Continental Roadattack
CONTINENTAL ROADATTACK
CONTINENTAL MAY NOT be the most widely recognized brand to motorcyclists, but the German company happens to be the fourth-largest tire manufacturer in the world with a history that stretches back to 1871. Its newest two-wheel application is a zero-degree, steel-belted radial dubbed the “RoadAttack.”
Development in conjunction with Continental’s automotive division allowed the motorcycle group access to extensive dynamic footprint technology, research the engineers claim netted them a 12 percent larger contact patch than that of the competition. That larger footprint allows Conti to safely use softer rubber without compromising tread life. A blend of softeners, carbon black and activated silica rubber allows quick warm-up at low operating temperatures as well as consistency at high temps. The carcass itself is constructed of 12 filaments of high-elonga-
tion cord divided into four twists of three that are covered in rubber and then wound together.
The assembled press corps was leery when we headed straight to the snow-covered Hartz Mountains region of Germany, where temperatures were nearfreezing and the wet roads were lined with 8^ foot-tall snow banks.
Riding along at a reasonable clip, we had nary a scare in the dodgy conditions. The tires also worked well during our hour-long blast down the autobahn and topgear-pinned whirls around the “Contidrome,” the company’s 2.8-mile high-banked oval.
We also sampled the tires on a wet handling course, and attacked the challenging road circuit nestled within Continental’s multimillion-dollar test facility in the heart of Hanover.
We came away impressed with the RoadAttack, and North American Sales Manager Greg Reich assured us we
ain’t seen nothin’ yet. “Continental has an aggressive plan for the future of our motorcycle tires,” he said. “We are in overdrive on other soon-tobe-released models. We recently hired Thomas Zoeller, the engineer of Pirelli’s Diablo Corsa, who will give us a 10year jump in our development.” Bring on the tire wars, Conti is ready to attack!
Mark Cernicky
