Smok3y666

On 11/07/2022 at 18:48, RAYK47 said:

Panniers definitely better but I don't want to put panniers on my bike as I think it will look silly, plus I commute to Docklands and need to be slim to get through traffic. 

Fair enough. I have the panniers fitted to a CB1000R and I commuted from Dover to Stoke a month or so back after a trip to France on a Friday afternoon filtering through motorway traffic no issues.

Last couple weeks it's been fairly warm here in UK and I work as a delivery driver. Think it might have been end of last week or start of week just gone while I was out and about and I saw someone on a sports bike riding with all the gear on and then a pair of shorts? I mean if he'd have come off his top half and feet might have been okay but his legs?

On 26/06/2022 at 19:18, RAYK47 said:

 

Only used it half a dozen times but so far so good. It fits nicely to the bike and holds a lot of stuff. Not been out in a major downpour but was caught in a shower and everything was bone dry. 

 

Well worth it in my humble opinion. 

Well I never used the Givi tail bag, I ended up buying some SW Motech panniers, expensive but well worth it.

The lads I got riding with just got the Cardo Edge. I got the Cardo Black because the only differences I could see besides the stupid price of the Edge was the Black uses BT 4.0 instead of 5.2, Edge updates wirelessly and it attaches to the mount faster using magnets or something. The one thing the Black does have over the Edge is it comes with the upgraded 45mm JBL speaker kit which def sounds a lot better than the 40mm speakers my previous Sena had.

I rode down from Le Grand Balloon in the rain. Headset worked fine all the way outputting the directions and what not from my phone. It wasn't torrential rain, just rain. Anyway got to the bottom, found petrol, booked a hotel and rode to it. Sorted myself out for the night and put the Sena on charge ready for next day. Woke up packed everything up, left hotel, loaded next GPX up and no directions came from the headset. Thinking the battery was dead I removed it and connected it to the battery pack charger thing for about an hour but still nothing, LED light just flashed blue while I held the power button down. Half an hour later it came on, made a loud static noise, said something about a config error, made more noise then said off and it never came back on.

Sent it back to Sportbikeshop who sent it to Sena, after 2 weeks and a few emails and despite it being 14 months old I got a refund and ordered a Cardo unit.

My 50S broke this last week when I needed it most while I was on my first EU trip to France. Gone back to where I brought it from. Hopefully they sort it.

On 02/03/2022 at 15:20, RAYK47 said:

 

Thanks anyway, but yes i went for the Rhinowalk bag instead.  

How did you go on with the Rhinowalk bag? Nearly got one myself but got a 35l Givi EA107B instead.

What I was after was a break down of getting there as it will be my first time riding in Europe. I understand perhaps riding from my home town and stopping over before the tunnel crossing which is around 250 miles. I didn't really want do that but makes sense I guess.

I have been trying to cobble together a route looking at what tour providers do or from guides on websites.

One route suggests heading down through Belgium and Luxenbourg and staying overnight in Verdun then heading to Vosges and another suggests Calais to Metz and stay over, Metz to Guebwiller and stay over then on the return Guebwiller to Metz, Metz to Calais.

I was just after finding out how experienced people who have been there would break up like a 5-6 day trip and where they would go to on each day. Like heading to Verdun sounds interesting because of all the history surrounding it.

So basically just a Day 1 Calais to wherever, Day 2 Wherever to Vosges etc....

I'd imagine going on the price they'll be as good as any cheap chinese knock off. Okay until you get up close.

50 minutes ago, Yorky said:

I'd hazard a guess that that may depend on where you're starting from.

Stoke on Trent

To all the people, if there are any that have been Vosges/Black Forest could you suggest a bit of a route for a 5-6 day ride there and back?

So I'm going to go for a 35-40l tailbag/drybag of some description and i'll use the 5l tank bag I have for essentials. Sound good? Oh, and some Rokstraps.

I have the 50S

Install, can't remember if there's instructions or not but there's loads of videos on YT. I'm fairly certain I had instructions tho.

I wouldn't say the app is all that bad. I only used it once to set he unit up but it certainly wasn't slow but the UI is a bit crap.

Voices are clear, yes. Music is passable for background listening.

Bluetooth works fine for Google Maps, phone calls etc..... 

Mesh if generally okay although does seem to cut out now and again although not sure if that's my headset or the other peoples headsets that I ride with. We all have Sena just different models.

2 hours ago, Gerontious said:

Just a suggestion. a week in France is doable, but Spain is a major slog. Have you considered the Ardennes/Eifel?  Base yourself either in Luxembourg or close to the border In Germany and you can take advantage of cheaper petrol and have a vast region on your doorstep. Think mid Wales but on a vaster scale.. with the Nurburgring an easy ride away. Stunning roads everywhere and a very easy ride from the Tunnel. Heres a route map for you to look at. I can recommend a hotel for you to base yourself at, at a very reasonable price/ half board. 

eifel.pdf 799.23 kB · 5 downloads

I'm completely open to suggestions. It will be first adventure so.......... Will start looking for some sites with routes on them at some point.

3 hours ago, Throttled said:

x2 for the Lomo recommendation. Will not leak and although they do not do a specific tail bag, various bags can be bungeed on.

 

https://www.lomo.co.uk/acatalog/Motorcycle-Motorbike-Dry-bags-Accessories.html

When you say Lomo, I have looked at them but don't want the saddle bags as I've read I need to attach pannier racks which I don't want so I presume you mean the 30/40l holdall things?

4 minutes ago, Bungleaio said:

The kriega's are excellent and are easily added to. I've got a 30 and two 10's. They are great for easily adding capacity should you need to.

So would you go would you say a 30l Kriega and small tank bag would cover me for a week?

I've searched for a few hours now on Google but it just throws up sites that tell you what to take and how to pack.

From reviews it seems like 30-40l is the going rate for like a week. What I don't want is something too big that flaps about in the wind or that has too much excess room in it.

I don't really want panniers as I have a CB1000R and won't want the racks fitted all the time and that means having to sell them if I get the touring bug and get a bike more suitable which is why I settled on a tail bag of some sort.

Hi everyone.

Looking at going on a week tour either late this summer or early next summer to France possibly Spain and have settled on getting a tail bag. I'm just wondering what would be a good size to go for? I will also use a small tank bag 5l for paperwork/money/essentials.

I inittially settled on a 30l Kriega but then read a review that said it was a bit small? Thn saw a 35l Qbag or soemthing which again had a review that said could do with a few more litres. So then thought perhaps a 20l with 2x10l packs mounted to the side?

I don't know, just curious as to what size people use.

This won't be camping, will be AirBnB/B&B/Hotels

THANKS!