Last Updated on: February 16, 2023

10 000 kilometers on Michelin Anakee Adventure. Here are some impressions. In brief: I am every bit as satisfied as when I first bought them.

Recently I was out riding on gravel again. No other tires I’ve had on my 2016 BMW R1200GS Adventure have felt this good after 10 000 kilometers of abuse. Some of the tires I’ve had actually never made it this far. Or, they were pretty shot long before.

The red cow June 14th, packed and ready.

10 000 kilometers of allround usage

Spring I did quite a lot of gravel and dirt riding, and rough tarmac. In temperatures ranging from 2 to 3C and up towards 40C. Mid-June I went to England, Wales and Europe. More about that later. Regrettably I didn’t make it to the French Alps this year. The heat wave late June put a stop to those plans.

June 25th 2019: In Wales and Snowdonia Park.

So I got myself fried in Germany instead, though not quite as hot as in southern France. But 38-40C is more than enough to give you the hair dryer in the face feeling.

Gravel and offroad in the Harz mountains, Germany

The tires handled it all very well. High temperature, a fully loaded bike, various weather, also torrential rain, and slick roads. What impressed me the most is how they tackle different weather conditions and road surfaces.

That did not change radically as I packed on miles.

Halfway to 10k, little change

At 5000 kilometers I didn’t notice any differences. At least not on pavement of various kinds. I’d prepared myself for changes. That they would not feel as good. That I’d have to be more careful. But I kept on riding as before.

In Germany I did quite a bit of gravel riding with almost all my luggage on. Plus speed riding in hairpins and twisty roads. Didn’t notice any difference, and felt every bit as confident as when they riding them in. THAT surprised me,  a lot!

Last year I had Metzeler Karoo Street on. Great tires too, you can read about the set here. They did not handle motorway riding as well as the Anakee Adventure. Plus the front tire is a lot noisier.

How they look at 10 000 kilometers

Michelin released Anakee Adventure early 2019.  Based on documentation I decided it would be my next set. Turned out to be a good choice.  The tire was designed as a 80/20, or 80 percent road, 20 percent offroad design.  Comparing it to Metzeler Karoo Street, by some regarded as a 70/30, I think it’s almost as good offroad.

Michelin Anakee Adventure front @ca 9.800km

What is significant however, is that Anakee Adventure retains grips offroad better than Karoo Street. Yet it doesn’t look like it is.

Michelin Anakee Adventure rear at ca 9000 kilometers

The rear looks a lot more beaten up. They always do, this far out in their life-cycle. But what has surprised me, is that it still looks that good. It’s squared, but not at all like the Karoo Street. Which by the way I changed before it hit 9.500 kilometers.

The flattening is as expected. I have done more autobahn riding this year compared to previous years. But what’s interesting is how the rear, and front, perform on gravel still.

Late fall 2019: the next 10.000 kilometers

Because of all the positive experiences with the previous set I made it simple and bought them again. That was in August. Got an offer “I could not refuse”. Unless you do tire change yourself, bringing in the bike twice to a dealer is also impractical.

I also wanted the motorcycle to have new’ish shoes on for the opening of next season. The front wasn’t completely done but close enough. Because it’s also a question of safety, under all conditions and temperatures.

At time of this update it’s early October. I have done around 3-3.500 kilometers on the new set. Still feel the same way. Anakee Adventure is best match for my motorcycle, and riding style. Allows me to do what I love the most about riding a motorcycle. And does so with confidence, while offering capabilities, on or offroad, better than any other tire I’ve had, this far.

Late September 2019: riding Norwegian gravel across the mountains

Selecting tires implies a series of factors. Also personal preferences and, as much riding style. Like mud? Or sand? Very hard core offroad riding? If that is so neither the tire nor my motorcycle are ideal solutions. Anakee Adventure has gotten me safely through both sand and mud though. But not much more. They’re simply not designed for such challenges.

For me it’s the allround capabilities that matters the most. So it was an easy choice, this time.

Afterthoughts – end of season

On the last day of October 2019 season ended. Already thinking about what’s next, both with regards to tires and motorcycle. If I keep the old gal then the next set of shoes will be something else. What that will be is unknown. I need tires that can do two things. Or, I need another set of rims.

In case of the latter, such an investment makes no sense if I end up replacing the “red cow” with something completely different. New contenders have showed up this year. The Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES is one. Suzuki V-Strom 1050XT another. We don’t yet know much about the Suzuki, but it looks promising.

To make matters more interesting Husqvarna also revealed their contender in the big adventure motorcycle market. Still a “concept”, but the model Norden 901 looks fantastic, and pretty production ready to me. Anyhow, that’s that.

See also

• Metzeler Karoo 3, a tire surprise
• Continental TKC 70 review, first months
• Anakee Adventure, gravel, dirt and offroad review
• Michelin Anakee Adventure review & first impressions
• Michelin Sirac, a tire for allround usage
• Pirelli Scorpion Trail 2 reflections
• Metzeler Karoo Street on BMW R1200GS Adventure
• Karoo Street on a 2016 Honda CRF1000L (AfricaTwin)
• Update review on Karoo Street  (July 2018)

More motorcycle related posts? Check out this page.