Cycle News

Cycle News 2020 Issue 20 May 19

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1248810

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P86 PRODUCT REVIEW I S TANDOUT FEATURE Good all-around performance on- and off-road and higher mileage than 80/20 tires RIDER AN ALYSIS Having recently reviewed several of the newest 80/20 ADV tires on the market, I was curious as to how the veteran Anakee Wild would stack up against the newer offerings. First of all, I love the look of a big ADV bike with aggressive tires. To me, it just looks cool, but a lot of people don't run them because they simply wear out too fast. Michelin focused on addressing that issue with the Anakee Wild. These tires look great, and the sidewalls are pliable enough that they can easily be mounted by hand, which is what I did. I usually balance new tires with my Motion Pro Axis Truing-Balance stand, and while some tires require a lot of patience and additional weight to get them just right, the Anakee Wild tires were almost perfectly bal- anced right from the factory. For this test I took my typical off- road ADV route that actually starts with some awesome twisty tarmac and then turns into national forest LOWDOWN T he Michelin Anakee Wild ADV tire is a single-com- pound tire with an inno- vative tread inspired by their winning Dakar Rally tire. While it looks like an aggressive DOT knobbie, I was surprised to find that Michelin catego- rizes it as a 50/50. Designed with an emphasis on longev- ity, the sidewalls of this radial design tire flex independently from the crown, which is said to improve the footprint and reduce wear, especially on the pavement. Michelin says that with these tires, you can finish your long adventure trip on the same tires you started on. The front tire is available in 19 inches and 21 inches, and the rear in 17 inches and 18 inches, and several new widths have been offered since it was origi- nally introduced in 2016. They are a bit pricy, with MSRPs for the 21-inch front tire at $151.95 and the 18-inch rear at $286.95. MICHELIN ANAKEE WILD (Top left) The Michelin Anakee Wild has proven to be a solid performing and long wearing ADV tire that can still hold its own against comparably newer offerings. (Top right) Despite the aggressive looks, Michelin categorizes the Anakee Wild ADV tire as 50/50.

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