Continental Navigator

Ok guys, here it is. After much bugging from the forum and threats of physical bodily harm, I have decided to finally give my impressions of the “rising star” in Tires in the kingdom of the Vespa, the Continenal Navigator.

The Navigator does not look like it’s predecessors, the Conti Zippy and Conti Twist, both with treads which appeal to the fast rider, more rubber and less treads. The Navigator on the other hand is “choc-full-o-treads”. My first impression was, rain tires! This would really be handy during the rainy season but I had my reservations about it’s durability in hard driving situations.

After finally getting my pair from Allan Sy of Exceed Motors in Caloocan (shameless plug), I was excited to get this baby on the road.

First on road impressions. Have you ever tried riding with slightly deflated tires? That’s how these tires felt the first few times I was riding with them. As I logged more and more kms on it, it felt better and better. Properly aged and pumped with air it was ready for the trip “Around The World”.

That ride was probably the best ride to test any tire. We had all sorts of conditions, wet roads, dry roads, sandy roads, gravel roads, no roads. Under all these circumstances the tire performed……well, they just performed. Performance in less than optimal conditions is much better than my old Zippy’s. Travelling on wet asphalt is a true test of a tires “wet” performance. Under these conditions the Navigator truly was in its’ element. Control was normal, traction was good under the limited speed that the conditions allowed. Water dispersal was fantastic because of the treads. I must have run through a half dozen small puddles which would have caused my Zippys to falter a bit, but the Navigator held the line.

Under optimal conditions the tires were its’ usual consistent self. They felt solid on the turns, both fast sweeping turns and slow tight turns. I have never had the tires skid on me under sudden braking. I have tried to fishtail it, with limited success, on purpose. This tells me they work.

-exerpt form Vespanoy.com