Tire update

So I've got about 500 Km on the new tires and my first impressions are very positive. I really like their rounder profile: when you start to lean it over, it's smooth as hell. They tip quickly because they are rounded like balloons. The old Dunlops really had a flat strip up the middle, which grew wider as the tire wore, so you had make an effort to get the tip started (but once started it was fine). I had gotten used to that and never thought about it. But with these new Contis, they begin to tip immediately with seemingly no effort.

I'm pretty much a law abiding citizen when I ride, avoiding hooligan-style antics for the most part. I've never put my knee down but I often take certain turns at speeds high enough to earn a serious traffic ticket. One turn in particular is a wide sweeping 90 degree bend in a 50 Km/h zone. The street is wide and visibility is clear for some distance, so I routinely hit this corner around 90 Km/hr without feeling like I'm pushing the envelope too hard, but a couple of days ago I decided to try it at 110: it was like riding on rails. I'm sure I could take it even quicker, but with speeding laws being what they are in Ontario, even at 110 I'd lose my license for at least a week, get my bike impounded, and have a fine between $2,000 - $10,000.

I also got an unexpected opportunity to try the new Contis in the rain. The Dunlops weren't bad when things got wet, but they weren't great. With the new tires, I was able to lift the front tire off the ground, and I even gave the bike a very generous amount of throttle coming out of a few turns. They didn't seem to mind the we surface at all. Two thunbs up!