Continental TRAIL ATTACK tyres/tires ongoing test

[Clayton Bigsby]

Originally Posted by GSPete

These tires scare me! They constantly feel like they are going to slip out from under me . Confidence, not at all. In fact I have less than 500 miles on then and am taking them off as soon as I get my new Metzlers EXP. Any offers.

+1

Mine came off early too. Wish I would've taken them off sooner!

[Racegun]

these 2 negative reports are very disconcerting!!!!!!!!!! Anyone care to elaborate ( including those that dont like the Conti's) as to why this is......... it does not make sence !

[Firefight911]

Originally Posted by Racegun

it does not make sence !

Scratching head on this one as well. I have just over 3500 miles on mine with all road/off road types encountered and have not experienced this to date. I would agree that when pressed very hard through the asphalt twisties I have noticed a numb ness and a bit of vagueness from the front but, I attribute that to my suspension settings. I have Ohlins F&R and am still fine tuning. I have found the R12GS Adventure to be sensitive to suspension adjustment. Each adjustment I make is noticeable. It needs to be understood though that it is compromise. An improvement in the on road manners affects the off road manners negatively, etc.

Just my .02 but I flat love these tires. Did 1900 miles on them 2 weeks ago and never had any issues. From snow to heat to the ET highway and alien abductions, they kept delivering awesome confindence.

[Clayton Bigsby]

Originally Posted by Racegun

these 2 negative reports are very disconcerting!!!!!!!!!! Anyone care to elaborate ( including those that dont like the Conti's) as to why this is......... it does not make sence !

I am one of the people that doesn't like these tires. I put mine on in the fall, and took them off last week at 8400 miles.

My first impression was that they were nice tires. They have a very "smooth" feel compared to other tires in their class. They are quiet like a pure street tire.

I think that the smoothness gives the false impression that they are actually sticking to the road, but I eventually found out that they don't have exceptional grip, especially in the wet.

They are much worse than the Tourance or Distanzia offroad and on dirt roads, but that is no surprise considering the tread pattern.

My biggest issue with these tires is the profile. Just riding around town I was using the whole tire. This freaks me out because I ride much more aggressively when I go to the mountains a few times a year.

I actually have some correspondence with a Conti tire engineer about this concern, and his response went something like "the tire can grip until the pegs touch." Ok, whatever. At that point, I realized that further correspondence would be pointless. I would like to have a tire designed by someone who understands how motorcycles work.

To me, this is a mileage tire. At 8400 miles, the front looks brand new and the rear has a couple thousand left in it, and I'm one of those guys that gets 7k max out of a set of tires.

This will probably be a good tire for a lot of people, especially if they don't ride aggressively and they want a tire that will last forever.

It's just not for me.

[mistercindy]

Very informative thread. Thanks for starting it, Chris.

I'm looking to replace my rear Tourance in the next month or so (front has an Avon Road Rider with 11,000 miles on it that still looks new). I had the Tourance put on because of the reviews for high mileage. But it now has 7,500 miles on it and it may have another 1,000 left. That's decent, and more than any road tire I've used, but its a far cry from these folks that speak of 10,000 to 14,000 miles for a rear Tourance. Its been a decent tire, but it provides noticeably less feed back on turns. Even when new there was a hardness on sweeping turns that I'd never felt before. Its not a big deal as I don't ride that aggressively anyway, and I just throttle back a bit on big turns. But it is in my mind.

I've been thinking of several tires, but after reading this thread I may look to the CTAs. What's your mileage like, Chirs? Its been seven months so I figure you'll have a decent idea as to how long they'll last.

[Thisguy]

I will hopefully have a write up on the tires. I am heading to CO for a couple days and I am sure we are going to hit all types of weather. There will be at least 3k of slab on the tires after the trip. I have used the tourances on some fire roads, but mostly road time, so that is what I will be comparing it too. I have never really liked the way the front end felt on a the GS, but I do not know if that was the tires or the 19" rim.

[fullmonte]

Originally Posted by Thisguy

I have never really liked the way the front end felt on a the GS, but I do not know if that was the tires or the 19" rim.

Maybe its a GS related front end feedback problem? Or not. The telelever front "fork" is definitely different from other bikes in this regard. The two inmates (GS Pete, Clayton Bigsby) who posted negative experiences with this tire both ride a GS. Anybody have bad experience with the Trail Attacks who rides a non GS? This is not a GS flame fest. There are enough of those on ADV already. I'd like to know if this is a steering geometry issue or a tire quality issue.

[Racegun]

so far so good............



................


if you are indeed using all of the contact patch from side to side and you have yet to hit the twisties....that might not be good. Also, the guy you spoke with at Conti might have been having a bad day, was a noob.... any number of 100 reasons. Conti makes awesome tires for bicycles, cars and other items. I have a tough time putting my head around the possibility that they do not know how to make a m/c tire. But at the same time it is possible.


hmmm<<<<< srcatching chin

[ADVJake]

Got mine on a 19/17 wheelset for a KTM 950 adventure.
I havent tried many road tyres as im an offroader, but these feel good on the tarmac pushing it hard.

[Thisguy]

I owned a R1100S before this one, i love the telelever, I think that it is a combination between the spoke wheel, 19" tire and regular handle bars. But, that never stopped me from putting some racer boys to shame.

Originally Posted by fullmonte

Maybe its a GS related front end feedback problem? Or not. The telelever front "fork" is definitely different from other bikes in this regard. The two inmates (GS Pete, Clayton Bigsby) who posted negative experiences with this tire both ride a GS. Anybody have bad experience with the Trail Attacks who rides a non GS? This is not a GS flame fest. There are enough of those on ADV already. I'd like to know if this is a steering geometry issue or a tire quality issue.

[BMW-K]

Originally Posted by Racegun

these 2 negative reports are very disconcerting!!!!!!!!!! Anyone care to elaborate ( including those that dont like the Conti's) as to why this is......... it does not make sence !

I've burned up three sets of Conti RA's and am in the process of burning out a set of the TA's. (I've also burned out 45/6's, Storms, Z6's, BT020's, PR's, M1's, Anakee's, and more)

Conti uses a very different tire profile. The exact nature of the profile means that it takes less effort to initiate a turn, and much less effort to hold or increase lean angle. Conti calls it a "multi-radius" curvature - and the feel of the tire is dramtically different than anything else I've ever ridden on. Where Z6's take some effort to continue to increase lean angle, the RA's and TA's take much less effort.

I can certainly see how these tires could well feel like they are slipping out: they aren't - it's just the way the tire curvature works. Based on all the tires I've ridden, Conti is certainly a party of One when it comes to this kind of curvature.

As to their wet stick: Yep. RA's and TA's just aren't "all that" in the wet. IMO, the Z6 is still the king of the wet stree tires. On my GS, I'd take the Anakee's in the wet, or a pure street tire like the Z6.

Tire Wear: Trail Attacks (80/20 tires) start with 9mm of tread depth. Z6's (ST tires) start with 6mm. Diablos (and other true sport tires) start with 4mm of tread depth.

TA's will wear better than most tires on the market simply due to tread depth. Compared to Anakee's, I'd give the TA the edge for longevity - there's more rubber on the road than the Anakees for one. Plus the compounds on the TA are newer and likely more durable than the Anakee.

Of course, all this may change with the Anakee 2...

Dry Stick: best in class for an 80/20 tire. Far better than the Anakee, the Tourance, and the TKC. Jury's still out on the NEW Pirelli Scorpion Road tire and the EXP. I suspect those tires that are 100% road biased will be stickier than the TA...at the cost of tire life.

I've gotten Anakee's to slide in the dry. I haven't made the TA slide...yet. I'll keep trying though in the name of science.

off-road: sorry, no experience here to speak of so I can't comment.



IMO, the TA is a damn fine tire IF - you don't do much off-road (just not enough void space on the tread to make me believe it will grip very well off-road) and you do more dry riding than wet.

IF I were to head off for a 7,000 mile cross country ride that would include firelanes and the like, I'd use Anakee's (or a Tourance std.).

IF I were to head off for nearly pure dirt or the Dalton, I'd go with TKC's.

IF I'm doing a pure road tour, I'd not hesitate to mount the TA's again.

And if I'm going to the track (which I've done), the answer is the Conti RA.


That's my summary of tires and given conditions.

[fullmonte]

Originally Posted by BMW-K

Dry Stick: best in class for an 80/20 tire. Far better than the Anakee, the Tourance, and the TKC. Jury's still out on the NEW Pirelli Scorpion Road tire and the EXP. I suspect those tires that are 100% road biased will be stickier than the TA...at the cost of tire life.

I've gotten Anakee's to slide in the dry. I haven't made the TA slide...yet. I'll keep trying though in the name of science.

The EXP has quicker turn in and better stick than the Anakee, Tourance, or Presa Detour. The front is pointy like a roadrace tire which makes the bike fall into corners. The rear only stepped out on me once during its short (2850 mile) life. It happened while leaned over WFO in a right hander on New Years Day. That moment was due to cold tires and conditions (35 degrees). A few corners later, they were hooking up well. The EXP was a stellar pavement performer which reminded me of the sport tires I ran on the SV1k. Aired down it did alright on dry dirt/gravel. Not bad, just average. Forget mud. The Trail Attacks look really tempting.

[Vec]

I have a set on the way to mount up for my trip up to AK this summer. From the sounds of it, I should have a pretty good tire for what I'm asking. High mileage, with the ability to handle light off-pavement excursions. I'll be loaded 2-up for much of the trip.

I already have a set of TKC-80s that I'm going to be shipping ahead of me for AK, YK and NT.

[Racegun]

thanks for that very good info !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GSPete]

Quote "I actually have some correspondence with a Conti tire engineer about this concern, and his response went something like "the tire can grip until the pegs touch." Ok, whatever. At that point, I realized that further correspondence would be pointless. I would like to have a tire designed by someone who understands how motorcycles work."



I put the pegs to the asphalt on tourance and anakee regularly. "So", is what I say to the Conti Tire Engineer, it is not that big of a deal to put the pegs to the asphalt on a GS!! Maybe he should be engineering something else, like those toys in the happy meals,