:  I've burned up a total of 4 sets of RA's now.  I average about 4,000 miles on a rear tire with my GS.  Stickiest ST rubber made with a 19" front that I've found yet in the dry.  Significantly stickier than Metzler Z6's.

Still a bit slick and scary in the wet though.  Z6's are much better in the wet.

[Jmac_bandit]

I am almost 5k miles into a set of Road Attacks on my Bandit 1200 and really have absolutely no complaints.  The rear tire is wearing down in the middle and I can probably get another 3k out of it as my uneducated guess.  I have put a lot of interstate miles on these tires so the mild squaring does not surprise me.  I loved the grip with these in the twisties on my recent memorial day weekend trip through WV.  I have gone on several two up rides in the twisties in PA and had no qualms about scraping pegs even with my girlfriend on the back.

The only time I had them out in the rain was on an interstate so I was not pushing their grip much but they felt solid at highway speeds in steady rain.

The front has barely worn down at ALL.  I can still see all by the middle of the 'road attack' lettering that runs over the center of the tread and is quite shallow when new, maybe 1/8 inch deep.  So I am hoping the front will last two rears.  I will definitely be buying the same rear to replace mine when it is shot.

PS.  The tires that were on before this (when I bought the bike) were VERY square bridgestone battlax bt-020's that had gone in a straight line in Kansas their whole lives.  They were absolute shat in the corners when I came east from Kansas so anything even close to round compared to them would have probably felt like heaven to me.

[gradus]

I'm now over 2000 miles into a set of PR2's and loving them.  The PR2 is just an absolutely brilliant tire in everything I have put them through.

wrong tire review, but...

I switched from running Pilot Powers to running a PR2 on the rear and Pilot Power on the front.  Pilot Power rear was getting less than 4,000, but this combo seems to wear at the same rate and don't give up too much to the Pilot Power.  I do miss the more aggressive profile on the rear tire, but this was a good compromise.  

[MK96xj]

I like the RA's and am on my 5-6 set. I consistently get 8K out of them but always replace them in sets as I am pretty hard on the front.

I am very interested in hearing your initial feedback on the Motions.

[JIMLARCH]

As usual whenever tires are discussed there are great variations in mileage even when it comes to the same brand of tire.   It all depends on the bike, the rider, and the roads ridden on.  It would be nice though to be able to pick a tire and accurately know what mileage you will get.

[swimmer]

since this is thread about road attacks maybe you could put that in the title so people can find it easier when searching for road attack info rather than such a non-descript title.  I have a a set on my 650R right now but I'll wait to respond until after this thread is moved into the correct forum as I don't want to be apart of the lawlessness.

[Kyle401]

The best tire life I have ever experienced on my Bandit was 9K miles on...   ME880's

I still can't figure out how to get more than 5K miles on any sport touring rubber...  

[02Tac]

since this is thread about road attacks maybe you could put that in the title so people can find it easier when searching for road attack info rather than such a non-descript title.

Good point  / title updated

[02Tac]

As usual whenever tires are discussed there are great variations in mileage even when it comes to the same brand of tire.   It all depends on the bike, the rider, and the roads ridden on.  It would be nice though to be able to pick a tire and accurately know what mileage you will get.

 As you stated, it depends on the bike / rider /road. Aside from very abrasive roads, the biggest factor is the rider. Simply put, the more aggressive you are with your right hand the worse the tire wear will be. I view myself as a fairly conservative rider and do not abuse the tires too much.  I know folks with 650s that wear through tires far faster than I do.

[kevin_stevens]

My Road Attack review.  --  KeS

[JonS]

Of the three different tire sets I have used on the MTS, the Road Attacks are easily my favorite. I love the easy turn in and feedback. They are so stable and confidence inspiring. So far there is nothing I dislike about them. The price is nice too.

[Zerosum]

I have a set on my VFR.  I bought them simply because of how popular they are with the VFR crowd.  I wasn't disappointed... I think they're great.  They grip quite well, and seem to do well on wet and/or uneaven pavement.  I have about 5500 miles on mine... the rear is probably 60 or 70% used up.  The rear tire is starting to square a little, but I can't say that I've noticed any detrimental effect on the handling.

[Zixxerpilot]

I'll have to be the opposing force here I guess. I'm running Conti RA's on the wife's 600, and HATE them! Hate them hate them HATE THEM!!!!!!


Seriously, it feels like I'm riding on grease! Thats on dry pavement. In the wet, they feel like grease on ice!

They wear great, but so do the tires on my car, and I'm not about to slap them on the bike.

I've had 2 other bikes that I ran an RA on, and they did the same thing. Had this one not been on the bike when I got it, it wouldn't be on there now. It was brand new, so I couldn't bring myself to yank it off.


Next up, some BT016's I think. Or maybe I'll stick with Metzler Sportecs. Those things can even keep my animal of an 1100 glued to the road. Of course, I was also changing the rear twice per oil change....

[HipGnosis]

I just put Road Attacks on my new-to-me '06 Ninja 650(r).
It's the 3rd bike I've put them on.  Good traction in wet and dry with good mileage.
I could get the rear to slip on my 955 sprint when the tire was worn, but it only happened when I was 'workin' it.

Road Attacks are NOT sport tires, so no sympathy to anyone that whines about not getting sport performance from them...

[02Tac]

  Just guessing, but from what I see of the responses, if you view the road as your own personnal race track then the RAs are not for you.  If, however you ride in a more reasonalbe fashion you may find them quite a good tire.  I had the Contimotion mounted up today and will start providing some feedback when the weather clears. I have no aversion to riding in the rain, but will not run a vigin tire, of any brand, in the rain.  once I get a few miles on it to scrub it in then the wet evaluation can procede.

[swimmer]

OK, now that the thread is legal… I’ve got about 10k miles on the road attacks I’m running.  The front is probably good for another 2k miles but I know the rear won’t go that long.  I slid this rear tire around (under breaking) a bit much for most of its life which I plan to not do in the future but avoiding that it would have put the front and rear tire life pretty close.

I’ve found the tires to be reasonably grippy and they give my moto a nice steady feel in long corners although for really tight twisty stuff I don’t think they turn in fast enough or slower than the BT021 that these replaced anyway.

No problem riding in the rain which isn’t all that often around here unfortunately.  No weird handling issues as the tires have worn.  Not going to get the most lean angle with the RAs but their limit about matches mine.  I certainly wish more of my miles were on curvier roads as I hate taking off tires with so much life left on the edges.

No flats.

I was going to try some roadsmarts but now I am not so sure.  I really can’t complain in anyway about the RAs.
Certainly interested in hearing some reviews on the contimotion but I don't think they will come soon enough before I need to make a purchase.

[Zixxerpilot]

I just put Road Attacks on my new-to-me '06 Ninja 650(r).
It's the 3rd bike I've put them on.  Good traction in wet and dry with good mileage.
I could get the rear to slip on my 955 sprint when the tire was worn, but it only happened when I was 'workin' it.

Road Attacks are NOT sport tires, so no sympathy to anyone that doesn't get sport performance from them...

I shouldn't be able to spin the rear tire up at will on a 600, on dry pavement, when barely leaned over.

I have 1" chicken strips on this damn thing, and my Metzler on the 1100 was less than 1/16" front and rear, on a bike with over 100 more whp.

[kevin_stevens]

I shouldn't be able to spin the rear tire up at will on a 600, on dry pavement, when barely leaned over.

I have 1" chicken strips on this damn thing, and my Metzler on the 1100 was less than 1/16" front and rear, on a bike with over 100 more whp.

(shrug)  Again, experiences differ.  That photo I show is the strips on the front of my ZX-14 with the Road Attacks.  There were none on the rear.  The second is where the fairing dragged at ButtonWillow.

KeS

[gradus]

 ...If, however you ride in a more reasonalbe fashion you may find them quite a good tire.  

If you're riding like that, go ahead and get a harley.  

[hmadams]

Like my RA's a lot better the the Z6's on my Norge.  The RA's have been working well on the Colorado roads.  I have 5k on these tires and rear will need replacing soon, front nearly as new.  My next rear tire will be a Road Attack.

[JrGman]

I'm with Kevin Steven's as I had a set of Road Attacks on my Hayabusa and loved the easy turn in and they still felt planted when the peg feelers were touching the pavement. They lasted 3k miles but I rode them pretty hard. Was impressed enough that I was considering a set of the Sport Attacks on my CBR1000, anybody ever try those?  (sorry for the unabashed thread jack...)
RA's are a good tire and I first heard about them on canyonchasers.net    
You have to also like the price that they can be found at.

[JonS]

I'll have to be the opposing force here I guess. I'm running Conti RA's on the wife's 600, and HATE them! Hate them hate them HATE THEM!!!!!!


Seriously, it feels like I'm riding on grease! Thats on dry pavement. In the wet, they feel like grease on ice!

They wear great, but so do the tires on my car, and I'm not about to slap them on the bike.

I've had 2 other bikes that I ran an RA on, and they did the same thing. Had this one not been on the bike when I got it, it wouldn't be on there now. It was brand new, so I couldn't bring myself to yank it off.


Next up, some BT016's I think. Or maybe I'll stick with Metzler Sportecs. Those things can even keep my animal of an 1100 glued to the road. Of course, I was also changing the rear twice per oil change....

 All I can think of is that you're riding style is completely different than mine. No, I don't take it easy in the corners either.

[coastalmainedan]

08 FJR1300: have a road attack on front, at 6400 miles and still has a thou or two left.  Wet or dry, very happy with it.  May try Strada E next.

[kevin_stevens]

I'm with Kevin Steven's as I had a set of Road Attacks on my Hayabusa and loved the easy turn in and they still felt planted when the peg feelers were touching the pavement. They lasted 3k miles but I rode them pretty hard. Was impressed enough that I was considering a set of the Sport Attacks on my CBR1000, anybody ever try those?  (sorry for the unabashed thread jack...)
RA's are a good tire and I first heard about them on canyonchasers.net    
You have to also like the price that they can be found at.

I ran a set of Sport Attacks afterwards, primarily because they were available in a 190/55 profile and the RA's were only in a /50 - I was looking for extra ride height at the time.  I thought they worked great during two days in the rain at Laguna Seca, so maybe I'm doing something wron.  

I'm running BT013s right now as I got them at a great price, and will *probably* try the new Qualifier IIs if they're out by the time these are gone.  If not, I'll go back to the RAs as I didn't really feel the need for whatever added grip the SAs had - or maybe run an SA front and RA rear as the fronts last so much longer with this brand.

KeS

[02Tac]

I shouldn't be able to spin the rear tire up at will on a 600, on dry pavement, when barely leaned over.

I have 1" chicken strips on this damn thing, and my Metzler on the 1100 was less than 1/16" front and rear, on a bike with over 100 more whp.

Maybe you have one of those special 600s that make secret super HP?  Honestly though, maybe you got a bad tire.  I am pretty sure my B12 makes more torque than your 600 and even when I have gotten on it fairly hard there was slippage?  Bike set up way off maybe?

[02Tac]

If you're riding like that, go ahead and get a harley.  

 I said reasonable, not sedate.     I would get a Bergman or a Tmaxx before I got a HD anyway.  Of course either of those would probably outperform an HD too!

[HipGnosis]

- or maybe run an SA front and RA rear as the fronts last so much longer with this brand. KeS

THAT is what I SHOULD have put on my 650!  (ie., great idea)

[swimmer]

To the OP, where did you get the contimotion tires from?  Not many places seem to have them and I don’t see much of a price difference between them and the RA’s.  Also, the rear contimotion tire does not seem to have any grooves crossing the center of the tire, isn’t the metz Z6 the same way and that it makes judging tread life remaining difficult?

If the contimotion is supposed to be longer lasting than the RA (not sure if that is true) I could see running an RA in the front and a motion in the back.

Not many reviews out there on the motion but I think it has been available in Europe for a bit longer than the US.  

[02Tac]

To the OP, where did you get the contimotion tires from?  Not many places seem to have them and I don’t see much of a price difference between them and the RA’s.  Also, the rear contimotion tire does not seem to have any grooves crossing the center of the tire, isn’t the metz Z6 the same way and that it makes judging tread life remaining difficult?

If the contimotion is supposed to be longer lasting than the RA (not sure if that is true) I could see running an RA in the front and a motion in the back.

Not many reviews out there on the motion but I think it has been available in Europe for a bit longer than the US.  

 I got the motion from my local dealership.  At the time Conti had it on sale for about $30 less than I could get another RA for so I decided to try it out.  I do not think many reviews are out for two reasons; 1 - I believe the Motion is a fairly new release to the US. 2 - I find that Conti is not a widely carried brand at dealers and I think many folks will buy what is on the shelf rather than wait for something to come in.  I will be running the current (8500+ miles) RA in the front, we will see if it lasts through through or at least as long as the motion.  If so, that would give the RA front about 16K miles.    After the Motion wears and it is time to replace both, I may just go with an even less sport oriented tire as I do not ride the bike aggressively so a longer wearing tire would be worth it for me.  

[Lawn Dart]

Guys,  a point of order may be needed on this thread.  I have to say, different tires truly do behave differently on different bikes.  Case in Point:  Z6 vs. RA.  RSL vs. GS.

On my R1100RSL ( ) the Conti RA's were borderline scary - they stuck well enough in the dry but were pretty sketch in the wet.  Further, the profile of the tire made the RSL turn in too fast and had a very real "falling in" feel to them.  The Metzler Z6 was a much better handling tire.

On my R12GS the opposite is true.  The Z6's didn't have the stick I wanted and the profile just wasn't really working with the 19" front.  The Z6 is still best in rain but I found dry traction a bit lacking - and they certainly were the limiting factor when I did a double track-day last year in Pahrump.  I ran out of tire with plenty of lean angle left.  As much as I loved the Z6 on the RSL, I really don't like them at all on the GS.

The RA's on the GS are still a bit greasy in the wet - but the dry stick is superb and the profile of the RA really does work well.

So, two very different bikes with different tire sizes and two very different opinions.  It is entirely possible that riding styles, tire pressures, road surfaces and the phase of the moon may cause one person to love a tire and someone else to hate them.

[swimmer]

RAs are $16/pair cheaper than the motions from ride ridedirect.com

[02Tac]

RAs are $16/pair cheaper than the motions from ride ridedirect.com

 Good deal.  When I called around looking for tires the RA were consistently more than the Motion. Additionally, I prefer to use a local shop when I can. YES, I know I can sometimes (factor in shipping) get it a bit cheaper on the web, but I would rather see my $$ go to a local shop than one who knows where.  This is a big issue in one of my hobbies, RC cars/boats.  People like to purchase their RC vehicles from large web houses to save a few buck, where do they go teh first time they break it or need advise?  THE LOCAL HOBBY SHOP!  My favorite LHS has gone so far as to make a sign stating that if you bought it off the web, take it back to the web to have it fixed or ask for advise.  This may sound like BS, but you cannot expect the hobby shop tp be there for you when you need help or small parts when you spend the big $$ on the web instead of the shop. For me the same applies to to items I purchase at the local MC shop. I will, however see if they will work on the price VS the cost (plus shipping) of the same item on the web and they usually do.  The shop I got the tire from even cuts you a break on mounting/balancing if you purchase the tire there.  Walk in with a tire from the web and m/b will cost you more.

[HipGnosis]

My current Conti Road Attack report;
I put Conti RA's on my new-to-me Kawi 650R.
Got out yesterday with a good bunch of the region 4 ST.N folks on a very good route of a very wide variety of roads.
The RA's (and the 650R) are awsome.  Easy to turn in, but don't fall in.  Very neutral in the turns.  Stays on the line or lets me adjust the line.
To be honest, I wasn't doing alot of changes in any corner - other than applying the gas, because my other bike is a BMW k12RS - it's telelever front end has me a bit spoiled and I've only had the 650R a bit over a month.  I generally try to be a smooth rider regardless.
By the end of the day, the tires gave me the confidence to do hi-speed sweepers w/ only one hand on the bars.

[02Tac]

First ride on the Motion today. 111 miles of mixed city, highway, back roads.  I di not notice any difference from the RA to the Motion other than the bit of fall in the RA had toward the end due to square off.

[XLR8]

Here's my long-term review:  http://lengtheningshadows.com/Contiroadattack.html

In other news:  I've burned up a total of 4 sets of RA's now.  I average about 4,000 miles on a rear tire with my GS.  Stickiest ST rubber made with a 19" front that I've found yet in the dry.  Significantly stickier than Metzler Z6's.

Still a bit slick and scary in the wet though.  Z6's are much better in the wet.

Thanks for the review. I just ordered a set for the VFR for the trip to Quincy in September. They also seem to be popular with the V4 crowd.

Based on your past reviews I know we both like the Z6 so this should be interesting.

[whoaru99]

I shouldn't be able to spin the rear tire up at will on a 600, on dry pavement, when barely leaned over.

I have 1" chicken strips on this damn thing, and my Metzler on the 1100 was less than 1/16" front and rear, on a bike with over 100 more whp.

Huh...dunno what's up with that.

I've got about 1/8"-1/4" chicken strips on my RAs on the Suzuki RF900 and never had any "greasy" feelings. Granted, the RF is only 125-135hp, but the tires present no worries to me.

[Jes_VFR]

Thanks for the review. I just ordered a set for the VFR for the trip to Quincy in September. They also seem to be popular with the V4 crowd.

Based on your past reviews I know we both like the Z6 so this should be interesting.

really, I've been seeing a lot more vfrlist traffic about the z6's, some pilot (race/road) combination, Diablo's and 'stones long before the RA's
In fact I see more posts about the Avons than the Conti's.

I guess I have not been paying enough attention to the tire wars on the list.

[KokomoSam]

I have been running Conti Road Attacks for the last couple of seasons on my 02 Bandit 1200s.  I have mixed feelings about the tire.  One of my main complaints is the tire profile.   I am not sure what the correct description is, but these tires are not rounded but are a bit "pointy".   When they are new this leads to super quick turn in for a bigger bike like the bandit.  However as they wear it seems to lose much of this super light/quick turn in feel .  My second complaint is flat spotting.  the pointy part of the rear especially is prone to flat spotting after touring miles.  Again this seems to change the profile of the tire a bit.  My last complaint is that in cold and wet the tires seem to be a bit slick.  I have had more then a few pucker moments with these tires in cool riding weather (Illinois/Wisconsin/Canada) pushing maybe 5 or 6/10th.  

The good is that the do stick quite well in dry conditions.  I have done a couple of track days and these tires can be pushed.  They ball-up and lose a lot of rubber doing it but they will stick



I am putting on PR2's now and will see how they compare.  Perhaps I have gotten spoiled and don't know what I have, but I am looking forward to the Michelin's.  I will report back.

Sam