Tires

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Yup, those are definitely tires.

Tires: All tires are standard sizes for the Rally Raid wheels (110/80-19 front, 150/70-17 rear)
  • Michellan Anakee Wild - Overall the tire was an amazing balance between road handling and off-road grip. They really do fit that 50/50 balance for moderate to aggressive adventure riding. They aren't perfect peg dragging tires and they don't belong on the MX track but any tires that give me no punctures in 20,000+ miles and allows me to go anywhere I want without worrying about losing traction are really winners in my book.  These are great for the Rally Raid CB500X. 9 of 10 Stars for these tires in my application.
    • Front- the Front runs very loud but had a nice balance of on road manners and decent feel off road. I didn't flip the direction of the tire out of curiosity of how far I could take the tire and got to the very respectable 20,000+ mile mark.  Yes, I said miles! They ended up having quite the saw tooth to them and the cupping was VERY noticeable in vibration and oscillation through the bars.  This isn't to say they are a bad tire, in fact quite the opposite.  If you are willing to put up with a bit of a roar on the road in exchange for a tire that will give solid bite and front end feel in terrible loose mountain tracks in Guatemala and then allow you to drag pegs on the twisties in the same day, this front really gets it done.  On the CB I think I should have flipped the rotation of the tire around the eight or ten thousand mile mark to get the most from the tire.
The new Anakee front before balance and install
    • Rear- I changed out the first rear too soon at about the 6,500 mile mark so I would have a fresh tire to make the run south through Baja...opps! While Baja didn't happen, the new tire went a solid 13,500+ miles.  It was fully toast and possibly the cause of my little off in Guatemala mark 2.  The tire exhibited some looseness in the rear end in tight road corners when two up or heavily loaded. Never so much so that I couldn't keep it up on the pavement but enough to give some butt puckers.  As the tire wore it started to give some slightly squirrely behavior in the rain but not so much so that I didn't trust it.
Anakee Wild rear after 13,500 miles on a loaded CB500X
  • Full Bore USA M-40 - Just got onto these tires but so far so good. They are a more street biased tire that fits into that 70/30 street to dirt ratio. While not under the Shinko name, they appear to be Shinko manufactured.  These are essentially a Shinko 705 with a wider spacing on the lugs made possible by the radial construction compared to the bias-ply of the 705.  I have done some canyon carving, a bit of interstate and a touch of light gravel and so far am happy with the tires.  They felt very planted in the rain on good concrete and black top and are so much quieter than the Anakee Wilds on the street that I can hear new sounds from the bike I missed before due to road noise.
    • Front
    • Rear
A brand new M40 rear about to be scrubbed in.

You might notice that both the Wilds and the M40 are both radial construction tires. I just find some solace in running tires that use the stronger build design possible with radial tires.  Plus it helps to keep the unsprung weight down as I have converted the rims to tubeless. Additionally, tubeless radials run much cooler than a tubed radial or any bias-ply tire does.  This helps to promote longer tire life in addition to the easier repairs.  

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