Promised in 2014, and finally arriving in 2016 – the Anakee Wild is Michelin’s attempt to grab hold of a piece of the lucrative 50/50 tyre market used by many adventure bike riders.
Over in the States, Motorcyclist Magazine were invited by the French manufacturer to test their latest dual-purpose adventure tyres both on and off-road, duly sending Senior Editor Zack Courts along for the ride.
Riding the magazine’s own BMW R1200 GS Adventure long termer, the first section was approximately 100 miles across greater Los Angeles on the freeway during rush hour, a few sharp braking maneuvers in heavy traffic giving them a stern early test.
The Anakee Wild rubber is loud on the road, but then again so are most knobblies – with Zack finding that noise peaked between 45 and 60mph before the wind started to drown it out. The first test of handling came on the famous California Route 33 and Zack says:
“It’s not exactly knobby territory, but the Wilds did well. There’s plenty of grip to carve through corners and enjoy the road, and I was impressed how little the Wilds seemed to flex (considering it’s a radial construction, and a fully fueled R1200GS-A is nearly 600 pounds before adding a rider).
The handling characteristic is odd, though. A very round profile means the bike falls into the corner really easily; almost too easily. In order to hold the GS on line I had to steer the bike into the corner with quite a bit of pressure on the handlebar. As experienced riders know, a good road tire will fall into a corner but be neutral when leaned over—this makes feedback from the tire easier to read and buoys confidence. The Anakee Wild doesn’t have that feel, but to be fair most knobby ADV tires feel this way. Even Continental’s TKC 80, which has good road grip, definitely feels weird at first and you have to learn to trust it. The Anakee Wild is comparable, but it feels slightly more severe and for some reason I never came around and truly trusted the tire, even though it never broke traction.”
The afternoon saw the group tackling the dry, loose dirt of an off-road centre, so Zack knocked off the BMW’s traction control, relying on the tyres to impress and comments:
“A big ADV bike like the GS is especially heavy on the front tire, and a good test of an off-road tire for this bike is how well the front end works. I found front grip to be acceptable, and most importantly quite forgiving—I lost the front in gravelly sections on a few occasions, but it always came back. Rear grip is a lot easier (and more fun) to explore, especially in dry terrain. The Anakee Wild-shod GS made quick work of all climbs I attempted in the OHV area, scurrying over exposed rock, loose gravel, and sand alike.
So the overall design of the tire seems to work well, though I can’t say the Anakee Wild showed me anything in the dirt that the competition could not achieve. Left to my own off-road devices I still think the TKC 80 would go on my bike for challenging adventure terrain. Lastly, I should say I didn’t play with pressure. Gritty ADV riders will surely air down their tires for maximum grip, but since Michelin doesn’t “recommend” doing that, I rode with pressures in the mid-30s in both tires. (What Michelin recommends, incidentally, is manufacturer pressures—in this case 36 front and 42 rear—but I couldn’t bring myself to put that much air in.)”
With the bold claims of increased mileage as yet independently untested, do the Anakee Wild tyres do enough to coax riders away from the more established competition?
Answering that most important of questions Zack says:
“It’s a bold step for Michelin to take into a very competitive category, full of educated and experienced consumers. Even with admirable pavement grip and stability, decent off-road chops, and longer life, I’m not sure it will take the place of the TKC 80 as the go-to choice for ADV riders. Time, and the market, will tell!”
You can view the full range of Anakee Wild sizes here.
