Interesting (to me) fact about Conti Road Attacks

I recently purchased a set of conti road attacks for my 01 VFR. I noticed that the front was made in Korea and the rear in Germany. I wondered what the deal was so I asked Conti via e-mail. I received a response in less than 24 hours that pretty much clears things up for me (I had no idea the fronts were Kevlar belted) so I figured I would share.

Here is Conti's response:


Dear David,
Thanks for purchasing a set of our Road Attacks! Continental Tire has two tire factories that produce our motorcycle tires. One is located in Germany which specializes in steel belt technology (i.e. rear Road Attacks) and our other factory is located in Korea which specializes in Kevlar belt technology (i.e. front Road Attacks). There is no difference in quality between the two factories, just different technologies.

Thanks again, I know that your really going to enjoy the performance of the Road Attacks.
Best Regards,
Greg Reich
Continental Tire North America, Inc.
Sales Manager/Motorcycle Tires
P.O. Box #105
39 E. Main St.
Suite #117
New Albany, OH 43054
Tel: 614-855-6960
Fax: 614-855-6961
E-Mail: greg.reich@conti-na.com
Website: www.conti-moto.com
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Your inquiry / Anfrage:
Question About Conti Road Attack Tires
Hello. I purchased a set of Continental Road Attack motorcycle tires today from the local Honda dealer. The front tire says Made In Korea, but the rear tire says Made In Germany. Are both of these Authentic Continental tires? If so, Are the tires Made In Korea of the same Quality as the tires Made In Germany? Thank You for your help, -David.

 

Yes it is interesting. I think it is also like withother tire companys, not all Michelin are made in France.

 

Very interesting. I am on the verge of purchasing a set myself. I have had Pilot Road 2's on (back)order since the beginning of December and they are still not available. I am getting tired of waiting and might just go with the Conti's. I have read some decent reviews on them and I remember reading about a problem with the directional arrows of the tires made in Korea. You might want to look into this before mounting. I'll see if I can find where I saw the info.

 

I put a set of Road Attacks on my 2000 VFR in September and have about 1500 miles on them before I had to put the yellow steed in cold storage. I really like the tires both in the twisties and on the freeway. At the time Tireexpress.com had the best deal going.

 

A friend of mine runs a motorcycle shop, and I talked to him about tires last night. Guess who owns Shinko tires? Continental. They happen to be made in a Korean factory....... interesting?


Lane

 

I checked the directional arrows yesterday after they were mounted and before I left the shop. They were installed correctly. I did not even see directional arrows on the "tread" area, just on the sidewalls. I only have 60 miles on them so far, but I can already tell that they are a big improvement over the worn out Dunlop Sportmax tires that were on the bike.

I wonder what advantage/disadvantage Kevlar belts have over Steel belts?

 

Kevlar belts are much more flexible, if that's an advantage. They've been using it in car tires for years. Kevlar is usually referred to as "aramid" belted.


Lane