Continental ContiMotion - yet another tire thread!

[brew1brew]

Hey guys, I have an amusing story for you all. I'll tell you the moral up front, "you get what you pay for!"

So, In June when I got back from my Washington State ride it was time for another tire, I had tried the Michelin pilot road 3, I had just got 8741 out of it, the OEM Dunlop had gone 12834. So when pricing tires I found that the OEM was going for about $220 and I thought about trying the Michelin pilot road 4 as it's suppose to go 20% longer and it was about $189 or so. Then I found the Continental ContiMotion for $94 and thought, well if it goes even 6k I'll brake even So I went for it.

Well, fast forward to this week, I had about 2800 miles on the tire, it was looking a bit smooth, but I figured it had to have at least another 1K or so left on it. I decided to do the TeliMena scenic ride. From Plano TX it's about a 500 mile day. So off I went. On the way there I'm thinking that  I should probably check the tire, but the phat girl goes about 200 miles a fill up, when I filled up I was enjoying the day and was getting into the really pretty country side, Broken Bow OK, and failed to look at the tire and went on to Mena for lunch. after lunch I'm putting a few things in the saddle bags and think "I should look at the tire" and I look and see a nice center stripe of belts/cords. Well at this point I only have 2 choices, take it easy and hope I get home or start looking for a trailer. I decide to go home taking it easy, max speed 55.

So since I'm going slower than most traffic I decide to take all back roads, distance is about the same. Well as I'm coming into Paris TX I see a bunch of fire trucks parked on the side of the road, I slow down to find that it's a funeral, well the back end starts getting a little mushy, So I pull over and the tire is flat. when I look at it I see that I've worn through the steel belts. Luckily I was able to contact a friend that is home with nothing to do and a VRCC member is kind enough to let my friend stop and hookup his bike trailer when he wasn't home. I got home a little late last night but I got home with the bike and without any harm done to it or me.

So I put the bike on the lift as soon as I unloaded it last night and this afternoon took the wheel off to finde this.



I also found that when using Ride On and doing this to your tire, that the entire underside of your fender and swing arm get completely covered in Ride On! luckily I found that it's water soluble and rinsed off easy with a hose.  

[dans2014]

  I've had continentals on one car and one bike in 45 years and both were junk!! Not suprising. Michelin seems to be the best. Rocky mountain atv & mc has them for 159.95

[Robert]

Thanks for posting your results its good to know, if you dont like the Micheline there are others out there that do have some reviews for.

[Jess from VA]

Regardless of the bike or it's particular tires, I have discovered that when you think your bike tires are getting close to gone.... they wear down to completely gone in no time at all (maybe only 2-3 hours riding time).

My last time getting one more ride out of a back tire, I got it good and hot and then had to accelerate quickly on a short ramp, and when I hit the throttle, the bike went sideways (rear lost traction, spun, and tried to pass the front).  Then I got a tank slapper wobble trying to get back under control. Then I had to find some clean shorts.

To avoid the temptation of running on worn tires, I have a plan of having one new front and back on hand at all times.  Then there's no excuse for running around on a banana. 

[hubcapsc]

I have a Michelin Pilot Road 4 on the back now, and like it. Concours-riding Jim
suggested a Perelli Angel GT. they last on his Concours - it weighs about
60 lbs less than our bikes but he rides it hard. I might try that next.



-Mike

[Robert]

I have a Michelin Pilot Road 4 on the back now, and like it. Concours-riding Jim
suggested a Perelli Angel GT. they last on his Concours - it weighs about
60 lbs less than our bikes but he rides it hard. I might try that next.



-Mike

One of the parts places that does tire reviews gave it a thumbs up but it was under the performance class not the mileage class.

[hubcapsc]

Jim said he could get 7,000 or so miles out of them... Chewie had
just earned her nickname when we were talking, so that sounded
pretty good to me  ... I bet 5-7 is all I'll get out of the Michelin...

-Mike

[ledany]

According to Motorrad (Germany), the Pirelli Angel GT is very good on wet roads, close to Michelin PR4 (which is first) and even with the Metzeler Z8. Alas, the Pirelli doesn't last at all, by far.

[brew1brew]

Jim said he could get 7,000 or so miles out of them... Chewie had
just earned her nickname when we were talking, so that sounded
pretty good to me  ... I bet 5-7 is all I'll get out of the Michelin...

-Mike

Mike, I got 8700 out of the PR3, Michelin says 20% longer life on the PR4, so I hope to get at least 10k. If not I'll go back to the OEM, I got 12k+ out of it and it performed well for me on both dry and wet roads.

The only thing is the $$ for the OEM.

On a side note, I got 10k on the first OEM front tire then 6k on the second one. But in 2015 Honda changed the OEM front tire model from Dunlop, on the new OEM model (my 3rd front tire) I'm up to 8600 miles on it and it looks like it has more than 50% life in it. and I have no issues with it's handling. I look forward to reports on wet/dry handling and life of the Michelin PR 4 trail that several people are trying out.

[Robert]

Michelin Pilot Road 4 Tires Review at RevZilla.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGD6HLdNcW4

2015 Motorcycle Tires Buyers Guide at RevZilla.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F1JuTI3VXs

2015 review does cover the Pirelli Angel GT

[Robert]

-Mike

That is such a great bike and I almost wound up buying one but it just didnt fit right. I am so glad I waited, I am so happy with the 1800 Valk