When all the kit just works
Discussion
I've been doing a lot of winter miles over the past couple of months - much more than I anticipated back in the autumn mainly because of some family stuff and the fact that the family in question live in south Oxfordshire while I'm the North West.
I came back to biking last summer after a 20+ year break and after a load of thought & research went for a 1250 GSA - maybe a predictable choice but i went through a fairly exhaustive selection process and it was the best fit for my needs and expected usage.
When I bought the bike I also needed a decent set of all-weather textiles, so these, plus some Bumot soft panniers got added to the shopping list (bike was second hand and came with a BMW top box).
Before the family stuff raised it's head I'd already decided I'd be using the bike to some extent through the winter so in November I bought some Keiss heated gloves and a Keiss heated jacket.
The bike's garaged at home but I wanted to use it for all sorts so I bought a Pragmasis chain and lock for the occasions it needed to overnight somewhere else.
My trips to and from Oxfordshire have involved as little motorway as possible, so one route involves Peak District / rural Leicestershire / Fosse Way / rural Oxfordshire another one goes through Shropshire and Gloucestershire and when I'm feeling really indulgent there's a 7 hour job that involves quite a lot of Wales. All made much easier with a combo of BMW's navi unit and my phone stuck on a quadlock mount as back up.
I've done the trips in every conceivable weather condition, sometimes pottering and sometimes making progress, usually fully laden.
The family stuff means this has been a properly difficult time for everybody close to me - but the bike and kit, oh my god, it's just been brilliant.
Warm & dry after hours riding through rain and wind in <5 degree temps; weeks' worth of personal crap swallowed by the luggage and also kept bone dry & secure with no discernable impact on the bike's performance (& it's all the performance I'll ever need for the road); 30 litre fuel tank meaning zero mid-trip fuel stops required; bike's ergos meaning zero stretch stops required mid-trip.
I'm not here to advocate any of what I've chosen as being the right answer for anybody else, but - like everybody else I guess - having had plenty of times in my life when purchases or collections of stuff fails to live up to expectations or don't adequately do the job you need them to do - it's just good to celebrate when all the kit just works brilliantly and brings you pleasure as a result.
I came back to biking last summer after a 20+ year break and after a load of thought & research went for a 1250 GSA - maybe a predictable choice but i went through a fairly exhaustive selection process and it was the best fit for my needs and expected usage.
When I bought the bike I also needed a decent set of all-weather textiles, so these, plus some Bumot soft panniers got added to the shopping list (bike was second hand and came with a BMW top box).
Before the family stuff raised it's head I'd already decided I'd be using the bike to some extent through the winter so in November I bought some Keiss heated gloves and a Keiss heated jacket.
The bike's garaged at home but I wanted to use it for all sorts so I bought a Pragmasis chain and lock for the occasions it needed to overnight somewhere else.
My trips to and from Oxfordshire have involved as little motorway as possible, so one route involves Peak District / rural Leicestershire / Fosse Way / rural Oxfordshire another one goes through Shropshire and Gloucestershire and when I'm feeling really indulgent there's a 7 hour job that involves quite a lot of Wales. All made much easier with a combo of BMW's navi unit and my phone stuck on a quadlock mount as back up.
I've done the trips in every conceivable weather condition, sometimes pottering and sometimes making progress, usually fully laden.
The family stuff means this has been a properly difficult time for everybody close to me - but the bike and kit, oh my god, it's just been brilliant.
Warm & dry after hours riding through rain and wind in <5 degree temps; weeks' worth of personal crap swallowed by the luggage and also kept bone dry & secure with no discernable impact on the bike's performance (& it's all the performance I'll ever need for the road); 30 litre fuel tank meaning zero mid-trip fuel stops required; bike's ergos meaning zero stretch stops required mid-trip.
I'm not here to advocate any of what I've chosen as being the right answer for anybody else, but - like everybody else I guess - having had plenty of times in my life when purchases or collections of stuff fails to live up to expectations or don't adequately do the job you need them to do - it's just good to celebrate when all the kit just works brilliantly and brings you pleasure as a result.
ker, that gets old very quickly.
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