ContiEscape
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The ContiEscape embodies the true urban spirit of the adventure style motorcycle delivering pioneering grip and handling feedback to ensure the rider has total control all season, all weather, in every road condition. Leave your routine behind, ride ContiEscape.
| Size | Pattern | Front/Rear |
|---|---|---|
| 120/90 -17 M/C 64S TT | ContiEscape | R |
| 130/80 -17 M/C 65S TT | ContiEscape | R |
| 130/80 -17 M/C 65H TL | ContiEscape | R |
| 140/80 -17 M/C 69H TT | ContiEscape | R |
| 410 -18 M/C 60S TT | ContiEscape | R |
| 140/80 -18 M/C 70H TT | ContiEscape | R |
| 100/90 -19 M/C 57H TL | ContiEscape | F |
| 275 -21 M/C 45S TT | ContiEscape | F |
| 90/90 -21 M/C 54S TT | ContiEscape | F |
| 90/90 -21 M/C 54H TL | ContiEscape | F |
- Key
- TL = Tubeless
- TT = Tubetype
Road Magazine review
- Publication Date - August 2010
- Tester: - Nich Brown
- Bike: - Tenere XT660Z
I’ve now covered 15,000 in the first ten months of riding my do-everything Tenere XT660Z.
The original boots fitted to the bike had served me very well for the first 10,000 miles, and there was still a way to go before hitting the wear limit. Definitely at the chunky end of the design spectrum for adventure-style tyres, they had clearly been specified by Yamaha to instil thoughts of traversing mud roads in the monsoon season or discover sandy beaches at sunset.
So, when Cambrian Tyres offered to donate some of their wares, literally keeping me and Paddy on the road campaigning for MAG, I was itching to find out what difference it might make to the feel of the ride.
Now then, your Tenere is a tall bike with long, pliant, suspension capable of handling the roughest terrain, it also has a 21 inch front rim designed for cutting a swathe through loose stuff rather than scything tarmac from apex to apex. Even so, I had a feeling that Yamaha’s choice of rubber probably accounted for much of the understeer and general vagueness I was feeling in ‘B’ road bends.
While I like bikes that need a bit of involvement, wrestling the XT to stay on the line I wanted was becoming a bit of a distraction and didn’t really inspire confidence. A pair of Continental Escapes has transformed the handling. Although the tyre sizes are directly equivalent to the original fit tyres, the profile of the Conti Escape seems to allow it to roll more easily and predictably. At their widest point, the Conti’s are about 8mm narrower, which is another indication that the tyre designer has recognised that dual-sport bikes typically spend far more time on mettled roads.
That said, the bike does feel well-planted along stood-on-the-pegs fire-roads and, looking at the block shapes, I suspect the Conti might outperform the original fitment in mud and muck. So far, the wear-rate seems to be as good as the tyres they replaced, but I can’t really tell if there is any difference in fuel economy as I’ve added some pannier boxes that are about as aerodynamic as breeze-blocks.
