On the Road Again!

Finally got around to spending ten minutes in the garage fitting the Airflow. I fitted it on the same mounting holes at the original screen. The sliding upper screen starting off in the middle position. First ride tomorrow to see how it performs and maybe adjust it.

The box from Parcelforce arrived today. Maybe I should shoot a short "unboxing" video?  Maybe not. It's come from Sweden and XLMoto.  The delivery date was given at 14th February onwards.  So that was even better. It's also very well packed. Now for a warmer day to get out in the garage and get it fitted.  It doesn't come with any additional bolts so I guess it uses the Suzuki OEM mounting kit.

The Givi XS319 Tanklock bag fits a treat on Vera on the new flange that went on yesterday.   Perfect for keeping stuff close at hand when out and about and it will go in the top box when away from the bike. It's a superb little bag and perfect when away for storing passport and saves the pockets!

The two bits I need to buy for Vera are the Givi Tanklock flange that goes around the petrol filler and then later something to mount the TomTom to. The first was sorted after a visit to Givi's website and that lead me to the BF18.  A quick Google and my old suppliers Mad4Bikes had it in stock.   It should arrive well before Vera arrives! The tank bag I had to buy for the Rocket was the XS319 Tanklock. It's a small bag but the one I had before and had to sell on eBay was too large. Even this one has a bit of contact with the bars on full lock. Hopefully a better fit on Vera.

The test ride was this morning. I was out for about an hour and half and managed to find a route (that even though at times I had no idea where I was!) that took in A and B roads, country lanes and the A2 Dual Carriageway.   I stopped at Gibson's and was going to have a coffee and give the bike a good looking over away from the Robinson's. In the end the queue for coffee was too long and so I gave the bike the once over without a drink. The muffler has a couple of small scrapes but nothing too damaging.  Tyres are good. At three years and 8700 miles getting a showroom condition bike isn't really going to happen. At first the seat seems to angle a little forward but after the Rocket's armchair and the Kettle's plank then maybe it is just different.   What was a surprise was the clutch.  Both the Kettle and Rocket needed a strong hand, this one is light as a feather. The gear change very light and accurate. I have given her the name Vera . I am no...

Another new Givi Tank Bag? Why? Simple, the Givi 3D604 I bought and that fitted wonderfully on the Explorer was way to big to fit on the Rocket! So big that once in place it was impossible to see the clocks, nor could I turn the bike as the bars wouldn't turn more than a few inches. So it went on eBay and I sold it and used the funds to buy a much smaller Givi XS319. Even one this small, a mere 3 litre capacity, and even then there is still a little contact with the handlebars. It comes with a  fluorescent yellow waterproof cover. Inside there are no partitions just one space. It takes my little Sony Cybershot camera, my glasses case and a pen.  There is space for a few other small items. When travelling abroad I put my passport in there too and occasionally my wallet.  Easier than fumbling in pockets. It's a superb little bag.

The Givi tank lock ring fits almost perfectly on the R3. The Triumphs use BF02 and the only fly in the ointment is the bolt configuration.  The Explorer was three long bolts and one short. The R3 has two of each. Oops. Luckily I had a spurious other bolt with the same thread. Unfortunately, the "only used once" tank bag is too big and fouls the clocks! So what to do.  Buy another and sell this one. Done. At least I nearly broke even on the deal. Once that was completed I had to fit Baloo. There aren't many options of where he can go. So. Fettling 2 over.

After I took the TomTom Ram mount off the Explorer I had expected fitting it on the R3 would be simple. No chance.  The R3 has larger diameter handlebars and the u-bolt I had was too narrow. There started search for the larger one that came in the TomTom box. Of course it wasn't there but I got lucky and found it in with some other assorted crap.  Finding a suitable place was always going to be a challenge but I think I managed it.  Luckily I didn't cut the cable so I have the full metre with the BMW type plug on the end. The power socket on the R3 is behind the engine on the left side. There is also cover that side covering the throttle bodies and injection. The wire fits nicely in there, leaving a loop at the bar end to cope with lock to lock turns. That's the theory anyway. The other job was to fit the Klicbag chromed brackets. Triumph use Torx head bolts and Klicbag use Allen. I didn't have any big enough and luckily my bike club mate in the Meldrews. Cal, did. It t...

I had a few hours off after Reggie's visit to the vet (foot injury, no biggy) so I thought I'd fit the Givi tank ring to Döra. The OEM bolts were not too tight. Three long one short. I took them off in order, clockwise, long, short, long, long. I then present the "work" to where it should go. It's in three pieces. A lower metal half ring, sandwiching the plastic "cup" that the bag fits to and an upper ring. And here's the first drag, easily solved with a little sellotape. Just a small bit to hold the parts together. Smug. Then I slip in the new Givi bolts. Finger tight. Ah. The Allen key size is smaller than OEM. I don't have an allen bit for my driver that small! Job reset. Back to standard. Simple job bollocksed by not checking tools first!! Lunch. In the end I checked all the kits and tools in the garage and had nothing to match. So I had a jaunt in the jalopy to town and called in the Hobby-Shop.  We had a few match-ups and it turned out it w...

The new Givi tank bag arrived pretty quickly from Spain and Motocard. It is actually bigger than it looked on the website and even when you imagine the dimensions with the aid of a ruler. The quality can't be ignored. I like the idea of the "hard" material that gives it the shape.  It comes with a waterproof cover and a shoulder strap and is expandable for that extra pair of gloves or gift for the special person left at home. I will fit the tank-ring to Dora on Saturday and take some pictures for the blog and also for the Triumph Tiger Explorer group on Facebook.

I currently use an Oxford magnetic tank bag. It's a small enough for those days when you just need somewhere for your spare specs and wallet but it also expands. But it is the magnets that are my concern. No matter how much you wipe the base of the bag, the magnets will start to scratch the paint.  So before the Spain trip last summer, I started to look at the Givi tank-lock system. In the end I shelved that as I had only recently bought the new top box and and inner bag! So with Spring approaching (sometime any way!) I decided to have another look. Prices don't seem to have changed much, and when Googling, the overseas shops seem to have prices about 20% cheaper than here. With postage taken into account they are still cheaper. So, I ordered the Givi 3D604 bag from Motocard . Givi 3D604 Delivery takes about a week and that's okay as I don't intend to use it for a while.

The box arrived today and I fitted it straight away. It doesn't look all that much bigger than the E45 I have had for the better part of 20 years! We bought two E45 boxes and two slightly smaller boxes (E36?) to use as side cases.  At the time we had a pair of Yamaha XJ900F's. Audrey's was black and a 1989 model and mine two years newer and blue and white.  We had the Givi wing racks and could share the side cases.  I have used the same E45 on the old GT750 interchangeable with all the other bikes right up to Döra. And now the next generation. Looks good too.

Another few quid. What I saved on the Kappa box versus the Givi version I decided to spend on an inner bag! The logistics of the holiday make it sense and the dimensions on the givi.it website mean that it will fit in snugly and mean we can pull it out and lock the helmets inside. Plus it looks smart enough for the Parador stops!!

Kappa KGR52 "Garda"  Döra was a year old in July and although I didn't have a party I did decide to have a look around to see what I could buy for her.  She already has most things a girl could need, but with our impending holiday to Spain on the horizon, now less than two weeks away, she could do with a luggage upgrade. I looked at the Triumph box for the Explorer and it was very expensive. The rack alone is over £120 and I have a perfectly good and year old Givi rack and fittings. So I looked at the Givi Trekker.  The 52 litre box comes in at about £225 (!) at the cheapest place I can find in UK, and then I saw the Kappa KGR52 "Garda" box. Kappa and Givi are the same company at the end of the day and some years ago we had Kappa panniers on the Bandit. The "Garda" is much cheaper as it is more black plastic less aluminium than the Trekker but is a match for the Triumph oem panniers. It should give us a lot more carrying space for the holiday.

I ordered the Givi plate for Döra on Sunday night and it arrived today. "Left with a neighbour" the email said. Then Claire emailed to say it had arrived next door. When the instructions say that things can be fitted with ordinary hand tools I usually don't believe them. They are right. There are no written instructions just an exploded diagram.  The tools needed are two Allen keys that I have no idea what size, but luckily I had them. Spanners are 12mm and 10mm. Firstly remove the Triumph plastic plate, then fit a couple of wings that will take the rack itself. Then with deft fingers fit the top plate.  It looks pretty good. The Givi E45 that I have was a bit dirty and so I have washed it and it wasn't ready for fitting!! Should be okay for the weekend or maybe open the wallet again.