Posted by Scott Lian on Thu, Aug 26, 2010 @ 10:30 AM
Just in time for the second half of the season, the ever popular tire and track day specials are coming back! Pair a fresh set of rubber with the last Boston Moto track day of the year and save on tires to get you through the rest of the season. Tires may be picked up prior to the track day if you're in need of rubber now (mounting and balancing at NHMS on 9/29 is free of charge). Click the image below to reserve your set now, quantities are limited.
This special will not last long, it will close on September 15th.
Posted by Scott Lian on Mon, Jun 14, 2010 @ 03:17 PM
Congratulations to Scotty Greenwood who rode to an impressive win in the 87th Loudon Classic on Sunday. You certainly have earned it Scott!
TeamConti was well-represented throughout the weekend, securing numerous top four finishes to lay claim to the Continental contingency payouts that are up for grabs in every race, every class, regardless of grid size.
Top earner again - Ryan Nolin #178 took three more top four finishes (including another win!) and was able to run successive races on a soft-compound rear tire without tearing suffered in earlier rounds, a result of getting his rear shock dialed in by Peter Kates of GMD Computrack.
Jason Markham #336 took home an hard fought 5th place in Supertwins, missing out on the 4th spot after stretching his ContiRaceAttack Slick rear tire through three weekends of racing (taking two wins in the process) and a full day of testing... all aboard his hulking RC-51 superbike. While this demonstrates the longevity offered by Continental tires that's creating a buzz through the paddock, Jason admitted after the race his strategy should have included a new rear tire in between morning practices. He conceded "One of the things I like most about the ContiRaceAttack tires are their smooth and linear feedback. Even once the tire went off and the bike started to move around, I was able to comfortably finish off the race. I just wish I had a fresh tire on so I could have pushed even harder."
We'd like to congratulate ALL racers who took part in the 87th Annual Loudon Classic, and we're looking forward to Round 5 of the Loudon Road Racing Series. Especially July 13-14th where we'll be at the track Tuesday and Wednesday, offering FREE test and tune on ContiRaceAttacks for those who are curious how the Contis stack up.
Posted by Scott Lian on Mon, May 17, 2010 @ 09:51 AM
The opening round of the 2010 Loudon Road Racing Series (LRRS) season saw the New England debut of Continental Tires and the ContiRaceAttack line. 15 riders gave the ContiRaceAttack tires a try from the opening round and began racking up the contingency payouts and strong finishes from the start with over 8 contingency claims already processed as rewards for finishing in the top 4 (in any class). The balance of performance and longevity offered by the German tire brand has already begun to pay back riders' in multiple classes and license levels.
May 15 & 16 saw LRRS riders back in action, and Team Conti added a handful of new riders to their ranks. Special congratulations to Nate Peck (Novice #508) who cut 3 seconds (in his first practice) off his personal best lap time from the opening round after making the switch to ContiRaceAttack Competition tires, further improving another 2 seconds to end the weekend with a strong 3rd place (Novice GTO) and 4th place (Novice MWSS, lowering his season's personal best time to 1m 21s in his final race of the weekend.
We are looking forward to working with you throughout the season, and a reminder to all racers looking to improve... package your next set of ContiRaceAttacks with a track day and get dialed in!
Posted by Scott Lian on Fri, Apr 30, 2010 @ 10:43 AM
The ContiRaceAttack Trackday Experience, Hypersport Trackday Experience and Sport Trackday Experiences have been extended for our May 25th and 26th dates.
Also for May 25th and 26th, the Doug Polen 1-on-1 School will be with us at NHMS for your chance to ride with World and AMA Superbike Champ Doug Polen. After taking this course at VIR with Doug, we can't recommend it enough... especially at your home track!
*For clarification, to register for the 1-on-1 Riders' School you must register for your track day with Boston Moto, and for the 1-on-1 School independently. The 1-on-1 School is working to update their schedule online, however they are 100% CONFIRMED to be with us in May!
Posted by Scott Lian on Tue, Apr 20, 2010 @ 08:50 PM
Getting a jump on the season means being prepared. We've all been there, you show up to the track ready to go... only to find that you've forgotten a critical item at home. Avoid this by making a checklist of what you need and what you want, to have with you at the track. Here are some ideas to get you started.
*Thanks to Dave Michaud from BatMan Moto for contributing to the checklist!
It's also a great idea to make a list of personal essentials such as contacts, plenty of clothes (especially socks, underwear, shirts), medicines you may need, and some reading material like your favorite moto-magazine.
Remember, early-season riding can include a wide-variety of temperatures throughout the day. Be prepared for crisp mornings, warm afternoons, and chilly evenings!! Long-underwear, warm base-layers like Under Armour, and your favorite sweatshirt and jacket (don't forget a waterproof layer) are all essentials to help you be prepared for whatever the conditions. If you don't have a balaclava, they always come in handy and make a big difference keeping your neck warm!
Javelin Broderick (pictured above) - WERA West Team Conti rider.
If you're looking to get the best performance and longevity out of your tires, for ContiRaceAttack tires, be sure to use tire warmers set at high setting (175 deg F) for a FULL hour prior to your first session of the day.
Be ready for anything and you will be able to enjoy all the available track time!! Those first sessions that are a little thin, can be some of the best track time you'll have all year!
Posted by Scott Lian on Sat, Apr 17, 2010 @ 03:14 PM
You asked for it, we made it happen. You can now upgrade your track day and tire combo to get SLICK tires! Here's what our very first customer to try the slicks had to say about em...
"I had the chance to run the new Conti race slicks at VIR over the past two days and wanted to [give] some serious props to these tires. I've run Pirelli slicks for the past two years and I find the Conti to be a better tire ... and value. They feel more stable, with great feedback, and a much longer tire life. The tires did seem slightly harder on a turn-in, but nothing that affected my riding. I turned my best laps ever at VIR on them...can't wait to run them up at Loudon.
I highly recommend that people give the tires a try." - Scott Merrill
Click below to reserve your set for our April event now.
Posted by Scott Lian on Mon, Apr 12, 2010 @ 01:09 PM
A few of us headed down to VIR for a Cornerspeed track day with Mid-Atlantic Ducati. Dale from Dragonknee Racing met us there to help get us up to speed on the Continental tires. I had been anticipating this trip for weeks, as we would not only be riding my favorite track on the East Coast, but I would be picking up a new-to-me fully race prepped CBR600RR.
Flying down to Raleigh, NC, we rented some cars and headed toward Danville... stopping on the way for a tasty brunch, particularly for our friend Dustin who went whole-hog with the French toast.
As our flights were in the morning and Danville is not that far from Raleigh, we had plenty of time to kill prior to checking into the track at 5 pm. A trip to Wal-Mart for some food and water, and more than a few trips to the bar at the Texas Roadhouse cured the boredom, and before we knew it we were on our way to heaven on earth... straight into the setting sun.
We checked into our hotels, rustled up some dinner and while some worked on final prep work for their bikes... yours truly headed to my room for a good night's sleep. The morning would come soon (along with my bike!) and I wanted to be nice and rested for 2 full days of riding the North course.
Perhaps one of the best views you could ever ask for is the fog and dew lifting off the front straight at dawn. Soon the temps and revs would rise and the day would be underway.
Around 7 am I met Steve who had shown up overnight with my new bike and I got my first real look at what I'd be campaigning for the rest of the season. Prepped to an impeccable degree, I was more than impressed with my first look at her. After tech inspection, off came the wheels and over to the tire service guys to mount up a fresh set of ContiRaceAttack slicks. I had been impressed with these tires at our West Coast Tire Test, and couldn't wait to put 'em through their paces at a track I knew very well.
After a false-start due to a early red flag, it was soon my turn again and this time I rolled out to the grid at 2nd call to made the start with everyone in our session. After a couple laps to ease into things, I was starting to realize that you can't expect a 600 to pull from 5000 rpm, a luxury I enjoyed last year on my 848 Ducati. Nope, you have to abuse these things... there's an entirely new world of sensation above 9k rpm... The revs building at an incredible rate, she pulled strong all the way to the 15,000 rpm redline. This was a whole different animal from the V-twins I have ridden previously, and I was starting to get what all the fuss was about with middleweight 600's...
After getting getting to know the bike during the first 2 sessions, it was time to make some changes. The previously ran Pirelli Diablo Supercorsas, and was quite stiff as-delivered. The tires weren't giving me the feel and grip I had experienced at Buttonwillow, and I suspected the settings were too harsh for the much-stiffer carcass of the Continentals. Softening the compression a half-turn out in the forks, and 3 clicks out in the shock (usually it's a good idea to try changes big enough to feel a difference, versus 1 click at a time) proved what a difference a few clicks can make!
Now planted, compliant over bumps, and sticking like glue... (even in those few "whoops" moments running a bit hot into the first turn - getting used to the slipper clutch) I didn't touch the damping settings for the rest of the event..
The fork travel indicator still showed a healthy inch of travel I wasn't using yet, so out came some pre-load front and rear to try and use more of the suspension's travel. After next session... about 3/4" beneath the indicator was showing. Backing out some more pre-load and another session was able to yield about 3/8" of travel left, a safe margin to avoid bottoming out under heavy braking.
From here on in there was no more wrench turning or clicking of adjusters, just riding and enjoying a low-key day of riding with friends. Here I am following my friend Scott aboard his GSXR 600, who happened to be trying the ContiRaceAttack tires for the first time.
At the end of the first day, I was over the moon. The bike was every bit as good as I expected, the tires were sticking like glue, and most importantly everyone in our group had a blast and were looking forward to another day of gorgeous weather and tons of track time (I want to say thanks to Cornerspeed for providing more-than-you-can-take track time, despite running 4 groups. The day was run smoothly and professionally as always, thanks Aaron!).
Day 2 would greet us with even warmer temps (upwards of mid-90's) and we were all reminded at the riders' meeting to take it easy, hydrate plenty, and expect a slightly greasy track once the sun was baking down in the afternoon. Today I worked on some video sessions, once again following Scott during the morning sessions. Here's a couple of laps of the North course:
Unfortunately, my best session of the day following Craig Woratyla (multi-class expert Mid-Atlantic CCS Champion), the video camera died on the out lap. Such a shame, as Dale timed us running 1:42's all session. I definitely have to say thanks to Craig for towing me around the North course faster than I'd ever been before.... it was a blast.
As Day 2 came to a close, I headed out for one last session. A few laps in, I noticed the bike wasn't making the power it had been making previously and pulled in thinking I was running out of fuel. I wish I had been so lucky. Turns out the bolt holding the timing gear on had backed itself out, rubbed against the inside of the right-side crankcase cover and punched a quarter-sized hole in it...
Fortunately there wasn't a whole lot of oil lost, just enough to coat my boot and rearset. With a plethora of very fast right-hand turns at VIR... things could have been much, much worse. A closer look shows the hole in the cover and the broken bolt sitting loose inside.
So my day came to a (very slightly) premature end, and we packed things up to head home.
This trip yet again reminded of how much I love the North course at VIR... every time I ride there I have an insanely good time. If you've never been, go. You won't regret it.... there's no better way to kick off a season of riding.
Till next time...
UPDATE: Here's a few laps around the North Course on the ContiRaceAttack shod 07 CBR600RR.
Posted by Scott Lian on Wed, Mar 31, 2010 @ 12:50 PM
After a long, painful winter's wait for spring... the 2010 track day season is just around the corner! To celebrate, we're offering the following rubber and track time specials for the 2010 opening event at NHMS on April 27th and 28th.
Race Tires:
ContiRaceAttack Competition Set + Track Day - $450 (Click to Order)
Available in 120, 160, 180 and 190 section sizes.
Street Tires:
Multiple popular brands of street tires available for these packages!
Track Day Experience - Hypersport Street - $475 (Click to Order)
Track Day Experience - Sport Street - $500 (Click to Order)
Available in most popular sizes, size availability varies by tire choice.
Qualifying Street Tires:
Hypersport: Bridgestone Battlax BT-003, Continental ContiRaceAttack Street, Dunlop Sportmax Q2, Metzeler Sportec M3, Michelin Power Pure, Pirelli Diablo Rosso
Sport: Bridgestone Battlax BT-021;, Continental ContiSportAttack, ContiRoadAttack, ContiMotion and ContiForce; Metzeler Roadtec Z6 Interact, Michelin Pilot Road 2; Pirelli Diablo Strada
Posted by Scott Lian on Mon, Mar 29, 2010 @ 10:26 AM
With the arrival of the ContiRaceAttack Competition and Slick line of tires, we saw a hole for the track day enthusiast looking for a capable track day tire that could also serve as a high performing (and longer wearing) street and track tire. We are extremely pleased to announce that we will be offering the full line of Continental race AND street tires!
You've all heard about our ContiRaceAttack Competition tire thoughts... but for those of you looking for one tire to serve your street and track needs, the following options are now available by special order. Unlike the race and track only offerings from Continental, the street tires have been available in the U.S. for quite some time, garnering a reputation for incredible grip and longevity. Beginning with the RaceAttack Street through the ContiMotion, the tires below are listed in descending order of grip and wear characteristics (The RaceAttack Street is a hypersport street tire offering maximum grip for street and track day use, while the ContiMotion is a sport touring tire offering grip and increased longevity and wet weather peformance).
Street tires are by Special Order Only! Allow 2 weeks for processing.
ContiRaceAttack Street (Starting at $296 per set)
ContiSportAttack (Starting at $320 per set)
ContiRoadAttack (Starting at $320 per set)
ContiMotion Sport Touring (Starting at $190 per set)
Other options include the specially designed Super Motard ContiForce SM tire, offering increased cold weather performance, quick warm up times, at an incredible value.
ContiForce Supermoto (Starting at $278 per set)
Posted by Scott Lian on Thu, Mar 25, 2010 @ 04:02 PM
This comes up time and time again on internet forums, and by customers on a daily basis at the track... "What tire should I run for track days?" Use the information below to help make a decision that's best fit for you.
DOT Race tires have come a long way in 10 years or so... no longer are issues like "heat cycling" as much of a worry as they were in the past. Most major brand DOT race tires today use similar basic compounds as their street brethren. And the street "hypersport" tire segment is growing even closer to their racing tire counter parts each and every year, with increased lean angles achieved on the very same tires that come equipped on many popular sport bikes.
So what's the best choice for you?
For track day novices and junkies alike, a modern sport tire (anything from a sport touring tire to an ultra-grippy hypersport tire) will serve most riders' needs for track day use, especially if you run your track days on your street bike. If you are seeing street miles at all, your best bet is extremely clear: get a street tire that meets your needs in terms of grip and longevity.
If you have a dedicated track bike, the choice becomes a little less obvious. A hypersport "street" DOT tire is the tire of choice for track day junkies who aren't local club racers or chasing lap times. Sacrificing very little in terms of grip (some street hypersport tires offer as much as 90% grip when compared to their DOT race tire counterparts), you can expect quicker warm up times, better cold weather and wet performance, and longer life. Plus you won't need to invest in a set of tire warmers or paddock stands, a trade off many are more than happy to make. Rolling out onto the track, you won't have to worry about waiting before your group is released, or waiting on the grid when there's a red flag... hypersport street tires benefit from extremely quick warm up times and are engineered for grip at much lower temperatures and in a wider range of operating conditions than a DOT race tire.
If you're an experienced track day rider with the discipline to take an easy first couple of laps each session... or you don't mind the added expense of stands and tire warmers... then a DOT race compound tire might be just what you're looking for to take your track riding to the next level as you start to push your limits on the track.
With the latest rubber available for street and track day enthusiasts, you really can't go wrong. Nearly every magazine tire test rates each brand closely overall, with subtle nuances and different "feels" to the tire making up the differences and just like bike shoot outs, a different brand usually ends up on top each year as the product lines are continually developed.
In summary:
- If you're new to track riding or run a moderate pace, any "sport tire" that you feel comfortable on (whatever you use for the street) will be more than capable of taking you safely through numerous track days.
- If you've been riding the track for a while and are looking for that added performance, but desire a solution that will work in nearly all temperature and weather conditions, a trusted hypersport street tire from a major brand will provide performance capable of approaching expert race times.
- If you're an expert track rider or club racer searching for added track time and desire the ultimate in grip for a DOT approved tire, and have a dedicated track bike that won't see many street miles, then a DOT race tire is the answer for you. If you desire longevity, choose a medium or harder compound tire that will last longer. If you're chasing lap times, choose a softer compound tire that will provide more grip while sacrificing a little longevity.
We and our staff nearly exclusively run hypersport street tires to alleviate the need for tire warmers, stands, and added tire changes. Sacrificing a little performance (which is growing narrower every year) to the DOT race tire, provides a trade off which significantly reduces stress and concerns throughout your track day experience, letting you focus less on whether your tires are up to temperature, and more on what we all love best... riding.