Michelin Anakee 2: Nothing but the truth

[precarious]

In my research for a new set of sneakers, I couldn't really find a review of the Anakee 2 which really answered all of my burning questions, so I am writing my own. After three Tourances--the usual front and two rears--which lasted a very respectable 22K miles, I decided to take advantage of the price difference and bought the cheaper Michelins. Mounted by hand in my own shed, balanced by Dynabeads, these tires cost only $250 to roll on.

These shoes adorn a 2004 DL1000 with 47000 miles on the clock and 36/42 psi inside. Can they make it to 55K fairly aggressively?

I mounted the tires today and took my time scrubbing them in. About 200 miles worth, total. My first real ride of the season here in New Hampshire, and it was glorious. The beads make the ride as advertised, "as smooth as glass." I can take my hands off the bars at highway speeds (read "triple digit") without even noticing save for the dramatic deceleration, of course. Even when fresh, the Tourance always caused the Strom to shake its big head around. This seems to be a common issue on these bikes.

First impression is excellent. The future holds the truth for wet grip, dirt/gravel/etc. grip, and longevity.

By the by, a little care goes a long way, and a little luck goes even farther. My chain and sprockets have about 25K miles on them and not a single tooth has started rolling into a shark fin. I oil it with Maxima Chain Wax--synthetic or conventional, whichever catches my fancy. Normally, I oil it every 300 miles. I try to make a point to give it at least a quick wipe with some brake clean or WD40 at the same time, but I don't fret too much. For prolonged riding, I oil it at the end of the day, usually 600 miles, sometimes more. I always oil it after riding in the rain, and I never let it go past 1000 miles between a thorough cleaning. I've had very good fortunes with this regimen, just wanted to share it with the world. I've heard the big Stoms generally only get less than 20K from their chains.

And so, we go. Ride on fellow adventurers! I will check in periodically with mileage news and impressions and maybe some other points of interest. If anyone's coming to NH and wants a point in the right direction of some good turns or if anyone at all just wants a partner in crime, let me know.

See you soon,
-Matt

[organicrider]

I put an Anakee II rear tire on my bike a month ago and so far have been very happy with the improvement in grip. It's too soon by far to judge tread wear and I yet to take it on gravel. I look forward to others reviews about their experiences in these catagories.

[precarious]

Thanks for the reply, fellow Stomboli! I actually repaired the driveshaft seals on the USS Asheville... Same name as your hometown, and I've had a few, so it seems relevant somehow

If you've got an opinion, we'd love to know what and why. And maybe what song you were listening to when you came to the conclusion? I said "nothing but the truth," but that's kinda dry.

[ADVwannabe]

I hope they change the profile of the Anakees as well as the compound. I went away from the Anakee 1s on my Tiger, despite good grip levels and endurance.

My problem was 'feel'. I enjoy punting my beastie along. When it is fitted with tourances both tyres scrub all the way to the edge and when they do let go, give me plenty of warning.

On my last set of Anakees, by the time the rear was scrubbed to the edge the front still had a way to go. Although the overall level of grip was as good or better than the tourances, I didn't feel as comfotable with them.

Reading through the tech sheet on the new ones there is no mention of changing the profile of the front tyre. Altough I admit my issues are subjective, I'll leave the Anakee 2s for now thanks

[Desert Dave]

Originally Posted by ADVwannabe

I hope they change the profile of the Anakees as well as the compound. I went away from the Anakee 1s on my Tiger, despite good grip levels and endurance.

My problem was 'feel'. I enjoy punting my beastie along. When it is fitted with tourances both tyres scrub all the way to the edge and when they do let go, give me plenty of warning.

On my last set of Anakees, by the time the rear was scrubbed to the edge the front still had a way to go. Although the overall level of grip was as good or better than the tourances, I didn't feel as comfotable with them.

Reading through the tech sheet on the new ones there is no mention of changing the profile of the front tyre. Altough I admit my issues are subjective, I'll leave the Anakee 2s for now thanks

I don't think they changed anything. Coming from Pilot Roads I just put a set of Anakee 2s on about 1500 miles ago. The front profile is exactly what I don't like in a tire and the bike handles a lot different, the Pilots had a much more linear turn in. I've found the same as you, that I can be riding off the edge of the rear and the front still has large chicken strips. The Pilots were far more planted, where as the Anakees leave me making more mid corner corrections. Personal thing I suppose, many riders love a tire with a profile like that, just not me.

Can't comment on mileage except at 1500 miles the rear shows more uneven wear than I'm used to, not surprising given it's tall tread. Then again I've given up on getting high mileage out of any tire I like. As for stick, no complaints there even in the wet. I actually broke these tires in on a damp road and was very happy in those regards.

[Yukon PER]

I'm running the Anakees on my 06 Tiger. I got about 9k on the back and 12k on the front with the old ones. I just put a new rear tire on this past Saturday. The first thing I noticed with the new Anakee is that it now rolls into the corners. With the old ones, I would experience more of a dive than a roll when the tire was new. The front tire will cup on the Tiger after about 5k, hopefully this will not be the case with the new ones. They have preformed great on wet pavement and gravel roads.

[ggrjr]

No experience with the Anakee IIs but put about 6000 miles on my Anakee Is and loved them. Ended up replacing with Tourances as Anakees were back ordered and michelin couldn't give me a consistant answer on when they would be available. I found that the Tourances move around a lot more and will spin, a lot easire with teh bike leaned over. The difference between their handling is similar to teh difference between the Pilot roads, and pilot powers on my big bore VFR. Haven't had the tourances in the dirt yet, so I can't compare them there. Wet grip Anakees are alittle more stable, and seem a little more controllable when they do spin.

[Gustavo]

Originally Posted by Desert Dave

The front profile is exactly what I don't like in a tire and the bike handles a lot different, the Pilots had a much more linear turn in. I've found the same as you, that I can be riding off the edge of the rear and the front still has large chicken strips. The Pilots were far more planted, where as the Anakees leave me making more mid corner corrections. Personal thing I suppose, many riders love a tire with a profile like that, just not me.

Yeah, the Anakee front has a very pronounced "triangular" profile, so it tends to fall sharply into corners, so as you and others observed, it gives different feedback than a more rounded design. I have read a few professional reviews that complained about that trait, especially when testing on a R12GS (German rags). I always thought that on the V-Strom that actually made riding twisties less work, as the bike turns a lot faster with Anakees than anything else I tried.

I am not sure why you guys think that having large chicken strips in the front is a problem. I don't mind when the rear starts breaking loose, but recovering from a front end slide is a lot more difficult on a 500+ lbs loaded beast. Having larger strips only means you have more room to lean it if necessary before you run out of tire. It means the bike doesn't push the front as hard, and that can only bee good for you in the long run. I've had mine on track days on Anakees, and they work fine even at speeds and angles you'd rarely see on the street.


Gustavo

[Desert Dave]

Originally Posted by Gustavo

Yeah, the Anakee front has a very pronounced "triangular" profile, so it tends to fall sharply into corners, so as you and others observed, it gives different feedback than a more rounded design....... I always thought that on the V-Strom that actually made riding twisties less work, as the bike turns a lot faster with Anakees than anything else I tried.

I am not sure why you guys think that having large chicken strips in the front is a problem....... I've had mine on track days on Anakees, and they work fine even at speeds and angles you'd rarely see on the street.


Gustavo

Having the chicken strips themselves isn't a problem, I was just pointing it out as an observation of the tire profile. In other words it's an indication of how the tire handles, as any tire I've ridden that does that has a similar feel, and for me that's a warning sign that I probably won't like it. Maybe if I rode more smooth high speed roads I would get along better with it, but most of my riding is tighter roads with terrible surfaces which I prefer steering that requires slightly more effort but is more planted, same reason I prefer the 19" tire as opposed to a 17" for what I do. Then again when I have been on the track (never with the strom) I've ran slicks with a similar profile as well as more rounded, and the rounder profile has always worked better for me, while others swear by the other. So my review was not to say it's a bad thing for everyone, but if you know you don't like that characteristic it probably isn't a good choice. (and if you do like it, it probably is a great choice)

The only reason I switched from the pilots was I was hoping the Anakees would give me a bit better performance on fire roads, which I have yet to test as the opportunities I've had so far have all been in mud that I don't expect these to do any better than a street tire. For the mostly dry dirt I will take it in I'll have to see if I notice enough of an improvement to put up with the street manners that I don't like as much.

[ADVwannabe]

It's a feel thing for me Gustav, I'm prepared to concede they may be a great tire, I just don't like the way they feel. They don't give a linear ammount of turn in for a given input, explainable by the trianguar profile that has been mentioned.

Again I can't quantify that statement, just how they feel to me

[NC HILLBILLY]

I'm on my second set of Anakee II's on the rear of my 09 V Strom-1K and love them. I ride pretty aggressively but still got about 6K on the last rear which is great for me. I have about 5K on the front Anakee II and its looks to be about half gone. No complaints here......Mark

[precarious]

A couple days of rain has kept the Strom inside, so it was feeling a little frisky tonight on the way home. I know I could have done a pretty comprehensive wet-grip test, color me a sally One thing's for sure, grip is phenomenal. I did manage to briefly break traction on the rear, but it wasn't easy. After a few more miles, I feel like I'm getting the feel of these enough to say that they really feel almost identical the Pilot Road 2s I had on my late, great SV650. The Tourance felt a little flat in corners, and these feel very round. Not necessarily better, just rounder.

Should be putting some miles on this weekend. It's supposed to be cool, but clear. May have to make the first trek to NY. The snow melt along VT Rt 125 Scenic should make for a pretty good wet test.

[klarue]

Originally Posted by organicrider

I put an Anakee II rear tire on my bike a month ago and so far have been very happy with the improvement in grip. It's too soon by far to judge tread wear and I yet to take it on gravel. I look forward to others reviews about their experiences in these catagories.

I am having the F8GS shod with A IIs next Monday. Hope they're all they're cracked up to be!

[precarious]

Internet issues have kept me away, but I've managed to flog out the Strom some more. And I came away even more impressed. After a night of riding in the rain, the lean angles and braking seemed much better than the Tourance, and I always thought the Tourance was pretty damn good in the wet. I could still flick the bike quickly into the rotary on my way home and hold the line at about 45mph with no drama whatsoever. Very impressive.

Even more impressive was the recent offroad testing. I followed a route up through Rangely, ME and over into the Errol, NH area. Blasting down the snowmobile trails was going great until I came to a section of pure quicksand. I eventually got high-centered on a rock and had to drop the bike over on its side to get it out and turned around, but, even buried to the axle, the Anakee was still clawing away, inching the bike along bit by bit. If not for the rocks, I think it could have sucked itself right out.

So, dry pavement grip is superb. Wet grip is incredible. Mud handling is pretty darn good for something that isn't a TKC80 or Karoo. The only aspect remaining is longevity. After almost 2000 miles, the rear is starting to flatten out in the center slightly. If it can last out to 6000 miles, then these tires really do it all.

[hitchface]

In the market. Keep us posted!