settling down

Riding down to the H.O.G. meeting last night and going my usual way (a ten mile route to do four!), I really noticed that the bike is starting to feel more a part of me each time I ride it.

It's not any one thing I can put a finger on and say precisely what's changing. It just feels better each time I'm on it.
I have read that it can take thousands of miles for some Harleys to really settle down and all the parts to bed in. I can believe it and can't understand anyone who changes their bike every year or so. I'm looking forward to me and the bike maturing (getting old) together.

I have also decided on the luggage bag I'm going to get for camping. The Kuryakyn, Gran Tourer bag is expensive but from what I hear well worth the extra money and so I'll wait 'till I can afford to buy it. Until then if I need a bag to go camping with I'll bungee on a rucksack.

sorted

That's the indicators fitted in their new position, the base-plate for the saddle-bags sized and a hole made in it for the seat mounting screw to go through. The saddle-bags are on, seem to be secure and so I'm ready to go try it all out.

I tried several different ways of mounting the saddle-bags. I had them slung a bit lower and a bit further back on the fender. Nothing seemed to go altogether right. Either they were too loose, too high, too low or pressed over the end of the indicators. Finally, I had a brainwave and tried them on the opposite sides.
It worked. I admit, they may look a little out of place with the sloped edge of the bags to the front but they are a lot more secure and fit in better with the indicators. This way there is slightly less room at the pillion foot-pegs but as I won't often be carrying a passenger and luggage, that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

(Although they fitted OK, when I took the bike out of the garage and looked it over, the bags just didn't look right. They made the back of the bike look high. I know that it's not all about looks (or I wouldn't have bags on a night train in the first place!) but it just wasn't right.
So, I messed around a bit more and got the bags on the side they were designed for. You can make your own mind up.)

I haven't tried it out with the rack on instead of the pillion seat but as the seat holds the base-plate in place, that may not work. But, as the rack goes with the bare look I shouldn't think I'd be needing that combination.
I'll get a photo up later.
Now all I need is a day or two of dry weather and I can get packed up and head off camping. (Biking in the rain is one thing, camping is another!)

setbacks

I was heading out for a run this morning and was just about to leave my garage when the skies opened. It's been raining like the monsoon season in India for days now so I reckoned that I'd be better off doing my spanner-work while the rain fell and wait for the sun to come out again to ride. At the time that seemed to be the sensible way round.

So, I spent the next hour or two shifting my rear indicators. Took me a while to decide just where to situate them.

I was actually happy with them in the place they were, just to the rear of the seat but as they got in the way of the saddle-bags they needed to go in a more orthodox position at the back of the fender support. I also had to be careful that they didn't obstruct the fitments for the removable side-plates for the sissy-bar.

I finally decided, stripped down the side plates and fender support, fitted it all back together again and as the sun had reappeared thought to myself, "Time now to get out on the road".

Wasn't to be as one of the indicators wasn't indicating.

After trying a few different possibilities before stripping it all back down again, the inevitable hade to be done.

After another hour I got to the root of the problem. A soldered joint had come apart inside the indicator body itself.

Soldering it back together again is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a big job, but as I've no power in my garage, everything had to be taken apart, taken round to the flat and soldered. Then I had to go back to the bike to test it before heading back once more to electricity and a heat gun to shrink wrap the joint.

I'll leave putting everything back together for the morning. Then I'm off out for a ride come rain or shine.

Though that will be without the luggage rack. The one I got from e-bay is for an earlier model with a narrower wheel and sissy-bar. That one will be back for sale tomorrow but I doubt if I'll be able to find another, correct one soon. To buy it new would be about three times the cost so it WILL wait!

luggage ...

.... on a night train??

Yes, but as it is all quick-removable, for most of the time, I've still got a bike with that stripped down, bare bones look that the night train lends itself to. Then, when I want to do an overnight or longer tour I've got the option to bolt on racks and saddle-bags.

I've just taken delivery of a set of Held Titan saddlebags. They're leather, 20 litre capacity each and look good on the bike. I spent some time surfing the net, reading numerous reviews and making comparisons before settling on Held. For the price (£326 all in), they were the ones I considered to be best value and when they arrived I was pleasantly surprised at the quality too. A recommendation from V-twin Mania, whom I bought them from, went a long way in convincing me too.

To keep them away from the wheel, I decided to fit universal supports rather than a bracket permanently attached to the fender support. I bought Zodiac zip-off supports which are easily removable.

I had thought that I may not have been able to use them at the same time as the removable sissy bar but the bag supports only push the sissy-bar support out by about 1/8th of an inch either side so both will fit together. Although they are chromed they wont be readily noticeable with the saddle-bags fitted. I may even, sometime in the future, get them powder-coated. Then I could leave them on permanently without them looking out of place.

I also got a HD wrinkle black luggage rack, at a good price from e-bay. That fits on to the sissy-bar and will give me even more luggage capacity.

So, all I need to do now is move my rear indicators, make a slight adjustment to the throw-over base-plate and then I'll get some pics up of the various combinations I have available to me.

camping

I've decided that, although I haven't been camping for almost a year I'm going to head off on the bike with my new light-weight tent.

I bought it mainly to fit on the bike and as I've got the rack and sissy bar to strap luggage on to, I should be able to get all of my gear bungeed on.

I'm looking out for a set of panniers too. At the moment my search is confined to surfing and researching the different makes and fixing solutions. HD do some nice looking luggage, all of which is designed for particular models but at an average price which is outrageous, I'm definately looking for aftermarket gear!

I'll let you know what I come up with.