Me:”Hey bike, I got you some cool stuff.” Bike: “Go Screw Yourself”

I wrote this one on 7/17 and 7/18.  Sorry for negative tone at the start of this post.  I was struggling with bike gear.  Needed to vent…Lots of profanity in this one…again, sorry about that.

=====

My current bike, the VTX is being a pain in the ass this week.  The saddlebags I bought don’t fit (of course). 

You can buy saddlebags specifically for the VTX but as soon as you start putting different components like sissy bars and bags together, stock solutions go out the window and you’re suddenly fabricating your own shit.  Such is the case with these damnable bags. 

I swear to the god of motorcycle crap that saddlebags are the worst project that an individual can undertake.  Every bloody time I have ever tried to apply a luggage solution to a bike, it has been twice as expensive and harder than the time before.  The latest round of fuckery will end up taking me about two weeks to complete.  Plus I had to cut the saddlebags around my shocks and it looks, quite honestly, like dogshit. 

The only consolation is that these bags are really big.  Like, trip big.  Meaning that I could stuff them full of clothes, food and camping equipment and then tie a tent and sleeping roll to the saddlebags.  It’s enough space for me to do some training rides this year.  That of course, is only if I can get them to stick to the damn bike!

And then, if all that weren’t fun enough, my horn takes a shit, preventing me from getting the bike inspected.  It’s a wiring thing too.  I may have to trace the sorry bitch all the way back to the fuse box (thus forcing me to remove the tank) Grrrrrr.

On a less stressful note, much of my effort lately involves researching and (slowly) acquiring gear.

The latest big item I’m working on is a tent.  I did some research on backpack style tents.  Found a couple of good ones in the 130 buck range.  Pretty much ruled out the idea of a cot though.  Too big and bulky.

Good motorcycle tent

I also had another revelation.  My current helmet is 10 years old.  10.  Upon further reflection, I have had two minor accidents with it.  I spent a hundred bucks on it.  Pretty good service.  HJC, for a low cost helmet, there is no substitute.

Notice the snowflake looking sticker on the lower left side.  My son gave me that when he was five and told me to put it on my helmet.  It has stayed there.  You don’t ignore magic gifts from your kids ;-)

At some point soon it will be time for a badass helmet.  I’m thinking Shoei or Arai.  Something in the 700 dollar range.  Supreme protection and wind noise cancellation.  Superior fit as well.  If you are going to ride for 8+ hours a day, you need to be comfortable in your brain bucket.

[Update: One day later]

So I got the horn to work and one Saddlebag permanently mounted on the VTX.  I must admit, the finished project looks amazing.  I used trash bag plastic and black gorilla tape (yes, you read that correctly) to weather proof the shock cutouts.  I think I could actually get enough shit in these to go camping.  If I also install a luggage rack on the back for my sissybar bag, I could easily take everything necessary for an overnight trip.

I might do a Thursday night camping trip towards the end of the summer to test all of this.