First impressions are important, and Continental claims its ContiRoadAttack 4 motorcycle tire has TractionSkin technology, which has been around for a while and doesn’t require any break-in period. Upon delivery, the surface of the tires felt as though they had a few miles on them—there was no trace of any coating or release compound.
I immediately bolted to the onramp of a freeway one mile away and threw the Ultimate Motorcycling BMW R 1250 RS Project Bike into the tight, 270-degree, skid pad-like entrance at full lean and on the throttle—nothing adverse happened. Grip was very high, and the next thing I knew was the need to slow down to freeway speeds.
Warm-up time was fast, grip was mighty, and there were no signs of slippage. This is exactly what I want from a tire for a performance-oriented sport-touring motorcycle—that, and long life.
Last week’s 900-mile trip to Death Valley National Park ticked all the boxes related to ride quality and performance testing, including low and high temperatures, wet and dirty roads, high canyon and highways speeds, hard braking, and everything in between, excluding actual rain.
The Continental ContiRoadAttack 4 replaces the earlier 3 edition with a new tread pattern, compound, and resins, plus a full silica front tire claimed to improve wet weather performance and cold weather grip in slippery conditions.
Continental also says the 4 provides more feedback, improved agility, and resists any tendency to stand up during cornering than its processor. Also claimed is that this compound has been optimized for use with cornering-aware ABS. While I didn’t put a knee down in frog-throttling rain, the CRA 4 tires are superb for my sport-touring mission.
Continental has plenty of technology in the ContiRoadAttack 4. For instance, MultiGrip (a single-compound tire that works like a dual compound thanks to precision curing) and BlackChili Compounds (a multipurpose blend of polymers and rubber).
Continental claims its GripLimitFeedback feature offers early feedback when the tire reaches its limit at high lean angles thanks to a combination of carcass construction, compound selection, and tread design. I’m not sure I precisely experienced this as I do not often back-in or slide the RS into turns. However, the tires feel solid with a high sense of stability even near the edge of the envelope.
The CRA4 is a neutral handling tire that is easily guided. It does not fall into turns as some tires with different profiles can do, nor is it reluctant to get over on its edge. When it does, the edge is not interrupted by sipes extending to the tread shoulder, so you’re effectively riding on the edge of a slick tire at full lean.
We could be running tires designed for sport riding on the UM BMW R 1250 RS Project Bike, but this time we wanted to assess the mileage that Continental promises, which I usually get from tires of this type. I am not concerned, nor is my street riding style such that I feel much loss in grip versus a pure-sport/track-day tire. I often enjoy about 5500 miles from a set of sport-touring tires, regardless of brand.
I cannot think of a reason why I would not mount Continental ContiRoadAttack 4 tires on almost any sport-touring, naked roadster, or sportbike that is not involved in track work. The 1500 miles I’ve put on them have been excellent, and I am well pleased.
Continental ContiRoadAttack 4 Sizes and Prices
Front
- 120/70: $300 MSRP
Rear
- 160/60: $348
- 180/55: $377
- 190/50: $395
- 190/55: $405
Note: All tires are for 17-inch rims
