El Gordito
Member
...after ten long years. Didn't realize how much I missed it, but I digress...
...anyway, I've been planning a trip to Sedona to shoot Red Rock Country. 1120 miles one way, more or less. I've done a few long rides...1645 miles from Morristown, Ohio, to Bay City, Tx, on a Honda CB550F (Dec '75); 2516.9 miles from El Campo, Tx, to Winlock, Wa, on an '86 700 Intruder (July '97); and a couple of +700 mile runs up to Amarillo on a Suzuki GSF600S (sometime back in '98). I'd begun planning this trip before I bought my XL883 (planning flights/rooms/rental car through Orbitz), so my travel arrangements have changed, and am shooting for like the second week of November.
Ten years is a long time to be out of the saddle. I rode down to El Campo last Sunday to see my grandboys, 260.7 miles round trip (in +100 degree temps*whew*), and found those ten years made a lot of difference. Heat had something to do with it, too, but still. Well, I've got four months to get ready for it. I'm traveling light...a Kata backpack (laptop/camera gear, with very little space for clothes) is all I have now. A tool bag is a gimme. But I'm leaning toward another tank bag (liked the one I used on my Intruder) or maybe a small trunk bag (which means getting a rack) instead of saddlebags. Being the poor man that I am, I'd like to keep my expenses to a minimum (as I found out Sunday, a windshield is definitely in order). The XL883 has a smallish tank, though, so I'm assuming a tank bag might be too small (planning on +/- 7 days, including riding time).
Thoughts/suggestions/advice would be appreciated.
...anyway, I've been planning a trip to Sedona to shoot Red Rock Country. 1120 miles one way, more or less. I've done a few long rides...1645 miles from Morristown, Ohio, to Bay City, Tx, on a Honda CB550F (Dec '75); 2516.9 miles from El Campo, Tx, to Winlock, Wa, on an '86 700 Intruder (July '97); and a couple of +700 mile runs up to Amarillo on a Suzuki GSF600S (sometime back in '98). I'd begun planning this trip before I bought my XL883 (planning flights/rooms/rental car through Orbitz), so my travel arrangements have changed, and am shooting for like the second week of November.
Ten years is a long time to be out of the saddle. I rode down to El Campo last Sunday to see my grandboys, 260.7 miles round trip (in +100 degree temps*whew*), and found those ten years made a lot of difference. Heat had something to do with it, too, but still. Well, I've got four months to get ready for it. I'm traveling light...a Kata backpack (laptop/camera gear, with very little space for clothes) is all I have now. A tool bag is a gimme. But I'm leaning toward another tank bag (liked the one I used on my Intruder) or maybe a small trunk bag (which means getting a rack) instead of saddlebags. Being the poor man that I am, I'd like to keep my expenses to a minimum (as I found out Sunday, a windshield is definitely in order). The XL883 has a smallish tank, though, so I'm assuming a tank bag might be too small (planning on +/- 7 days, including riding time).
Thoughts/suggestions/advice would be appreciated.