Best Supermoto Tires of 2016
In this video/article :
Continental Conti Attack SM
First up is the Continental Conti Attack SM and dare I say it … this is the most super supermoto tire.
As you can probably see, the Conti Attack is for people who like to go fast. The minimal tread pattern and angular profile are textbook sportbike stuff. You’d get the same deal from racing favourites like the Pilot Power, Q3, Diablo Rosso, S21 … and yes, supermoto guys do run those tires too. But what makes the Conti Attack special is its compound .
See supermoto bikes are very light. And less weight means less friction, so a proper supermoto tire should be softer and easier to warm up than a normal sport tire.
That’s exactly what we have here. It’s a special SM compound, made with something Continental calls “Black Chili.” Basically, it’s a special type of carbon soot, where each nano particle takes on a particular shape. That way, more of them make contact with the ground and voila – the tire warms up faster and grips harder.
Contintental also used CCT – or continuous compound technology. See most performance tires have two or three different compounds – harder rubber in the centre, softer rubber on the sides. That gives the tire less rolling resistance and more longevity on the straightaways, while still preserving soft and sticky cornering grip.
The problem is that – as you lean the bike over – the tire abruptly changes from a hard to a soft contact area. So you feel that “step” and it makes the tire a bit unpredictable.
With CCT though, Continental used only one rubber compound that was cured progressively. So while it’s harder on the top and softer on the sides, there’s no single edge where the change takes place. The tire gradually gets softer as you push it to the limit, so the feedback is uniform. That’ll give me a lot more confidence in pushing this tire to the edge and as we all know, supermotos love to get slideways.
To get vain for a moment, just check out this sidewall. The checkered flag motif doesn’t do shit-all for performance but man does that look cool.
One last thing I’ll say about this tire – which is kind of weird – is that it comes pre-broken in. Continental calls it Traction Surface and it’s basically just rough all over… like a really high-grit sandpaper. I personally enjoy scrubbing in my tires, so this does nothing for me. But it is unusual.
Heidenau K80
Now, the Conti Attack has a very close competitor in the Heidenau K80.
Both are made for going fast, both have a special supermoto rubber compound, both come from Germany, and both will run you just shy of 200 bucks.
To be perfectly honest, the Continental is a better tire. It’s much faster, better cornering grip, more feedback, it looks cooler…
But I still think there’s a reason to buy the K80!
See this is more of a relaxed supermoto tire. It has a slick centre strip for maximum grip coming off the line, but the tread grooves also extend all the way to the shoulder. So this guy evacuates water way better than the Continental. Of course, having these evacuation channels out here is also why the cornering grip isn’t so hot.
But if you ride at a calmer pace, who cares! I’ll be the first to admit that this tire is good enough for me. I hit rain storms more often than I hit 90-degree lean angles. So by my priorities, the K80 is a better fit.
Plus it’ll last a smidge longer. I typically don’t care that much about mileage when it comes to supermoto – I had a DRZ-400 that took so long to go through tires that I just changed them out of boredom. But yeah, theoretically, this is more economical.
Now , what if I want a supermoto tire that I can use off-road?
Avon Distanzia
Well the Avon Distanzia was the go-to option. For an 80/20 tire, it had respectable off-road performance and impeccable on-road performance. Plus, it came in a tailormade supermoto compound, which put it miles ahead of the competition.
But all good things come to an end, so Avon recently replaced the Distanzia with a piece of garbage called the TrailRider. Okay, so it’s not that bad. But the TrailRider is targeted at the new wave of 1000cc adventure bikes and – in my opinion – it’s not as good on a supermoto.
So then we’re left to look at the Heidenau K73 … which is a brilliant supermoto tire but – alas – not that great for serious off-roading.
Shinko 705
And so we arrive here – with the Shinko 705. To be totally honest with you guys, this isn’t exceptional either. But we’re running out of options and, at the very least, this isn’t expensive. Most rear sizes are priced south of 100 bucks.
What else can I say? It’s an 80/20 tire, it doesn’t vibrate too bad on the pavement, turn-in is a lot quicker than you’d expect and cornering grip is predictable and stable, if not that sticky.
The off-road behaviour is fine too. The 705s will eat up gravel roads all day long, hard packed trails are no problem. Sand is surprisingly okay but the wet stuff is a bit of an Achilles heel. This tread does not evacuate well so when the dirt gets wet and the mud gets tacky … be prepared for drama.
Mileage is okay – I’d get about 12,000 clicks with this guy on the rear of my V-Strom. Supermotos should manage a bit more, depending on the size of your bike and the weight of your right hand.
To sum up then, on-road/off-road supermoto tires are a bit of a pickle. The Distanzias are perfect but no one is making them. The TrailRiders are imperfect and expensive. The Heidenau K73s aren’t really an off-road tire at all. And the Shinko 705s are very similar to the Distanzias, minus the supermoto compound which is the bit we mainly care about.
So in the end, buy a pair of the old Distanzias if you can find them. If not, Shinko 705s are a cheap band-aid fix in the meantime.
And that’s it for my favourite supermoto tires! Thank you very much for watching.