Not bad at all my friend . Generally the fact that expands or shortens the life of a tire is the appropriate use from you (the motorbiker) , for instance motorbikes full loaded with very low pressure tires , its obviously that the tires wont last for long! We all know that there are some standards that every tire has specific ''milleage'' of life BUT those standards are depending under what circumstances the tire is been used . I dont know if you ever been before in Russia but im kindly asking you to share with us as soon as you come back from your trip , all the details from your trip. (routes - terrain conditions - sightseeings ... ). Looking forward to hear your report mate .
PS:There is no hell and heaven in choosing a tire , for instance if you ask 10 people who owned the same moto model about which is the appropriate tire for their moto , you will hear 10 different opinions! All have different preferences and standards on their minds and thats why some blame and some other worship a specific brand of tires ... all depends on what the rider has on his mind .
Yes you are right for 10 people and 10 different opinions. I am very happy with this Anakee 3 and I will continue to use them.
I am not go to Russia before, this will be my first trip. Me and my wife will be on Varadero and one GS1200 friend will travel with us. We will go trough Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Belarus, Moscow, St. Petersburg and back trough Estonia, Latvia, Litva. Last year 3 bikes travel to Ukraine (Odessa and Krimea) and I am very happy with travel on east. I have nice itinerary for last year trip on my website but it is on Bulgarian language if you can use google translator you can see it:
http://www.tonyco.net/patepis/Ukraine_08_06_2013.html . I will do the same for Russia but on Bulgarian language, I will try to share here on English some key moment.
For tire change I remove wheels from the bike in my garage, than go with the car to one tire service that deal with motorcycle tires (not to much in Bulgaria) they change tire on the rims and balance them on special balance machine witch is for motorcycle tires. I wait 15 - 20 minutes and the tires are ready and go back to garage and put them on the bike. The service took for one wheel change with balance 6 EUR, 12 EUR for two tires
. I notice that last time the guy put rear tire on the rim and when put on balance machine the tire wants 70 gr so this was too much and the guy remove again the tire and turn it around the rim than put again on the balance machine and now it was 35 gr, so the tire service is best one in Sofia and they do the job well, in some other tire services they will put you 70 gr and let you go away instead to try to remount the tire.