Bye bye Karoo 3 …. hellooooo Anakee 3!

Aprilia Caponord ETV1000 Rally-Raid with Michelin Anakee 3 tyreWell yesterdays arrival of a spanking pair of Michelin Anakee 3’s makes the total number of tyre types fitted to the Capo a head spinning …… 5. The OEM fit Tourance, oodles of TKC80’s and Karoo 3’s and one fantastic set of Anakee 2’s. They were by far the best with excellent grip and long life – so the Anakee 3’s have a hard act to follow, I wonder how they’ll compare.

With the back wheel dropped out, I decided to give everything a once over and quick scrub-up – nice and shiny like. The vernier showed the rear disk had finally met the minimum thickness (4.5mm), so off it came and on went a nice almost-new one from an Aprilia Caponord ETV1000 Rally-Raid rear wheel and disk with Michelin Anakee 3 tyre07 bike …. a floater instead of fixed. Now I must admit to being more than a little perplexed at what the hell Aprilia were thinking about when making the rear a floater – front yes, but rear! What for, where’s the benefit? With 74,710 miles on it, I can’t ever remember riding around thinking ‘damn this bike’s just screaming out for a floating rear disk’ But in the end, it’s what I had in my sack of goodies, so it’s what went on. With the rear done, the fronts looked a little sorry for themselves, so I pulled them off and gave them a once-over and spring re-tension …… I must say they do look rather nice again!

Rear wheel bearings, seals and cush rubbers are original and all in perfect condition, so the spares can stay in the cupboard for a while longer yet. The front bearings and seals that I replaced back in 2009 (@11,700 miles) are also fine – packing the void between the bearings and seals to prevent water getting trapped seems to work wonders! So now she’s all buttoned up and a final wipe with a soft cloth and ACF50 to fend off the corrosion gremlin should do the trick nicely.

3 Replies to “Bye bye Karoo 3 …. hellooooo Anakee 3!”

  1. Hi Karl
    You wont be disappointed with the Anakee 3 I will be witting them again without a doubt
    Have a safe trip
    Andy

  2. Hi Karl,I am looking for some 50/50 tires to put on my capo and was wondering if you could help me choose between tkc 80 and karoo 3 because you have both tried them and have some feedback for them.
    I would be grateful if you could let me know whats the pros & cons according to you!

    Best regards from Greece.

  3. Hi Zisis,

    Replied by email, but the short answer is that the TKC80 pips the Karoo 3 in both on/off road ability, while the Karoo 3 is cheaper and lasts slightly longer (10/15%).

    Cheers
    KarlB

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