what's the deal with conti attacks

i had a pair mounted. the direction arrows are accurate but the tread is oppisite for front and back. on the rear the bottom of the "v" looking tread hit's the pavement first, which makes sense. the front is oppisite which seems like it would trap water instead of pushing it away. handling seems fine but i'm not sure how much trust i would put in them in the rain. is there a factory deffect? any information would be helpful, thanks
billy

 

Not sure about this on the Motocycle side since I haven't experienced it myself yet. I have my bike in the shop now doing the wiring recall and they are mounting a new set of Pirellis as well. However, I know that many Mountain Bike tires are set this way front to back. Basically, with many MTB tires, you can buy the same tire for mounting front and back, but if you look at the tire it states mount it in one direction on the back and the other on the front. It's done similar to how you said your tires are mounted on the VFR. I believe the rear is setup for traction and the front to roll better (since it isn't a forward motion traction source) and to provide better steering and control.

Not sure this helps you with your situation since its about a Mountain Bike, but I think the theory is the same.

 

Continental actually found that the tire had better wear and handling characteristics with the tread backwards. They switched the arrows to reflect this. I Think I read this on the "other" vfr website.

 

michelin pilot powers are the same. i noticed@ the shop and asked the tech,we both shrugged our shoulders saying "they must know what they're doing"They ride great,I got over it.I would like to know the reason though

 

My Metzeler Z6's are like this also.I'm pretty sure this has to do with the opposing load forces the tires experience;front-braking,rear-acceleration.

 

Sounds like what I had heard about MTB tires.

 

They are awsome in the rain. And they do look wrong.
I've got 2500 on mine.