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.