On the Road Again!

Finally after a long weekend away and my volunteering committments were over I got into the garage.  A two minute job to remove the yellow seat and fit the new grey one. I think it looks superb. Whilst I was in the garage I looked out the Shad SH23 panniers I picked up cheaply in the Autumn. I have the fitting rails in the garage that are ready to go on. That's a job before we go to Czech in May. 🇨🇿 They are brand new and never used by the previous owner. Well worth £60. They are a little small looking but in fact are the same size as the ones I had on the Rocket at 23 litres. 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

It's not an essential purchase, but when on a trip a set of luggage can be more than just useful.  With Vera probably going to be my solo touring bike, the need for massive panniers as I had on the BMW aren't going to be needed. I don't think that Touratech even make a fitting kit for their Zega panniers for the V-Strom. Maybe they do, but I don't want to go down that road again. I was considering soft luggage and was checking out Lomo panniers, but they are out of stock in UK,  expect they are stuck on a ship on its way from China! But there are so many differing makes, all with a range of reviews from 1* to 5*.  Plus, would they fit with the high exhaust? I had contemplated using the Oxford luggage that I have in the garage. But when I cleaned off all the cobwebs and muck off them, they won't fit across the V-Strom seat. The over seat straps are too short and when on almost full extension they still hang badly.  They will have to stay in case I use the GT750 for a...

I was in the garage earlier and remembered that somewhere right at the back was this set of luggage. I must have bought these back in 1998 to go on the GSXR750 that I went on to that year's Czech Invader. I have very few photos of that trip as they were on print film and they have mostly all gone missing over the years.  Except this one. On the Bingen to Rudesheim ferry on the way back from that Czech Rally. They saw further action on the TDM and until around 2003 on the 1200 Bandit. So I got the ladder out and climbed up to get them from off the rafter at the back of the garage. They were covered in cobwebs and considering they have been there for about 19 years, they are in exceptionally good condition. A brush off with a stiff brush got most of the crap off them. They still have the waterproof covers inside one of them but they are a bit "cloudy" where they are clear plastic, but the elastic is still good.   The only problems are that the elastic straps tha...