I had a bit of a mini Xmas today with several parcels all arriving at once.
They are for the bike but they aren't really farkles, well not according to this description. They will make the act of touring on the Beemer much more pleasurable and safer.
The first item(s) is a Rocky Creek Designs MotoPressor pump and tyre pressure guage. I hope I won't be needing this ever, but it will allow me to get off the beaten path with some confidence should the worst happen.
Deciding weather to go lockable hard panniers or soft panniers for the F800GSA was a choice I couldn't make for what seemed a looong time (8 months in fact!). While I want the security of being able to lock my stuff onto the bike, hard panniers had two major drawbacks. Number one was the price. They are around the $1500 mark!! Number two is that they can injure you or bend/break in a spill, which is more likely to happen when tackling dirt roads.
Soft panniers aren't as secure for your belongings but they fit both the crashworthiness and the wallet test! There is an absolute plethora of soft luggage out there but in the end I decided to support a local manufacturer, Andy Strapz. Andy has been making bike luggage related gear since at least the late Nineties and I have used his strapz before, which are top notch.
Enter my new Avduro II Panniers. I also bought the extension straps to allow the panniers to fit my Beemer's fat arse end.
Time to get the panniers fitted up and test ride them I reckon! But first, a little three day jaunt for work beckons......
Cheers.
Farkle it!! Who am I kidding?
There is still just enough light to get out to the shed and fit the panniers up!!
After quickly reading Andy's "fitting hints" it took me all of about 2 minutes to fit them, then 20 seconds to take them off again!! How awesome it that?!
Take them off again?
Well, you see the bags are canvas and need seasoning before I use them. Seasoning just means wetting them and letting them dry out a couple of times. Easily done using a step ladder as the horse.
Cheers.
