VOLUME 57 ISSUE 20 MAY 19, 2020 P87
service roads quickly thereafter.
The on-road manners of the Ana-
kee Wild tires are fantastic. Stable
and predictable when entering fast
corners and really quiet for such
an aggressive tire. That said, if
you're not used to riding on knob-
bies, you may find them noisier
than what you're used to. To me
it's worth the compromise for the
performance gained off-road.
When the pavement turned to
dirt, the fun began—fun, in terms of
sliding the rear from side to side,
a little more than I expected. I was
a bit surprised since they really do
well when the bike is straight up.
Compared to some of the 80/20
tires that we've recently tested, I
started to understand pretty quick-
ly why Michelin calls this tire a
50/50. The rear slides around a lot
when you're hard on the throttle in
rocks and sand. However, the front
tire makes up for what's lacking in
off-road lateral stability in the rear.
I was impressed with how well the
front of the bike turned in initially
and then held its line throughout
the turn.
Deep mud, however, wasn't so
pleasant in the front because the
mud packed in and didn't clear out
as quickly as I'd like. That said, the
rear fared much better in the mud
and, similar to how the front helps
the rear in loose rocks and sand,
the rear really comes to the rescue
in the mud—staying on the throttle
quickly cleans it out and keeps you
•A bit pricy
•Good all-around
performance
•Stable and predictable on all
surfaces
•Higher mileage than an
80/20 tire
MSRP: $151.95 (21 in.); $286.95 (18 in.)
Website: motorcycle.michelinman.com
moving in the direction
you want to go.
Once back on the
pavement, Michelin's
categorization of this tire
as a 50/50 makes perfect
sense. It works much bet-
ter on twisty tarmac than
the full DOT knobbies
I've ridden recently. Hard
braking on all surfaces
was excellent, and while
the Africa Twin I tested
them on will not let you
disengage the front ABS,
the rear was off com-
pletely, and I had loads
of fun sliding the rear
Anakee Wild into and out
of the turns supermoto-
style. The electronics on
most of the newer-model ADV bikes
will keep the power slides predict-
able, depending on your settings,
so the fact that the rear tire breaks
loose often in the dirt just means
that you'll have that much more
fun riding it. All in all, the Michelin
Anakee Wild may be the perfect
"do it all" tire. You can ride it ag-
gressively both on and off the road,
and when you consider that this tire
should last most riders up to 6000
miles (especially up front), depend-
ing on how active your right wrist
is and other factors, it's definitely
worth the slim difference in off-road
performance versus a full 80/20
DOT knobbie.
Keith Dowdle
WILD ADV TIRES
