Continental Road Attack 3 WORDS STUART PHOTOS JEFF CROW
LAUNCH
TIME TO ATTACK!
C
ONTINENTAL
STARTEDproducing
motorcycle tyres in 1907
making them the second oldest
manufacturer of hoops for bikes.
They are now the third largest
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Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)
supplier in the world, so it’s hard
to know why the brand is relatively
unknown in Australia compared to
some other brands. Importer Ron
Angel Wholesale is out to change this.
We already tested the amazing new
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Ron Angel Wholesale invited us along
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depth view of the brand and the new
tyre riding a variety of machines.
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invested heavily in chemists,
technicians and high tech machinery.
This has allowed them to offer a
premium range of tyres that lead the
way in many areas of motorcycle
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are terms you may have heard of in
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are a number of others which all
combine to provide
the rider with
outstanding
levels of
performance,
but of all
of them,
‘Traction
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nutshell, a textured surface moulded
into the tyre which eliminates greasy
release agents. As a result, the tyre
requires no run in period.
I have noticed this in the past; you can
ride straight out of your driveway on
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you normally would – no need to tippy
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kays. I reckon this has to be the safest
feature of any tyre on the market.
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focused heavily on improving wet
weather grip. They also looked at
improving the mileage, handling
and warm up, but the performance
in wet conditions is the biggest
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add, the better the wet performance
and wear characteristics. Add in
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maximum grip in the dry and a
faster warmup. But, add in too much
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weather performance, so getting just
the right chemical mix can take some
working out – there’s more to tyres
than we think!
To make this simple, look at a
racing wet weather tyre – it contains
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not last very long. A racing slick
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and is rubbish in the rain. Find that
happy medium in the middle and
you’ve got a great road tyre!During the launch we didn’t get to
do any serious wet weather riding, but
I have already sampled the RA3 tyres
in some heavy wet weather when we
tested them previously.
Feedback is an essential part of any
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to lean over in a corner in any road
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carcass of the tyre ‘Zero Degree’; it has
a zero degree belted steel carcass. This
gives you the high levels of feedback
and stability you want in a tyre, and
also makes the tyre agile.
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which is tread that is seamless from
the middle to the sides. There’s
usually a noticeable difference
when you transfer over from the
harder middle compound to the
softer side. Not with MultiGrip,
which is seamless thanks to an
advanced curing process.
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optimised to provide easy turn
in with just the right amount
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stability and provide comfort.
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too stiff a tyre provides an
unstable ride and too soft a
tyre gives slow turn in and a
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the balance bang on with the
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fast into a corner and if the
bitumen is a little rough, the
carcass soaks it up.
The depth of the tread
is something worth