The Michelin Anakee Road is a new tire specifically for road-biased adventure touring motorcycles. It’s a “90/10” tire (90% road, 10% off-road) designed to provide great paved road performance, dry or wet, with the versatility to tackle the occasional unpaved road.
Anakee Roads feature Michelin’s 2CT+ dual-compound tread technology, with more durable rubber laid below grippier shoulder rubber. On the front tire, this adds stability and grip when braking into corners. On the rear tire, it does the same when accelerating out of corners. A firmer rubber compound is laid down the middle to extend tread life on straighter roads. The Michelin Anakee Road tires are the first ADV bike tires with this dual compound tread technology configuration on front and rear tires.
Anakee Roads also have Michelin’s latest Premium Touch, Radial-X EVO, and Aramid Shield technologies that combine for optimal feedback, stability, and durability. Readers may recall that Michelin was the first motorcycle tire manufacturer to use silica, which helps bond a tire both mechanically and chemically to wet pavement. Anakee Roads’ dual-compound tread includes high silica content to enhance grip on wet roads.
Michelin provided Rider a set of Anakee Road tires for evaluation on your humble scribe’s BMW F 750 GS, a road-biased ADV bike. My maiden voyage saw steady rain pelting the winding roads of northern Connecticut and western Massachusetts. In addition to high silica content, these tires have sipes that are wider than pure road tires and angled to evacuate water across the center of the tread, and separate tapered sipes push water out at the shoulders. The GS felt nicely connected to the curvy wet pavement.
This ride included a stretch of hardpack with some gravelly sections. This wasn’t off-road, just a road no one felt the need to pave, and even when the pavement ended, the Anakee Roads retained good grip. (For serious off-road riding, Michelin offers other Anakee models with more aggressive tread.)
For my next ride, I assembled a route of some favorite twisties. On a cool, sunny, dry day, the Michelin Anakee Road tires delivered consistent feedback and grip that inspired spirited riding at sub-felonious speeds. Trail braking into corners and rolling on the throttle coming out felt stable and smooth. While new tires always feel good, these Anakee Roads are making my GS feel better.
Since I routinely ride a long distance to reach good riding regions, I added more miles on divided highways. My main takeaway is that Anakee Roads are much quieter than the Anakee III tires that were the OEM fitment on my GS. Michelin says the Anakee III line of single-compound, pavement-focused ADV tires introduced in 2011 is being phased out this year and replaced by the new Anakee Road line. With dual compound tread front and rear, Anakee Roads should last longer on slab while retaining their grip when the curves begin.
For the mission of a road-biased ADV bike like my GS, Michelin’s Anakee Road tires are feeling really good to me. Michelin Anakee Road tires are available in a variety of sizes for use with or without tubes.
See all of Rider‘s Tire Reviews here.
No mention of cost or mileage expectations.
Not that I was expecting an unbiased review from this digital rag but at least some mention of how short lived these tires are should have been mentioned. I’ve LOST COUNT of how many sets of these I’ve purchased over the last 20k miles on bike that just turned two years old. Recently I’m told the rears wear out two times the rate of the steers–which explains why my rear is ready for the dust bin AGAIN. Of course, I’m not complaining about how well the tires work (they certainly do) just how long they work on my bike.
Hi Marion and Ray.
Michelin offers multiple sizes in the Anakee Road range and cost varies according to tire size and spec. Also, retailers set their own prices. I do not make mileage projections because so many variables are at play, such as the bike the tires are installed on, road surface quality, weight of the rider/passenger/gear, how aggressively the rider accelerates/turns/brakes, and how far a given rider is willing to keep riding on tires once they’ve reached the treadwear indicators. The two previous sets of tires I ran on my F 750 GS also happened to be Michelin: Anakee 3 (that came on the new bike) and Anakee Adventure. I replaced both sets at about 7,000 miles, soon after the treadwear indicators became flush. To help you gauge my treadwear experience, consider that I ride to have fun (no errands or commuting), I do occasional track days, and there are quite a few unpaved roads in my part of the world. All of that is hard on tires. Will I get similar mileage from the new Anakee Roads? When I know, I can report back. SAW
Any update a month later? I’m trying to decide between these and Road 6s for my Super Tenere, which I use for tarmac touring. I’ve gotten over 10,000 miles out of my Road 5 Trails, but they’re no longer made.
Any impression updates after riding these for another month? Wet grip, handling?
Hi Jim. I’ve got 1,000 miles on the Anakee Roads and still like how they perform on paved roads. At this point I can’t accurately predict how many miles I’ll get out of them. For what it’s worth, in 39 years of riding I have never gotten 10,000 miles from a set of motorcycle tires on any bike I have owned. I definitely prefer the Anakee Roads over the Anakee 3’s they are replacing in Michelin’s line-up.
Bones
Thanks, have you had a chance to test them on wet tarmac?
Jim, when I’m asked to provide riding impressions for tires, one thing I do early on is wait for rain. As described in the story, my first ride with the Anakeee Roads was in the rain. I found the wide sipes on the Anakee Roads do a good job of evacuating water and the high silica content is intended specifically to make the tread stick mechanically and chemically to the road. I have ridden a Super Tenere (not with these tires), and if your plan is to stay mostly on paved roads then these tires appear to be designed with that mission in mind.
I think you did a pretty good job. Yesterday, I ordered this tire for my R 1250 ADV. Your review influenced my choice.
Keep going !
Thanks, Ali. Will do!