Equipment
Two more days of work to go...
I'm beginning to feel the typical mix of sadness and excitement that comes with any big life change. What saddens me the most is saying goodbye to the people I can call friends, but are not close enough to me to stay in touch with. I'm old enough to know that "keep in touch" is a nicety we voice when we don't really know what else to say. Of course, there's a handful of people I will actually stay in touch with - I'm not sad about moving away from them. I'll see them all again...it's the bunch of great people who I only run into every few weeks that I'm sad about.
For you motorcyclists out there, here's a shot of my bike. This is from a trip I did last year to the Grand Canyon. My bike is a 2003 (?) Suzuki SV650S that is almost entirely stock. The only changes I've made to it is to switch the crappy stock seat to a nice Corbin one and also add some convex mirrors so I can see more than a small patch of what's behind going on behind me. I know, I'm so boring...no aftermarket pipe, tailkit, frame sliders, bodywork, etc...just the plain old Suzuki. I've never really been one to tinker with my bike (or car). I just like riding on it and seeing new places.
My luggage is best described as cheap. I've got a Joe Rocket Tank bag (in the picture) that works really well, but other than that, I have no "real" motorcycle luggage. For the Grand Canyon trip, I spider webbed a backpack to the pillion for extra storage. Since I slept in hotels for that trip (and it was only 10 days long) I didn't need to pack much. For the Alaska trip I decided to take the plunge and camp most of the time so I'll have a mid-size one man tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and a duffel bag full of stuff strapped on the back.
I thought about investing in some Givi hard luggage, but I'm just too damn cheap. I don't know when I'll take another huge trip like this again...and if I do, I'll probably trade in the Suzuki for something a bit more amenable to long distance driving (a BMW perhap$), so I don't want to get some hard luggage that has no use on my next bike.
My trusty Suzuki SV650S in front of the Painted Desert in Arizona
I'm beginning to feel the typical mix of sadness and excitement that comes with any big life change. What saddens me the most is saying goodbye to the people I can call friends, but are not close enough to me to stay in touch with. I'm old enough to know that "keep in touch" is a nicety we voice when we don't really know what else to say. Of course, there's a handful of people I will actually stay in touch with - I'm not sad about moving away from them. I'll see them all again...it's the bunch of great people who I only run into every few weeks that I'm sad about.
For you motorcyclists out there, here's a shot of my bike. This is from a trip I did last year to the Grand Canyon. My bike is a 2003 (?) Suzuki SV650S that is almost entirely stock. The only changes I've made to it is to switch the crappy stock seat to a nice Corbin one and also add some convex mirrors so I can see more than a small patch of what's behind going on behind me. I know, I'm so boring...no aftermarket pipe, tailkit, frame sliders, bodywork, etc...just the plain old Suzuki. I've never really been one to tinker with my bike (or car). I just like riding on it and seeing new places.
My luggage is best described as cheap. I've got a Joe Rocket Tank bag (in the picture) that works really well, but other than that, I have no "real" motorcycle luggage. For the Grand Canyon trip, I spider webbed a backpack to the pillion for extra storage. Since I slept in hotels for that trip (and it was only 10 days long) I didn't need to pack much. For the Alaska trip I decided to take the plunge and camp most of the time so I'll have a mid-size one man tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and a duffel bag full of stuff strapped on the back.
I thought about investing in some Givi hard luggage, but I'm just too damn cheap. I don't know when I'll take another huge trip like this again...and if I do, I'll probably trade in the Suzuki for something a bit more amenable to long distance driving (a BMW perhap$), so I don't want to get some hard luggage that has no use on my next bike.
My trusty Suzuki SV650S in front of the Painted Desert in Arizona
posted by Bob at 10:32 AM
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