Continental Trail Attack Tires - for street

[leafman60]

Chuck in Indiana mentioned these dual sport tires in his southern tour thread and I responded. He liked their the tires' street performance.  I thought I'd copy and paste here for any people interested in tires.

From Chuck's thread-

"Oh, almost forgot. I told Brad how much I had liked the Trail Attacks on Darth Quota and I was going to try Attacks on the Mighty Scura. He put a set on Spot, too, and said they were the bestest  tires he'd ever had. They are "round" and smoothly transition from edge to edge. We ran over a thousand miles of slab and they didn't flat spot. Fine in the rain."


VERY interesting that you mentioned the Continental Trail Attack tires.  I have a new pair in my garage awaiting fitment to my hot rod H-D.  I have been looking for an alternative to "cruiser" tires that would help on those severe lean angles that the Harley is capapble of pulling now. 

I have gone through several dual sport tires on my Stelvio and I decided to give such tires a try on the H-D.  One issue is that the vertical profile of the dual sport tires tend to be a little shorter than 160 MM Michelins I've had on the H-D - 60 series as opposed to 70 series.  That makes me give up about 16 MM of ride height from my 2 inch jack-up of the H-D suspension with Ohlins and I don't want to lose that.  The answer I've found are some billet shock extenders to recoup the height I'll lose with the Trail attacks.

I hope the Trail Attacks don't return too much mileage.  Your comment about not flat-spotting worries me a little.  I do not want a tire hard enough to give too much mileage.  I know this sounds weird to most tire buyers but I want traction not mileage.

We will see. 

[Chuck in Indiana]

My understanding.. I could be wrong, of course.. is they use the same compound on the trail and sport attacks.

[jasper]

I went through a few sets of trail attacks on a v-strom 650 I use to have. Great tires in the dry and wet, and plenty sticky. I think I averaged 4000 miles on a rear and 6000 on a front.

[fotoguzzi]

Dual Sport tires? maybe street tires for Dual Sport bikes but they don't look like they could even do gravel with confidence.

[Turin]

I've got trail attacks on my Quota and love them. I also have road attacks on my Daytona RS.

[pete roper]

This is of great interest to me as now I have the 'Turdio' I'm going to need new tyres soon.

Now part of the reason I wanted a Stelvio was to open up, with a degree of comfort, other roads locally. Where I live I have several 'Loops' I can ride on tar but there are a host of interesting dirt roads that are *Doable* on the Griso but it's not what it's designed for. The Stelvio is great for these, even with its shitty stock suspension and Jude on the back!

At the moment it's got round black things on it. I have no idea what they are! They hold air, they aren't flat on the bottom and the rims aren't bent! So what more could I want?

Well, I'd like something that will work well on Tarmac but won't be completely useless on slippery, graded, dirt. I'm not going to be doing the Canning Stock Route or traversing the Tanami on it! I will be going around Oz on it and in that time I will be doing some dirt but once again it will be graded and if e weather is filthy? Forget it!

So what do you lot recommend? I'll ask on ADV too, they'll probably tell me I need some rare Russian tyre made of Bakelite with nails in it though....

Pete

[leafman60]

This is of great interest to me as now I have the 'Turdio' I'm going to need new tyres soon.

Now part of the reason I wanted a Stelvio was to open up, with a degree of comfort, other roads locally. Where I live I have several 'Loops' I can ride on tar but there are a host of interesting dirt roads that are *Doable* on the Griso but it's not what it's designed for. The Stelvio is great for these, even with its shitty stock suspension and Jude on the back!

At the moment it's got round black things on it. I have no idea what they are! They hold air, they aren't flat on the bottom and the rims aren't bent! So what more could I want?

Well, I'd like something that will work well on Tarmac but won't be completely useless on slippery, graded, dirt. I'm not going to be doing the Canning Stock Route or traversing the Tanami on it! I will be going around Oz on it and in that time I will be doing some dirt but once again it will be graded and if e weather is filthy? Forget it!

So what do you lot recommend? I'll ask on ADV too, they'll probably tell me I need some rare Russian tyre made of Bakelite with nails in it though....

Pete

Stelvio Tires

Many threads are out there about tire choices for dual sports.  There's a lot of similarity to oil threads.

"Dual sport" bikes have been a primary choice of mine for many years and account for most of the mileage I have done. I'm no expert and can only speak from my experience.

The best tire depends on the rider's needs.  I do a lot of dirt road and rough terrain with my Stelvio and the GS bikes I have owned.  However, I also do a lot of long distance riding and curvy road riding.  So, I desire a tire that will work reasonably well off-road but I want very, very good traction on pavement- wet or dry.  The tread longevity of the tire is not a major criterion for me. Cost is not a prime consideration either.

I have used about every tire made and my current preference is for the Continental TKC70 or the Shinko 705. These tires have enough bite for moderate off-road use but they also provide good on-road traction and extreme lean angles.

I must say that the Shinko 705 is probably emerging as my single favorite and I have recently installed a new pair on my Stelvio.  These tires work very well and I have used several sets of them. Road traction is great and they have enough tread pattern to hook up reasonable well on dirt. Mileage is respectable.  I typically get about 5000 miles on the rear.

The side benefit of the Shinko (previously Yokohama mc tires) is their cheap price.  They run about half the cost of premium brands.

Sticky mud is the bane of most off-road tires since it fills in the siping and tread blocks and prevents grab.

If you opt for serious off road work, the Continental TKC 80 is a safe bet that is hard to beat.  Although I have not tried them yet, but I feel like the Shinko 805 and the Metzeler Karoo 3 would also be great tires for more serious off-road application.

Heidenau tires-

I do not like Heidenau tires and urge caution for anyone using them.  They are an aggressive tread pattern made from and very hard rubber compound.  They do work great on dirt due to the aggressive tread (similar to TKC 70) but they can easily break traction on pavement- especially wet pavement.  I've used them and seen my friends use them with similar results.

Some riders gravitate to them because of their high mileage capability.  I know riders who have gotten 15,000-20,000 miles on a rear Heidenau.  What does that tell you?  Very hard compound.

Hard compound=reduced traction. I had a long conversation with a tire engineer from Dunlop at a trade show and he reiterated this basic fact of tire technology.

Heidenau is an East German factory that goes way back to the Soviet Block days.  These tires reflect the needs and applications of those times.  If you are not running sport speeds on pavement and, if you are careful in the rain, they may serve you well.  But be careful.

All in all, if I had to recommend a tire for Stelvio work, I'd say the Shinko 705.

Shinko 705


Heidenau (left) next to TKC 70 (right)  -very similar tread but TKC holds MUCH better on pavement


My Stelvio with Shinko 705's in its natural habitat

[pete roper]

Thanks David, (Twice! )

Pete

[rocker59]

Dual Sport tires? maybe street tires for Dual Sport bikes but they don't look like they could even do gravel with confidence.

Adventure-styled street tires for Adventure-styled street bikes !!!   

[pete roper]

Oh, indeed! I know there are plenty of folks who beat on their Stelvios in pretty serious tracks, I'm not going to be one of them! I'm far too old and wheezy for that shit! Good, well graded dirt though the Stelvio handles well so a pair of something like the Conti's would probably suit my needs admirably!

Pete

[drw916]

Pete,

A great source of input on tires is at Revzilla.  They do reviews and post reviews of users.  They give you the information on how the tires are designed 50/50, 60/40, 80/20 etc.

For me, I don't ride off road aggressively or in real bad conditions.  The 60/40 tire I put on my Aprilia looks the business, but is too dirt oriented for how I ride.

For street with some dirt roads thrown in, an 80/20 tire is probably a better comprimise

[drlapo]

I have a pair on my triumph tiger 800.
Best road tire on that bike so far.
Lots of grip; wet and dry.
Very good front end feel in the corners.
I like the smooth transition into the turns.
I have no chicken strips

[leafman60]

Well, I got my Trail Attacks installed on the H-D.  Boy, those things are great!  Fabulous street tires. 

.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Well, I got my Trail Attacks installed on the H-D.  Boy, those things are great!  Fabulous street tires. 

.

I tole ya, David..