I'm off round europe... etc etc next year :thumbleft:
To balance the weight out on my Vara so that I can take the kitchen sink with me I've been thinking about building some smallish boxes to fit on my front crash bars.
Any advice if this is a good idea... anyone done somthing like this before? will it knock my machine completly off balance or cause problems that I haven't thought about.
I've always been a little wary of fixing anything to the crash bar as if you drop the bike there is a good chance the item will rotate round the bar and punch a hole in whatever the bars were fitted to protect in the first place.
i think theres a number of soft pannier/bag solutions for hanging on the front of the bike.... im to lazy to find any of them... but the soft option seems to be the preferred route.
the smallest "official" ammo box is the .223 ball and i dont think you'll get a netbook in one, being quite small and fat. also finding one might be a problem, they are still current stock. you could get a .303 or 7.62 box but as has been mentioned they are really getting pointlessly heavy to use as bike luggage. they are also ridiculously expensive for what they are.
have you looked at otterboxes or pelicases? they do a variety of decent cases, waterproof and lockable.
I'm off round europe... etc etc next year :thumbleft:
To balance the weight out on my Vara so that I can take the kitchen sink with me I've been thinking about building some smallish boxes to fit on my front crash bars.
Any advice if this is a good idea... anyone done somthing like this before? will it knock my machine completly off balance or cause problems that I haven't thought about.
Even though one of my (rear) panniers has a special compartment for a laptop, I concede that it's better to store it further forward, near the CoG for a smoother ride. I've heard people recommend a tank bag for that - if you can find one large enough.
Unfortunately because the Vara has side-mounted radiators I think mounting anything larger than tiny soft bag on the side would cause problems, and endanger your rads in the event of a drop. ATs can get away with stuff like this... just!
i have a Kriega US-5 tail pack mounted on each crashbar. waterproof, very durable and loads of ways to mount em. I keep a few bit and bobs in them - a few tools, waterproofs, gaffer tape, first aid and stuff like that. No problems with overheating and small enough to hopefully not damage the fairing or rads if I dropped the bike.
I had convinced myself that the airflow would go down the centre of the bike and vent through the rads to the side vents so with the crash bars mounted a good few inches away from the fairing, it wouldn't cause too much of a problem.
But I wasn't sure.... so thought I'd see if anyone mentions the issue
May have to think about this one again... or get a bigger bike so I can carry more stuff
I am quite new at this home comfort storage on a bike, and it is so easy to get carried away. I can't remember who on this site said it, but I have read the words and tried to think very seriously before I pack. Simple go back packing and carrie everything you think you need, and when you decide just what is to heavy to carrie, and you have thrown a good 50% away, then you are ready to under load you bike, and enjoy a round the world trip without pulling your shoulder joints out. :thumbup:
Bob
You might have to get a bigger bike?? WTF? Is there a bigger bike than the Varadero? I think we're all aware what happens to Beemers if you overload them?
As for the trailer,,,, well,,, why not just get a Transit van? :thumbup:
Can't help you mate, I carry quite a bit of gear on Euro trips but this yr I'll have to consider where the netbooks going to go as well!
One afternoon in the winter when I was bored... I did really consider a trailer and spent the next few hours investigating it but found that there is a size limit for the UK
The Vara is amazing as a truck it's like no matter how much weight I load on it... it keeps moving:thumbleft:
As for the iPad I'm a part-time iPhone/iPad developer but me thinks i'm going to wait for version 2 next year!
Besides, my netbook cost £240 with a 10+ hour battery life plus £40 for the 2Gb ram upgrade. It runs stuff like sony vegas movie maker and mapsource. The iPad I was after was going to cost £499!!! it runs the same apps as my iPhone!!!!
Besides, my netbook cost £240 with a 10+ hour battery life plus £40 for the 2Gb ram upgrade. It runs stuff like sony vegas movie maker and mapsource. The iPad I was after was going to cost £499!!! it runs the same apps as my iPhone!!!!
And that is why I have a nebook too I can see a relaunch of some cutdown Tablet PC's coming along PDQ, running with an Atom processor and pared down OS.
I got a set, second hand for my 1150 GS and the side panniers, although not big, did allow for easy access to stuff. I got mine for £60: bag, tank adaptor and side pockets, secondhand. Still have them: its a shame that the tank adaptor does not fit my TA!!
FAMSA make some good tankbags with a base that stays on the bike a little bit like the baglux system, and you can zip their side bags to it. looks like a good strong system to me, good value but i dont know how it works with crashbars
If you already have the crash bars, cycle panniers bags do the job very well. There's a vast range of prices and qualities, even totally waterproof roll-top bags. Just go onto ebay or google 'bicycle panniers'.
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