The Trip

A lot of the material I read about adventure riding mentions the pros and cons of hard panniers and saddle bags. I’ve never been a fan of panniers, particularly on an off-road or adventure bike, where the rider frequently has to put his feet down, and where dropping the bike is a reality. Most panniers have hard corners, which I wouldn’t like to connect with in a fall. Also, being both rigid and metal, they really don’t seem likely to survive an impact (or frequent impacts, for that matter). Plastic panniers seem to be more rounded, but they’re usually smaller than their metal equivalent, and look as though they would hold less than a saddle-bag.

So, I’m settled on saddle-bags. No surprises there.

There also seem to be some differing schools of thought on how best to support saddle-bags. There’s a few reasons for this. Heat is an issue on whichever side of the bike the exhaust sits. I experienced this in Tasmania, where my buddy and I both managed to melt our side plastic, though this was only a little, and only on long, slow, difficult stretch, where the bikes were running hot and the bags were tied down hard. If heat is the only issue, I’d rather find a heat shield or spacer behind the plastic that stopped contact with the muffler. (We also found out, after some of the mount points tore off the bags, that you don’t need to tie them down all that much. They tend to move with the bike.)

Another issue, particularly where there’s dirt involved, is that of scratching the side-panels. My KLX-250 came back from Tassie with plenty of scratches, and the ones under the saddle-bags managed to get fine dust ground into them over the 10 days of the trip. Some saddle bags offer soft backing material, but I can’t see that making much difference. Even soft cloth with grit in it will scratch the plastic.

I’ve seen a variety of frames for the KLR and other bikes which can support saddle bags. Some of these are as heavy and involved as pannier frames, which seems a bit over-the-top to me. Some follow the contour of the side panels. Some push the bags out wide to give them a straight drop. None of them do it for me. As long as the sides of the bike are roughly symmetrical (something the KLR does better than my KLX, and even that was fine) and the plastic panels cover enough of the exhaust (and on the new KLR they do), I’d rather just let the bags sit.

The other day I found a product which looks as though it will address some of these issues. StompGrip is a clear, self adhesive rubber surfacing which provides grip and protection on hard surfaces. Most applications seem to be on the tank area, to give the rider knee-grip. I’m not sure if that’s a great idea on a dirt-bike, or even a dual-sport, where your ability to move independently of the bike seems to be just as important as your ability to hold on. But putting it on the side panels where the saddle-bags would rest might make sense. It would provide some grip for the bags, provide protection for the bike, and probably add another layer of insulation from the muffler.

Unfortunately there’s no kit specifically for the KLR, but they sell sheets of the stuff, so I could cut my own easily enough.

Now I just need to find that heat-shield or spacer for behind the plastic and I’m all set.

It’s funny the rabbit-holes you go down when you’re looking for (or at) things. I followed a link from Eastern Beaver to Ted Simon’s site – of Jupiter’s Travels fame. I’d read about Ted in a bike mag a few years ago (come to think of it, it was over 5 years ago, when I was shopping for my last bike… but I digress), just after he’d broken his leg. Even then this guy impressed me. He was 69 when he decided that riding around the world again was a good idea. Classy.

Haven’t got to my point yet. I should do that.

Ted Simon ditched a lot of the gear he was carrying when he got to Melbourne, finally realising that since he was generally known, he really didn’t need to camp all the time, or at least didn’t need to assume that he was alone in whatever county he was visiting. He sent his panniers and some other gear home, and acquired some soft panniers (I’d call them saddle bags, but that’s just me) from a guy in Melbourne.

Andy Strapz (for the moment I don’t know whether to refer to it as a person or a company) makes some really clever and functional motorbike gear. I love the flat strapz, and I think I’ll add those to the must-have list. As much as I love the ol’ ROK straps, the idea of adjustable tie-downs with just a bit of spring in them appeals to be, particularly on a long journey.

The soft panniers are really smart, too, Rather than a zip-up affair that gets wider (if anything) with the amount of stuff in it, these effectively get taller. Also, they roll down to the level of the stuff you’re carrying, so everything is held firm.

Wonder if I could put the Dri-Riders on eBay. None of his stuff is cheap, but it seems very good. He has a factory outlet in Frankston, too. Hmmm…

When Andrew and I did the 10 day ride in Tasmania in 2004, we kitted ourselves up with saddle bags and back packs. The saddle bags were great, though the tie-down points took a beating in a couple of falls. We learned over time that they didn’t need to be tied down all that well, since they would rise, fall and bounce at about the same speed as the bike anyway.

I probably wouldn’t do the back pack thing again, since I’d rather that the weight moved with the bike and not me, and I’d prefer not to be lumbered with the weight first-hand. So some other solutions are in order.

This is what I’ve found so far:

Wolfman Beta tail bag
I love this thing! It’s a single soft bag with a seat-width channel down the middle. It has ties all over the place, and plenty of compression straps. There’s also an additional duffel bag that can strap to it. “We’ve so far cover over 3000 kilometers and the bag has remained dust free and waterproof.” – offroadexplorer.com

Wolfman Explorer tank bag
I know I’m plugging the Wolfman gear at the moment, but there’s a lot to like about it. There’s a smaller “lite” bag which is exactly the same design and footprint, but smaller. Both make use of a KLR mounting harness, which I’m assured works with the 2008 model as well.

Dri-Rider cruiser-style saddle bags
These were great on the Tasmania trip. If I can find a place for them forward of or below) the Beta, I’ll use them again. That said, they’d probably be the last item I’d add, reserved for the longest trips.

Add to that a hydration kit in the tank bag, a hydration pack, a tent and a few other bits, and the bike would be pretty well loaded…

I’m figuring that most of my gadgetry on any trip would be kept in luggage, rather than bolted to the bike. This will allow the entire setup to be removable, not to mention water and dust resistant. The most logical place or all that is a tank bag, or better still a self-contained padded bag inside the tank bag, that can be moved to a larger or smaller tank bag (or somewhere else entirely) fairly easily.

So the next challenge is getting the power into the tank bag itself. I’m planning on placing power outlets on the handlebars of the bike, so the power source will be close at hand.

This page at Eastern Beaver gives a great outline on how to power a tank bag. I’d follow this procedure almost exactly, though I expect that I’d run an SAE connector cable to the inner bag, and distribute power from there.

The other thing I’d add to the outside of the tank bag is a couple of these Power Ports. One at the front of the bag would allow the GPS on the handlebars to connect to an integrated comms system inside the bag; another on the back would allow connections to a helmet microphone, speakers, and a helmet camera.

The inner bag (or perhaps a compartment in the tank bag… but let’s go with the inner bag idea) would need be split into two sections: one for the fuse box, plus wiring for each device I wanted to power; and the other for the devices themselves. At the moment, here’s my list:

• iPod: a Belkin cigarette lighter adapter would be perfect. It has a line out and a volume control, which will allow the iPod to connect into the integrated comms system. The adapter and the audio wiring would all be hidden in the wiring section, with only the dock connector visible. This will need a cigarette lighter socket.
• Mobile Phone: on shorter trips (where I wouldn’t bother with all this kit) I’d pair the phone to the Bluetooth radio on the GPS, and pair that to the bluetooth headset on my helmet (more on that when I work out what GPS I’m after). In this scenario, though, I’ll pair the phone to the comms system, and power it off the bike. Wiring would either be a cigarette lighter socket or a direct connection, depending on the voltage.
• UHF Radio: power and comms would be wired to the radio. This will probably be 6v, so an adapter will be required, I guess. Which means another cigarette lighter socket.
• Comms Integrator: there are a number of these units available. The handle noise supressions, and route sound to and from the helmet to the various devices. I’ll look into these in greater detail another time.
• Helmet Camera recording unit: the latest helmet cameras record to SD card, rather than connect to a DV camera. I’ll generally keep mine in the tank bag, an while it is there it might as well be charging. Don’t know yet what connector I’ll need for that.
• Charger: a small charger for AA and AAA batteries
• Video Camera or Camera Battery Charger: the plan is to video the trip, so I’ll want to have my DV/HDV camera handy. Again, since it is in the tank bag anyway, it might as well be powered.

With all of that, the simplest approach might yet be to have a mounted strip of cigarette lighter sockets inside the tank bag, and protective cases for each of the gadgets.

Time and testing will tell. More on that when I’m ready to start shopping.