I've read several reviews, and imho, the michelin should be above average, time will tell, as I am also curious bout the new kanine (Kenda) tyre.
I understood that you (Bajaron), was testing these. This season I will drive the o.e.m. kenda to the last thread, and then I will decide if it's going to be a Michelin, or a kanine, I think the treadpattern of the Kenda is more apealling.
I have not had the chance to mount the Kanines yet. But I've got customers who have been very happy with them, especially in the rain. The OEM Kenda's are too weak in both the sidewall and the tread area. The sidewall rolls under too easily and there isn't enough strength in the tread area to keep the tire flat at speed. Centrifugal force overcomes the ply strength and balloons the tire out. That is why they wear in the middle so quickly. The tire would last longer if it wore evenly across the tread.
The Kanines have both a stiffer sidewall and tread area construction compared to the OEM. How much? Well, I am hoping they are stiff enough. Obviously, we don't need the stiffness of a car tire. Nor is it ideal to have the typical, harder tread a car tire will have. Don't get me wrong. I have always been an advocate of car tires over the OEM Kenda's, for several reasons. I've been running various car tires almost from the beginning. But tire longevity has never been my primary criteria. I am more than willing to give up some mileage for better traction. Again, especially in wet conditions. Car tires, necessarily, are designed to perform with a good deal more weight factored in. In the vein of always looking for a better mouse trap. I'm willing to give the Kanines a whirl. If they are better, I want to know. If not, I want to know that as well.
The Kanines most assuredly use a softer rubber compound. So, an increase in traction, and decrease in mileage is to be expected. How much of each? That's what I want to know. From all the feedback I've gotten. The Kanines are round (a feature which many OEM Kendas do not possess) and need much less weight to balance. This speaks to a higher quality control factor than the OEM Kenda's. And a good sign that Kenda is going in the right direction. Remember, Kenda is building the OEM tires to BRP specs. So, you can't necessarily blame Kenda for the end result. If they were not building them to spec. I am sure BRP would be saying something to them. After producing virtually the same, poor quality tire for over 12 years. It's obvious that BRP is satisfied. If not with the quality, they must love the price!
I've had a few customers purchase Kanines from me since I started talking about them. It is too soon to say what the long term results will be. And I am not yet personally endorsing the Kanine beyond the accumulation of information I've gotten so far because I have not had a chance to run them myself yet. But to this point. All of my customers, and several of those who have had the Kanines for some time, have been quite positive. To me, at least, this is encouraging. We may have another good alternative. You can never have too many options.