Continental Tires?

[prometheus578]

Are Continental tires loopy, or is it just me? Spent four hours last summer trying to put a Conti Tour on the rear of my "79 XS1100f. Just couldn't get the bead to sit right, but finally got it. (Thought that it was just the hassle with the two rimlocks.) Last month... needed new skin for the front. And me, with my limited memory, decided to throw on another Conti Tour. Three hours later, after wearing out the tire machine and the two other mechanics, decided to give it up. Just couldn't get the bead to seal right around the rim. Even took it out on the road... hopped all over. Grabbed a Dunlop from the rack... went right on! Only prob is that in raised letters on the sidewall, it says Harley Davidson. That's about as embarrassing as running Conti's, in my opinion. Anyone else have have probs with Continentals?

[pathfinder]

Just had to jump in

No, but I got a Metzler front tire one time and the d^$% thing rode like it was square. Took it back to the shop and they replaced it with another one and it rode great. Hardly Drivable in raised white letters, I think I'd get the square Metzler back.

[ratbyk]

Tires for XS-Michelin

In the last three years I have gone through 3 rears and 2 fronts. Got about 16,000 km out of the rears.
I have used Michelin Macadam's. Stick well, work great in the wet, mount without trouble and are ROUND-SMOOTH-feel GOOD!
I'm sold on Michelin's on an XS.
I run 38psi rear 32psi front.
Ken/Sooke
78E Ratbyk
82 FT500 "lilRat"

[skids]

I had a continental on the front of one of my xs11's when I got it. It had rectangles for tread. A Blitz? It has a very poor wear pattern with a lot of cupping. I replaced it with a different make before it was worn out and the subsequent tires wore evenly.

[Jerry]

Have not run Continental tires for a while. Their fortunes have gone up and down...in the late '80s Conti tires were the ones to have.

Also runnng a HD Dunlop on front, e-Bay special for $20.00. At least the letters are in black and not really noticable. However, mine is a 90-90/19 instead of a 100-90/19, so speedo indicates a couple mph faster than actual.

[prometheus578]

Jerry, mine are black lettering, as well. Note to Pathfinder: Harley Davidson in raised white lettering... Bah! I'd rather walk. The only difference between a Harley Davidson and a vacuum cleaner is the position of the dirtbag.

[jetmechmarty]

I have Conti Tours on my XS1100SG. They were no trouble to install, but I have to admit I watched my friend do it as he is a pro. I am happy with this tire. It seems to be wearing well and gives me confidence in the twisties. The price was good, so I may buy them again. I have almost 10,000 miles on them and they're not ready for replacement yet.

I understand that not everyone would like this tire, but I am quite satisfied with it so far. I bought the bike with new Chen Shin Hi Max tires on it and I hated them. I wouldn't put them back on my bike if they were free! I wore them out in 6K miles.

Considering the mileage, the Conti Tour is even a better bargain than the Chen Shin Hi Max.

The Dunlop GT501 interests me. Have any of you tried them?

[Dennyz]

I think I have tried them all. None have rode, cornered or stopped any better than the Dunlop 491 Elites II, I now run. Have 19k miles on the wife's Special and 16k on my Standard. Would not think of using anything else. I will put new tires on both ends for next year and they will be Dunlops.

[pgg]

The only rock hard tyres on the back I can be bothered with is conti-tours. They're the longest wearing of them all. They cost far too much. They're good for gradually sliding until they hit diesel on a corner. How good are million dollar tyres on greasy corners?

[rover]

Originally posted by prometheus578
Jerry, mine are black lettering, as well. Note to Pathfinder: Harley Davidson in raised white lettering... Bah! I'd rather walk. The only difference between a Harley Davidson and a vacuum cleaner is the position of the dirtbag.

The difference between a Harley and a Hoover----You can put 2 dirtbags on a Harley----and they both go on top

[Pat Kelly]

Only time I used Conti's was the freebies from reps I got at the track and they didn't last too long (I liked endurance races).
At least I never crashed with Conti's.