Trip Report

[ken65]

thanks again old boy, after reading your report i decided on a  couple of hour ride today up to MT MEE

heres a pic   

http://s814.photobucket.com/user/kennymick65/media/IMG_8668_zps51dc771b.jpg.html

[oz.fj]

Oh you have the life Kenny 
I think I should take a leaf out of your book.

[Firehawk068]

Awesome!
I love the old cars....................Your scenic pictures are superb!

[ribbert]

Soft luggage sucks when riding in solid rain day after day.

Regarding soft luggage and rain, I am not sure I share your opinion, entirely. 
Cheers,

Dan

You are absolutely right Dan, it doesn't have to be that bad. My bags have a zippered compartment in the bottom containing a surprisingly thick, good quality waterproof cover that remains attached when pulled out and has a draw string around the bottom. My biggest problem is bag#1 sits on the rack and bag#2 is tied to bag#1. This means the covers can't be pulled all the way down and under and despite my best efforts, the wind always finds a spot and they slowly start to balloon and flap and leak etc.

My worst experience was on a recent trip when knowing I was facing an entire day of terrible weather, and what turned out to be the heaviest rain I have ever ridden in, I spent about half an hour trussing things up like never before. I used every tie down and bungee cord I had determined that it would not leak. I tucked, poked, folded, tied until there were no loose ends anywhere. I did all this in the rain. Hopped on, went to start the bike, FLAT BATTERY!
I had to undo the entire load to get the seat off and after a jump start, do it all over again with the bike idling (just in case) By the time all this was done the bike was red hot from idling so long and I was not happy. All I could think of was a trip a month or so earlier on a BMW with a full set of hard luggage. What a dream by comparison.

I might recover as the better weather approaches. A full set of hard luggage for the FJ in Aus (Givi, H&B etc) is about $1300 with mounting kit. Add remote locking an intergrated lights and so on and it just keeps going up. Very expensive.

Noel

[ribbert]

If it helps, I found that if anticipating rain with soft bags, I inserted a heavy duty trash bag in first. Then any leaks did not get my stuff wet. Still a PIA, but functional and less expensive than hard bags. If I had my choice, hard bags that sealed for longer trips.

Thanks, good advice. The bags themselves are rubber lined and stay dry for a reasonable amount of time if you're just riding in and out of showers but I will definitely try the garbage bags next time I'm likely to encounter heavy weather.

Noel

[fj johnnie]

 After my most recent trip I found myself scouring the want ads for hard bags as well. I do however put all my clothing in large zip lock bags inside the soft bags. That way I can force all the air out of the bags,  ( zip lock )if they hold vacuum they don't leak. As a bonus things stay more organized that way.
Excellent trip report, it was a joy to read. John

[aviationfred]

Soft luggage sucks when riding in solid rain day after day.

Regarding soft luggage and rain, I am not sure I share your opinion, entirely. 
Cheers,

Dan

A full set of hard luggage for the FJ in Aus (Givi, H&B etc) is about $1300 with mounting kit. Add remote locking an intergrated lights and so on and it just keeps going up. Very expensive.

Noel

Noel,

Here is a set of Hepco Beckeer panniers for a, at the moment awesome price. Shipping is world wide. At this price IMO they would be worth it and search for a Hepco frame or purchase a frame new.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hepco-Becker-Saddlebags-Panniers-Junior-BMW-Side-cases-Motorcycle-case-/121460110545?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item1c479634d1#ht_672wt_867

Fred

[ribbert]

Noel,

Here is a set of Hepco Beckeer panniers for a, at the moment awesome price. Shipping is world wide. At this price IMO they would be worth it and search for a Hepco frame or purchase a frame new.

Fred

Thanks for the link Fred, but even at their current very attractive price, freight cost to send them half way around the world is prohibitive.

Noel

[Zwartie]

Great Report Noel!

Zwartie

[Bones]

A cheap way out Noel is do what I did. I bought a brand new 35 litre top box for $120.00 and mounted it on my gear sack rack. The front bar that the bag slids over had to be cut off, but otherwise everything fits well. It might'n look as tidy as the proper rack, but it's cheap, strong, and keeps everything inside completely waterproof unlike the bag before it.

[ribbert]

A cheap way out Noel is do what I did. I bought a brand new 35 litre top box for $120.00 and mounted it on my gear sack rack. The front bar that the bag slids over had to be cut off, but otherwise everything fits well. It might'n look as tidy as the proper rack, but it's cheap, strong, and keeps everything inside completely waterproof unlike the bag before it.

Thanks Bones, that is a great idea. I have 5 gear sack racks so I guess I can afford to butcher one. Other than trips, I ride around with just a medium bag on the back, this is a perfect low cost alternative to that.
In fact, I'll go an buy a box tomorrow. I know RJays stuff is cheap but I have had a great run with it. My clothing is RJays (100,000kms), my last set of boots were RJays and my bags are RJays and I have nothing but praise for their gear.

An update on the search for hard luggage that has just unfolded over the last few hours is I have found the exact hard luggage I have been looking for over the last 6 mths. It is on eBay for $11,500 and comes with a motorbike attached. I am riding to Port Macquarie in a couple of weeks to check it out. I just can't bring myself to buy a bike (or car) on the net, sight unseen unless for a give away price.
I will still do Bones suggestionon the FJ regardless. That is a great, cost effective idea and I already have the racks.

Thanks again, I like it.

Noel

[ribbert]

..... are you sure you work for a living Noel, as you always seem to be out on the bike somewhere exploring this great country of ours.( jealous).........Anyway I'm off to work, surely you know what that is.
                                                 Tony.

Haha, yes Tony, I know what work is. I work for myself. While to the casual observer this flexi time might seem attractive, every day on the road cost me around $700 in travel costs and lost income, it's a double whammy.
I worked three 14hr days the weekend before (as well as every weekday) so I could get away.

I have no annual leave, no public holidays, no superannuation, no sick leave, no work cover, no insurance, no breaks, no equipment provided, no sick leave, no overtime loading, no penalty rates, no hazard levies, no union, no one to blame, no one to help, I don't get paid regularly, I have to chase my pay and the Christmas party is always a bit of a fizzer, but I can tell the boss to get fucked and still have a job the next day.

So, is it really worth it? You Bet!

Noel

[Andells1200]

G'day All.... Reading through this thread reminded me of a car I seen while riding through Murwillumbah at the start of the year, I had to go searching through photos to find it.I thought I lost it, nice old beast. Also found someone had uploaded it to YouTube.



1926 dodge still on the roads

[ribbert]

Can you give us a bit of info on the old red car Noel, make, model , engine, etc....please. I'm guessing a Buggati of some sort, It's got an arse end like an old race car.

                                                            Tony.

It is a Standard, as in the Standard Motor Company (1903) and is nearly 90 years old. Like many great marques from the early days of motoring they ended up building shitboxes in the 50's and 60's, then disappeared. Despite the unimaginative name, they built some great cars back in their glory days and, as were most car builders back then, innovative in a number of areas. It is for example OHV.

The running gear is all original and it has the most glorious exhaust note. As they used to say, "it fires every lamp post" and has a near enough to straight out exhaust.

It has a crash box and straight cut gears, I love the sound of the gearbox whining/grinding away.
The clutch pedal is connected directly to the throwout bearing shaft and its position is determined by that, the brake pedal is connected to......I'm not certain, but it appears to not be the brakes. The external brake lever is connected to a drum around the tailshaft and actually works, unlike the foot brakes.

It has a magneto and runs on a total loss system (hardly a system) It has no wiring other than a modern electric fuel pump which I turn off then stall the car in gear to stop it, or you can leave it and wait for the bowl to empty (or maybe it cuts power to half the magneto, hmmm).
The body is not original.

Tony, as you are the only one to ask about it I guess it is of limited interest here so I won't go on. It's a lot of fun and always sparks a huge amount of interest on the road. Top speed is limited by my ability to keep it on my side of the road.

When my children were a little younger, the coolest thing I could ever do was pick them up from school in it, and the kids getting picked up in the $250k Benz's and BMW's?  They were drop jawed with envy. I'm sure this point was not lost on my children as my daily driver was one of those "Dad, would you mind parking around the corner" models. Funny thing is the car is worth bugger all.



This is the official photo taken en route the other week. My friend has his face screwed up because it is being sprayed with scalding hot radiator water after being held up in slow moving traffic, uphill with tail wind.

Noel

[Bminder]

Noel

.
.
That's awesome!
I'm trying to figure out who's older... the car or the driver...


<snicker>