Ready to ride off into the sunset.

[b_rubenstein]

I went back to riding almost exactly a year ago after a 30 year hiatus. Then I retired at the end of March. Since I relocated for work her in FL about three years ago, I still have kids, family and friends back up North. So to go see them, and have some interesting roads to ride on, I did some mods to make the bike more suitable for long trips. The major mods are done and this is what I came up with:






Thanks to the good info I got from this forum, I wound up with pretty standard items:

Madstad 20" shield (yes, it came with the lower section frosted). It's a big improvement over the Puig I got shortly after I bought the bike.

Sargent seat: hard but well shaped. I bought a Seat Concept seat from a forum member, but even after removing foam from the bottom of the seat foam, and reshaping parts of the top, it became very uncomfortable after 90miles. Put the Sargent back on, got an Air Hawk R small cruiser, and that didn't help anything either.

I wore the stock Dunlop tires out at 2,700 miles and replaced them with Avon Storm3D's. They stick well in the dry and wet, and still have plenty of tread after 6,000 miles.

The Givi V35 arrived yesterday after a little after two weeks from Motostorm. Along with the bags I got the PLX1111 mounts, 1111Kit brackets to attach the mounts and the T443B soft bags. With shipping it cost $575. The bags seem to be very high quality, everything went together without any hassle. It came with an additional lock so in case I buy a top box, I can change the lock in it so I everything is keyed the same. (a total of six keys came with the bags. FWIW, unlike the Givi information on line, a sticker on the bags says that the bags are 35 liters...

My first shakedown run will probably be to S. Florida so see some family and then go to the Gulf side for a look see. Should be fun.

 

[ld_rider]

Looking good!

One minor mod that I added was a set of highway pegs....If you are planning any real seat time and still have your original knees, the pegs will help get the kinks out on a long ride ;-)

 

[PortlandZinMan]

Looks great!

 

[KenW]

Nice!
Good luck with your NC.

 

[Hank]

So what is your final seat set up? Just the Sargent seat?

 

[b_rubenstein]

Right now it's just the Sargent seat and stopping every 100 miles to do some toe touch stretches to get the kinks out of the legs. I still have my OEM knees, but they were damaged in a bike accident back in '73. If the bike had a cradle style frame, I would probably get some clamp on highway pegs. I'll have to see how it works out.

Thanks for the compliments.

 

[Nofear2trek]

Ready to ride off into the sunset.

Ohh, what a feeling! Retired...kids, family and friends living 'back up north' as an excuse to jump on the bike for a ride...and riding to the Keys for margarita sunsets, you and your bike seem ready.

I like your area, I usually spend the nite at Manatee Cove Campground on Patrick AFB when I'm splitting the distance on a ride through Florida heading to Key West.

Now that you're ready, time to knock the kickstand up and roll! Hope to see ya at some of our future NC' meets.

Ray

 

[PapaC]

Awesome, congrats on retirement! I'm four years away. Bike looks great. Have fun!