@Piotr K exactly this! No real explanation about cold or rain, the rear tire shows evidence of suspension problems NOT tire wear problems, front tire for sure looks like misaligned fork legs to wear one side that badly. One sweeper turn and the rear felt loose? What was the temperature? Tire pressure? Suspension correct? Lean angle correct? Body position? To write these tires off from one squirmy corner is reason enough to ignore this horrible review. .
21 countrys on these in every condition,grip never failed,looking by your tyres,you need to get it round corners better,and actually set your suspension up...never had a conti wear more in the middle than the sides.. was in the romanian badlands with these in v greasy conditions,all 3 riders switched to these after seeing mine perform...
I cannot say the experience you had with the RA3's was wrong. You had the experience you had. That said, your experience was different from mine, and for that matter most who have ridden the RA3. I went through two sets and averaged about 8500 miles per set. The tire wear was even across the tread for both sets: minimal squaring and without cupping. I rode them through Death Valley in July of 2020, over countless passes throughout the 11 western states--wet, dry, hot, and cold--including a snowstorm over Wolf Creek Pass in June of 2019. On the first set I had to plug the rear tire at 5500 miles in the middle of "Nowhere", Idaho (thank you Safety Seal) and it lasted another 3000 without issue. Although I preferred the RA3 over the Pilot Road 4 and Angel GT tires, my favorites have become the Bridgestone T31. While not quite as long lasting as the RA3, the T31 has proven to be the best handling sport touring tire I have yet to try, and can only hope its replacement, the T32, will, at the minimum, perform equally well. Truth be told, I could be happy with the T31 for the duration, albeit I could not say that about the T30. I cannot explain why your RA3's wore unevenly and for so short a time, or failed to perform even close to what others have described. Inflation, suspension, balance, chain adjustment issues. . . ? I dunno. Either way, it's unfortunate you did not have an experience similar to most.
I have noticed the difference between my experience and most, to the point that when the tire still only had a few hundred miles on it I contacted Continental about a possible manufacturing defect in the compound. I received no response until a number of weeks later when they sent an email asking how my last interaction went. The mileage doesn’t surprise me, I’m a larger rider and tend to be hard on tires. My mileage across multiple manufacturers seems lower than most other riders, so that ones on me.
Tried several tire pressures, all the way down to where it wallowed in transitions from the flex. At that point I added some back for handling. I know my experience doesn’t match the majority but it was what it was.
Slanted review. You’re bragging about 80K of riding miles. You should have a lot more information and input about why you think you don’t like these tires. Admit it, you just want a reason to try some Michelin’s. Can’t blame you because they’re great tires, but I think your assessment of the Conti RA3 is WAY off. I’m on my third set, one set went 10.5K miles, zero issues. And I was a Michelin man since 2005, so,..
Hello Mate I had these, they were OK however they did wear out a little quickly for me. I thought they were going to last a lot longer. I did a similar review on my channel at 5000 km's and they were looking good but only lasted till 8000km's. I now have the road smart 3's, they have always lasted well for me. I am tempted by the Road 5's though. Take care and greetings from South Australia.
Comparing the RA3 and the Road 5 I’ve found they both have their strengths. Cold/Wet I’ll give it to the Michelin all day, more consistent grip too. The handling on the RA3 was much lighter which you’ve already experienced, I liked it a lot for that reasons. If it wasn’t for repeat random slips I’d probably have tried another set of the RA3 but it’s hard to have fun in the mountains when you don’t trust your rubber. I still wonder if I just got a bad rear and even asked Conti about it when it was barely used and they ignored my email, then sent one weeks later asking me to rate their customer service.
Just considering these tyres for my XJ900, all round they seem to be pretty good considering negative and positive reviews, might just give them a go, was also considering Pirelli Angel GT2. any comments please.
I’ve heard good things about the Angel GT2, no personal experience but whenever I’ve seen them mentioned on a forum it is positive. The RA3 isn’t a bad tire, just didn’t work for my purposes.
Good review from an all year round all weather rider. Riders who are in the minority but who count. Indeed why does a tyre loose grip mid corner? Sometimes too many variables to know for sure
If it was just once I would have the same conclusion, but happened multiple times and enough for me to lose confidence for my style and take them off a little early. People seem to love them in all conditions but my experience was lacking.
I did mention I’ve tried the Roadsmart II and the Road 5 (rear only, running a Power RS front). Went through several sets of the Power 5 since recording this and currently giving a set of Sport Attack 3 a try.
Admittedly I’m hard on tires, I usually get about 4400 out of a Road 5 rear for comparison. Those are the only sport touring tires I’ve run. Sport tires I’ve gotten 4200 (m7rr) to 2200 (BT016 Pro). Currently running the Power 5 front and rear and getting about 2800-3000 a rear.
@@Willgoingplaces Well. You seem to be nuts. Congrats! :) This is great info, I had Road 5 on my last bike and replaced the rear at over 10k miles due to a puncture, I wouldn't have otherwise, and I got the M7RR on my new bike when I bought it and I was worried about longevity. You're saying that you got about the same mileage out of Road 5 and M7RR?! That sounds insane!
Thanks for sharing your experience. I was looking at these for my 2020 R1250R but after hearing your review I think I'll pass. For the price the mileage is poor IMO...
Thx for the review.👍🏻
you have to adjust your rebound damping... and after adjustment you can review tyres correctly.
@Piotr K exactly this! No real explanation about cold or rain, the rear tire shows evidence of suspension problems NOT tire wear problems, front tire for sure looks like misaligned fork legs to wear one side that badly. One sweeper turn and the rear felt loose? What was the temperature? Tire pressure? Suspension correct? Lean angle correct? Body position? To write these tires off from one squirmy corner is reason enough to ignore this horrible review. .
@@jeremyprovonsil7886 agreed fully, review is poor
80k of riding and you can’t adjust your suspension properly ?
21 countrys on these in every condition,grip never failed,looking by your tyres,you need to get it round corners better,and actually set your suspension up...never had a conti wear more in the middle than the sides.. was in the romanian badlands with these in v greasy conditions,all 3 riders switched to these after seeing mine perform...
I cannot say the experience you had with the RA3's was wrong.
You had the experience you had.
That said, your experience was different from mine, and for that matter most who have ridden the RA3.
I went through two sets and averaged about 8500 miles per set.
The tire wear was even across the tread for both sets: minimal squaring and without cupping.
I rode them through Death Valley in July of 2020, over countless passes throughout the 11 western states--wet, dry, hot, and cold--including a snowstorm over Wolf Creek Pass in June of 2019.
On the first set I had to plug the rear tire at 5500 miles in the middle of "Nowhere", Idaho (thank you Safety Seal) and it lasted another 3000 without issue.
Although I preferred the RA3 over the Pilot Road 4 and Angel GT tires, my favorites have become the Bridgestone T31.
While not quite as long lasting as the RA3, the T31 has proven to be the best handling sport touring tire I have yet to try, and can only hope its replacement, the T32, will, at the minimum, perform equally well.
Truth be told, I could be happy with the T31 for the duration, albeit I could not say that about the T30.
I cannot explain why your RA3's wore unevenly and for so short a time, or failed to perform even close to what others have described.
Inflation, suspension, balance, chain adjustment issues. . . ?
I dunno.
Either way, it's unfortunate you did not have an experience similar to most.
I have noticed the difference between my experience and most, to the point that when the tire still only had a few hundred miles on it I contacted Continental about a possible manufacturing defect in the compound. I received no response until a number of weeks later when they sent an email asking how my last interaction went. The mileage doesn’t surprise me, I’m a larger rider and tend to be hard on tires. My mileage across multiple manufacturers seems lower than most other riders, so that ones on me.
He mentioned balling rubber. Which would suggest under inflation.
Hmm…
I drove it in winter on the race track?!
And in Spring in the Alps?! No problem?! What are you doing?! Maybe Pressure?!
Tried several tire pressures, all the way down to where it wallowed in transitions from the flex. At that point I added some back for handling. I know my experience doesn’t match the majority but it was what it was.
Slanted review. You’re bragging about 80K of riding miles. You should have a lot more information and input about why you think you don’t like these tires. Admit it, you just want a reason to try some Michelin’s. Can’t blame you because they’re great tires, but I think your assessment of the Conti RA3 is WAY off. I’m on my third set, one set went 10.5K miles, zero issues. And I was a Michelin man since 2005, so,..
Hello Mate I had these, they were OK however they did wear out a little quickly for me. I thought they were going to last a lot longer. I did a similar review on my channel at 5000 km's and they were looking good but only lasted till 8000km's. I now have the road smart 3's, they have always lasted well for me. I am tempted by the Road 5's though. Take care and greetings from South Australia.
Comparing the RA3 and the Road 5 I’ve found they both have their strengths. Cold/Wet I’ll give it to the Michelin all day, more consistent grip too. The handling on the RA3 was much lighter which you’ve already experienced, I liked it a lot for that reasons. If it wasn’t for repeat random slips I’d probably have tried another set of the RA3 but it’s hard to have fun in the mountains when you don’t trust your rubber. I still wonder if I just got a bad rear and even asked Conti about it when it was barely used and they ignored my email, then sent one weeks later asking me to rate their customer service.
Theres longevity, and grip.u cant have both, i,ll trade for grip everytime
Just considering these tyres for my XJ900, all round they seem to be pretty good considering negative and positive reviews, might just give them a go, was also considering Pirelli Angel GT2. any comments please.
I’ve heard good things about the Angel GT2, no personal experience but whenever I’ve seen them mentioned on a forum it is positive. The RA3 isn’t a bad tire, just didn’t work for my purposes.
I had Pirelli Angel GT2 on my previous motorcycle. Amazing tyres! If I could, I would put them on my current motorcycle too without any hesitation.
Something is wrong with your bike and your skills as those are awesome tires.
For reference, what are you running these on?
2006 Yamaha FZ1
Good review from an all year round all weather rider. Riders who are in the minority but who count. Indeed why does a tyre loose grip mid corner? Sometimes too many variables to know for sure
If it was just once I would have the same conclusion, but happened multiple times and enough for me to lose confidence for my style and take them off a little early. People seem to love them in all conditions but my experience was lacking.
@@Willgoingplaces I understand. Though you're experienced the 2006 FZ1 is a hugely powerful bike with a relatively low kerb weight
Thank you! I'm all weather rider. On R 1250 GS 140,000 street miles
What tyre pressures are you running? I have cra3 too and my front tyre is cuppin a lot.
I started at 36/42, kept the front around 36 since it was usually pretty good. The rear I tried from I think 34-42 cold.
I noticed that you compare it with sports tires (bt16pro, s21, m7rr etc) and that's not fare!
I did mention I’ve tried the Roadsmart II and the Road 5 (rear only, running a Power RS front). Went through several sets of the Power 5 since recording this and currently giving a set of Sport Attack 3 a try.
They kick your ass in California😎
Only 3500 miles?! That's rather low for a sport-touring tire.
Admittedly I’m hard on tires, I usually get about 4400 out of a Road 5 rear for comparison. Those are the only sport touring tires I’ve run. Sport tires I’ve gotten 4200 (m7rr) to 2200 (BT016 Pro). Currently running the Power 5 front and rear and getting about 2800-3000 a rear.
@@Willgoingplaces Well. You seem to be nuts. Congrats! :) This is great info, I had Road 5 on my last bike and replaced the rear at over 10k miles due to a puncture, I wouldn't have otherwise, and I got the M7RR on my new bike when I bought it and I was worried about longevity. You're saying that you got about the same mileage out of Road 5 and M7RR?! That sounds insane!
No... stop..... continental road Attack 3 is one of the best tyres that ever produced...
Use me as the dislike button
Thanks for sharing your experience. I was looking at these for my 2020 R1250R but after hearing your review I think I'll pass.
For the price the mileage is poor IMO...
Glad it helped