Michelin gets wild and dirty with new trail bike tire

Michelin has launched its newest motorcycle tire, the Anakee Wild.

The radial tire is designed for big trail bikes and is meant for both on and off-road use.

Initially the tire will launch with four radial sizes, which will be available in North America this month. The two front sizes available are 110/80 R 19 and 120/70 R 19 and the rear sizes are 150/70 R 17 and 170/60 R 17. Sizes to cover most of the trail bike market will enter the market during the year.

A bike tire for adventure seekers

Michelin says the Anakee Wild is aimed at bikers who “seek adventure, whether on solo rides, passenger rides, or group rides over a weekend or longer.”

The company said in its launch statement: “The tire is perfectly aligned for those who view biking as an expedition and a means to experience and discover exciting journeys. It is aimed at riders who want to break away from paved roads and fully exploit the potential of bikes designed for roads or the most uneven, sandy, stony and muddy tracks.”

Michelin said Anakee Wild was a “multi-purpose” tire designed to adapt to all terrains and situations, and varied climates.

“The mission of the development engineers was to combine three performance characteristics: on-road stability and comfort, resistance to overheating and wear, and increased wet-road and off-road traction,” the company said.

Anakee Wild tested across four continents

Michelin claims it has achieved those performance goals through tread composition, optimized tread depth and the innovative design of the tread blocks, “which was inspired by those used on Michelin Desert tires that won the Paris-Dakar Rally 33 times.”

The tire was also designed with input from riders and developed with the help of T3 Aventure, a company specializing in extreme treks. T3 Aventure put the Anakee Wild through “severe testing over four continents; travelling nearly 25,000 miles on BMW R 1200 GS bikes with temperature variations of nearly 100 degrees.”

Take a look at the testing in this video:

For more information visit the Michelin Motorcycles website.