Product review: Continental ContiRoad Attack 3

Continental is one of the smaller motorcycle tyre brands in Australia but given the quality of its products, the extent of its R&D and its long and proud history, it really should be far bigger here than it is.

That much was clear upon attending the national launch of the company's ContiRoad Attack 3 sportstouring tyres, and getting to grips with them – pardon the pun – over two blissful days of riding the Yarra Ranges, to Melbourne's east.

In fact, Continental was formed way back in 1871 as a rubber manufacturer, and it's Europe's second largest motorcycle tyre brand. The company designs its tyre from scratch, with exhaustive testing and development taking place at the sprawling 160 hectare ContiDrom – a veritable car and bike enthusiast's playground, complete with 280km/h banked oval track, 3.8km dry circuit and 1.9km wet track.

About 14 years ago the company made a concerted effort to up its game in the motorcycle market, and the result was the 2004 ContiRoad Attack, followed soon after by the ContiSport Attack. Met with widespread acclaim, now the third generation of the ContiRoad Attack is here, and it's obvious the firm hasn't been resting on its laurels.

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New and improved
The tyres were released about a year ago in Europe, and they've already made a huge impact in that massive market by taking top honours in leading German motorcycle mag Motorrad's Touring Tires Test 2017.

Across a range of tests the Continentals outperformed equivalent tyres from the likes of Bridgestone, Dunlop, Michelin, Metzeler and Pirelli. As Germany's most respected bike mag, there has to be more to this result than purely nationalistic fervour…

They essentially remain round, black and sticky, so what's new about the ContiRoad Attack 3s? Well, the new tread pattern is the most obvious update – it now has larger sipes (or channels) to better drain water in the wet – but they also have a tweaked carcass construction and a new compound too.

Without getting too bogged down in tyre-tech-speak (which has been known to induce comas in even the nerdiest of motorcycle engineers), Continental's 'EasyHandling' carcass has been developed to give an optimal blend of tyre profile and flex characteristics to deliver "easy tip-in", while maintaining stability and precision.

The new 'RainGrip' compound is softer on the sides for cornering grip and firmer in the centre for longevity. Nothing new there, but Conti says the compound has a seamless transition from one to the other, while the updated blend of silica and carbon black deliver better levels of grip, wet or dry, and greater durability.

These tyres also have Conti's innovative TractionSkin feature. Forget the perils of going arse-up on freshly fitted rubber thanks to their slippery curing residue – with TractionSkin the tyres provide a high level of grip right from the get-go. So, no more embarrassing spills for the unaware or absent-minded on bike shop forecourts, hopefully…

The bottom line, says Continental, is that the ContiRoad Attack 3s deliver better grip, better wear, better handling and more feedback. Now they sound like every other tyre manufacturer's claim about any new tyre ever, so it was off to our awaiting fleet of shiny new BMWs and Hondas to put those claims to the test.

Impressive arsenal
We had a great mix of sportstouring tools at our disposal, namely a BMW's S 1000 XR, S 1000 R, R 1200 RS and R 1200 R, and Honda's VFR1200F and CBR650F LAMS. Throw in a Suzuki GSX-R1000K5 – a personal bike owned by one of the other journos – and these new Contis had their work cut out for them in the power and torque stakes.

From that point on the tech presentation slides rapidly became a distant memory – now all we had to do was enjoy these bikes over some of Victoria's best roads, with an overnight stop at the picturesque village of Eildon to discuss the hoops' merits over a beer or three.

I had to overcome all my instincts to wind it on straight out of Ron Angel Wholesale – Continental's local motorcycle tyre distributor – in Melbourne's northern suburbs, but to my relief the hoops never gave even a hint of letting go. This TractionSkin feature should be on every motorcycle tyre as a basic matter of safety.

After fighting our way free of the city's congested streets we blasted up the St Andrews to Kinglake Road. Now back to its typical blanket of green after the decimation of the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, it was the ContiRoad Attack 3's turn to scorch this extremely tight and unforgiving stretch of bitumen. Or at least it would have been, had I not scored the LAMS-approved CBR650F.

Okay, so this bike's modest output might have rendered it the odd man out in this company – it still handles sweetly and given the unrelenting 25 and 35km/h corners, it was still able to keep up with the pack.

What struck me on this bike, and on the higher-powered steeds across the two-day run, was just how supple and compliant the rubber felt. They really do deliver a very high level of feel and feedback, and that high level of communication translates to instant confidence. More confidence equals more enjoyment, and there wasn't a journo present who, come journey's end, wasn’t grinning from ear to ear.

No gripes on grip
Not too long ago one of the marks of a great sportstouring tyre was its ability to let go in a controlled manner. Maybe I'm slowing down, but I simply couldn't seem to provoke a slide front or back – these tyres simply hang on, almost goading you to go harder. Of course these days we have traction control, but I never even noticed any TCS lights winking on, and believe me the pace was at times, err, brisk.

I'll make a bold statement here, and say that maybe even the majority of road riders who buy pure sports rubber for their bike would be better off on sportstouring rubber like this. ContiRoad Attack 3s take high engine outputs in their stride and the grip they offer will satisfy the lion's share of riders. Of course, the extra longevity you'll get out of sportstouring rubber over sports rubber is the icing on the cake. So ask yourself, what percentage of the time does your bike actually spend on a race track?

Of course longevity is the one thing we couldn't assess on a ride like this, although after two tyre-torturing days the Contis barely appeared to be scuffed. Time will tell, but it was also heartening to hear Conti say the performance of the ContiRoad Attack 3 doesn't tail off with mileage in the sometimes dramatic manner in which some hoops do.

Summing up
There's a whole lot to like about these tyres. The weather gods shined on our southern outing and so we didn't get to evaluate the ContiRoad Attack 3's wet weather performance but, based on their predecessor, we're very confident these tyres won't disappoint – in any aspect. Grab a set for yourself and tell us we're wrong!

Rear

*Denotes ContiRoad Attack 3 GT, for heavier weight/output sportstouring bikes.

For more information or to find your local stockist visit www.ronangel.com.au or call (03) 9464 3366.