Tires: Continental "motion" report

[StratTuner]

I've put 11K (NOT 18 K as i first calculated) miles on these tires, and I would say they are wearing about the same as the Michelin PR2s I had prior.
They are not quite down to the TWI bars, but they're close. This time I want to wait until the TWIs start making road contact before replacing the tires. (yes, I know you're supposed to replace tires when the tread gets within 1mm of the TWI... I think...??? I'm going just a tad further.)

I note that in the morning when the tires are cold, the PR2s squared off quite a bit. When I go into the first turn on my street, I could really feel the "squaring off" edge .... that edge between the part of tire used for straight and level vs. that part of the tire used for turning and leaning (very little leaning, in my case.) I don't feel that nearly as much with the Continentals.

Performance? I can't help you there. Old ladies (with white wicker baskets on the front of their bikes) ride more aggressively than I do. Overall, the Continentals feel identical to the PR2s. (save for the squaring off part)

Riding: canyon cruising and interstate touring. (never in the rain) I don't burn up the twisties, but I do enjoy them.

Would I buy the Continental Motion Tires again? Yes! In fact, I am going to! They are $100 cheaper than the PR2s.
(adding ten characters)

 

[L.B.S.]

You're burning up the miles, Strat, good on you!

What pressures do you try and keep them at, and how often do you check them? As far as squaring off, I'm always wondering if lesser/more/exact pressure has any noticeable effect on this, and how quickly it can occur in some tires.

I ended up against my will, always being pretty spot on with the Metzeler Z6 tires on my F800, and got (for me, anyway) pretty decent mileage out of the rear.

With the BMW it was weird. It triggered my OCD big time. It had a tire pressure monitoring system with dispay on the dash.

I would still look at the tires for damage pre-ride, but not check the pressure as I was used to. The display would tell me if it was good. But it bugged me always seeing/knowing the pressure right there in your field of view 24/7. If it read 2.4 instead of 2.5 bar, it would plant a seed of: "it's not 2.5... it's not 2.5... it's not 2.5..." in my brain and drive me nuts until I topped it up to that.

Checking my tires the old fashioned way with a gauge, it was always "close enough" within a psi here, a psi there, and didn't prey on my mind the same way.

Kind of like a digital speedo gauge versus a needle analogue, if you get me.


...aaaand one more glimpse into crazy LBS mind, lol.

 

[MZ5]

Good for you, Strat, and thanks for the report! My Contis don't have so many miles as yours, but they're wearing 'better' at this point than the OEM Metzies did. Meaning, the front doesn't have that weird scalloping, and the rear is visibly less flat across the center. I'm very pleased with them!

 

[dduelin]

I was looking the last couple weeks for a PR2 rear and they are getting harder to find since the PR4s are out. I was also surprised to see how much they are costing now. I wore out a rear PR3 in 11,000 miles but the front is less than half done. I went with a sporty Pilot Power rear tire to wear out the front.

 

[StratTuner]

Math Sucks... or rather... I do at math!

My corrected numbers mean that the Continentals can't possibly last as long as the PR2s!
The continentals are at 11K (not 18K), and the PR2s made it all the way to 17 K.
The continentals just aren't going to make it that far.

I keep a log, so here are the #s.

0 to 6,500 miles - Metzlers (6,500 total)
6,500 to 24250 miles - Pilot Road IIs - (17,750 total)
24250 to 35,100 miles - Continental Motion (10,850)

Now, the Continentals are still on, but as I said, I don't think they will make it 6K more miles to equal the PR2s.

 

[StratTuner]

more calculations from a NON-math guy...

with the help of a spread sheet, here are some hard numbers.
Most interesting to me is the # of miles you have to travel on the Continental Motion tires to get the same "value" per mile as the PR2s.
I'm already above that # of miles, so the Continental Motions are still a better value (for me) even if I have to replace them more often.

Here are my numbers so the world can check the math!

	Michelin	Continental
	PR3	Motion
front	$159.00	$79.00
rear	$194.00	$115.00
Total	$353.00	$194.00
Mileage	17750	10850
Cost per Mile	$0.02	$0.02
get same value		9755.0
from Cont. as Michelin		miles
you have to go

 

[kpinvt]

You're burning up the miles, Strat, good on you!

What pressures do you try and keep them at, and how often do you check them? As far as squaring off, I'm always wondering if lesser/more/exact pressure has any noticeable effect on this, and how quickly it can occur in some tires.

I ended up against my will, always being pretty spot on with the Metzeler Z6 tires on my F800, and got (for me, anyway) pretty decent mileage out of the rear.

With the BMW it was weird. It triggered my OCD big time. It had a tire pressure monitoring system with dispay on the dash.

I would still look at the tires for damage pre-ride, but not check the pressure as I was used to. The display would tell me if it was good. But it bugged me always seeing/knowing the pressure right there in your field of view 24/7. If it read 2.4 instead of 2.5 bar, it would plant a seed of: "it's not 2.5... it's not 2.5... it's not 2.5..." in my brain and drive me nuts until I topped it up to that.

Checking my tires the old fashioned way with a gauge, it was always "close enough" within a psi here, a psi there, and didn't prey on my mind the same way.

Kind of like a digital speedo gauge versus a needle analogue, if you get me.


...aaaand one more glimpse into crazy LBS mind, lol.

To L.B.S. - Cover the readout with translucent not transparent tape. I have a high beam indicator on the PC800 that was driving me to distraction at night because it was too bright. I used several layers of Scotch tape to dim it down. During the day I ride with the high beam on most of the time unless it is dawn or dusk when I switch to the low beam. I put a strip of white-out tape on the headlight switch to make it more noticable.

 

[davidc83]

Strat-I am also running the Conti Motions. My stock OEM Metzlers didn't make it to 8500 miles (I check air pressures at least once a week). I never saw the wear bars on the stock tires until a center cord was showing (and I checked the tires before my last 200 mile run on the stocks).

I am liking the Contis. Just got back from my 2752 mile bike vacation to the Smokies and Florida. While I didn't run the twisties in the Smokies like a speed demon, I did lay the bike over quite a bit and the tires stick really good, even in the wet conditions I rode in the Smokies. As we all know, Flatistan (aka Florida) isn't known for curves and now with 3000 miles on the tires, they are not starting to square off yet (even after my 785 mile in 13 hrs jaunt on the Interstates).
I too paid $194 for my set of Contis from my local mom/pop shop.

 

[StratTuner]

Strat-I am also running the Conti Motions. My stock OEM Metzlers didn't make it to 8500 miles (I check air pressures at least once a week). I never saw the wear bars on the stock tires until a center cord was showing (and I checked the tires before my last 200 mile run on the stocks).

I am liking the Contis. Just got back from my 2752 mile bike vacation to the Smokies and Florida. While I didn't run the twisties in the Smokies like a speed demon, I did lay the bike over quite a bit and the tires stick really good, even in the wet conditions I rode in the Smokies. As we all know, Flatistan (aka Florida) isn't known for curves and now with 3000 miles on the tires, they are not starting to square off yet (even after my 785 mile in 13 hrs jaunt on the Interstates).
I too paid $194 for my set of Contis from my local mom/pop shop.

It's good to hear a credible cornering review (i.e. from someone who leans into turns aggressively). I'd hoped they would do well there, and it seems they do.

I was looking for the Continentals to last as many miles as the PR2s, but that asking a bit much. Cost per mile, I'd say the continentals are better... you just have to change them out sooner.

 

[Jay Fridays]

I've put 11K (NOT 18 K as i first calculated) miles on these tires, and I would say they are wearing about the same as the Michelin PR2s I had prior.

I still stand by these. I really like these tires.. I replaced the set again because of flat tires ( I had the back sealed about 5 times, decided to replace )
I will continue to replace with these. For my city and highway riding, these feel perfect, are durable, and cheap….
A+++

 

[Old Can Ride]

Continental Motion are the older design, but if it ain't broke why fix it. Very interesting German Tire.

[video=youtube;krD4hdGvGHM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krD4hdGvGHM[/video]

 

[Garnet]

more calculations from a NON-math guy...

with the help of a spread sheet, here are some hard numbers.
Most interesting to me is the # of miles you have to travel on the Continental Motion tires to get the same "value" per mile as the PR2s.
I'm already above that # of miles, so the Continental Motions are still a better value (for me) even if I have to replace them more often.

Here are my numbers so the world can check the math!

	Michelin	Continental
	PR3	Motion
front	$159.00	$79.00
rear	$194.00	$115.00
Total	$353.00	$194.00
Mileage	17750	10850
Cost per Mile	$0.02	$0.02
get same value		9755.0
from Cont. as Michelin		miles
you have to go

Great review, thanks.

The only flaw I see in your math is if you have to pay to have the tires installed and balanced. Around where I live it costs about $60 to have a pair of tires installed, often more if you didn't buy them from the shop. That brings the cost up to about $.023/mile on both tires using your mileage figures.

I have always installed my own tires but I'm getting to that age, or the tires are getting to the size, that I may break down and pay the ridiculous prices that local shops want to save a sweaty couple of hours on the shop floor.

 

[StratTuner]

I still stand by these. I really like these tires.. I replaced the set again because of flat tires ( I had the back sealed about 5 times, decided to replace )
I will continue to replace with these. For my city and highway riding, these feel perfect, are durable, and cheap….
A+++

No argument there. They are a better value than the Michelins. I'll make sure I update this thread with the mileage # when I get down to the TWIs. (Tread Wear Indicators).

 

[StratTuner]

Great review, thanks.

The only flaw I see in your math is if you have to pay to have the tires installed and balanced. Around where I live it costs about $60 to have a pair of tires installed, often more if you didn't buy them from the shop. That brings the cost up to about $.023/mile on both tires using your mileage figures.

Around these parts, it adds about $100 to the cost. So the Continentals are $300. A nice set of PR4s will set you back four bills! ($400).
Yikes!

 

[ziggie]

Yes and another 160.00 500 miles later when you put a nail
In the pr4.my next set will be these con,cheap and good for what I need.strat where did you order from?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[StratTuner]

Yes and another 160.00 500 miles later when you put a nail
In the pr4.my next set will be these con,cheap and good for what I need.strat where did you order from?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

I didn't order. I went to a local mechanic who also does tires. CycleGear won't do it unless you bring in the rims already OFF the bike. The local "mega sports" cycle shop would do it for $150...

 

[ziggie]

OK thanks.I get mine put on for 25.00 off bike and 40.00 on.I'll check superstore,I would like to have a pair on hand for a spare.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

more calculations from a NON-math guy...

with the help of a spread sheet, here are some hard numbers.
Most interesting to me is the # of miles you have to travel on the Continental Motion tires to get the same "value" per mile as the PR2s.
I'm already above that # of miles, so the Continental Motions are still a better value (for me) even if I have to replace them more often.

Here are my numbers so the world can check the math!

	Michelin	Continental
	PR3	Motion
front	$159.00	$79.00
rear	$194.00	$115.00
Total	$353.00	$194.00
Mileage	17750	10850
Cost per Mile	$0.02	$0.02
get same value		9755.0
from Cont. as Michelin		miles
you have to go

You can find better prices than that if you want. Myself the less I'm changing the tires, the better.

160/60ZR-17 (69W) Michelin Pilot Road 4 Radial Rear Motorcycle Tire - 2014 Honda CTX700N (Rear)	1487070002	May 27, 2014	$154.99	1	$154.99
120/70ZR-17 (58W) Michelin Pilot Road 4 Radial Front Motorcycle Tire - 2014 Honda CTX700N (Front)	1487060002	May 27, 2014	$124.99	1	$124.99
Subtotal:	$279.98
Tax:	$0.00
Shipping:	Free!
Disposal:	$0.00
Gift Wrapping:	$0.00
Total:	$279.98
Gift Card:	-$0.00
Cash Rewards:	-$0.00
Total Due:	$279.98

 

[StratTuner]

Yes, I could find better, but how would I have them mounted. If you bring in tires for a shop to mount for you, the mounting price (mysteriously) goes... UP. The shop has to make money somehow.... so I usually just pay what my local mechanic wants... about $340 for two Continentals. Yes, I know he's charging about $140 for mounting...but what choice do I have.

 

[StratTuner]

I just ordered a new set of Continental Motion Tires ONLINE with Amazon.

front: $69.99
rear: $110.65
------------------
total: $180.64

local installation (local "motorsports" guys. yes, they will install tires I bring in!)
$85

Total Installed: $264.64