Friday 13 September 2013

What's in your tailbag?

I love my Kriega gear.........love it.

I've been using the Kreiga US-30 tailbag for well over 4 years on two different bikes. Great mounting options really make this a universal tailbag.

During that time the Kriega has seen a multitude of conditions: Hot, Cold, Wet, Dry - dusty, muddy and anything else - except snow......I don't do snow.

I use the bag every single day on the commute and it easily holds a laptop/tablet, change of clothes, lunch, miscellaneous work items etc.

When touring the bag can swallow quite a lot of gear......a few years back I did a multi day ride and only took the Kreiga - that's it. One bag. It was capable of holding  just what I needed.

Day to day items carried change - obviously so.
However there are a few thing which stay in/on the bag at all times:

Coded Helmet-Lock 

Various bike related promo gear

A "bandolier" of charity ride badges

The essentials: 
Pocket torch
Spare UglyFish glasses lenses 
"Wets" - overpants and spray jacket
Puncture kit and basic tools
Earplugs - thanks Akra's 


So......what's in your tailbag?

\BitSar
--the packhorse. 

Thursday 5 September 2013

Helmet Comms

I've been using the Scala Rider G4 for quite a while now........been meaning to put a post up. 
Here it is:
______________________________________ 

 After much consideration of cheaping out for the BT set and looking at high end gear I settled on the "upper-middle" in the Cardo Scala Rider G4 

INSTALLATION 


The PowerSet ships with two units - one for me, one for my buddy.


I have a Shoei XR-1100, I removed the left hand check pad 

 Mounting bracket and boom-mic installed into space between shell and inner-foam
Really pays to remove the check pad (also this exposes the ear piece recesses.) 

 Ear piece in recess in helmet - mounted using stick on velcro pad (included)

 Fully Installed 

 Installation took about 35-40 mins - I like things to be neat - you could probably stuff it all in the lid in about 15 mins at a push. 

 I used the FM radio on the way to work this morning and had the missus call about 10 mins into the journey. Phone call came through no problem (from a Bluetooth paired Android phone). The other half says sound quality was better than hands free in the car - I tried with visor up and visor down.

Bluetooth paring with Android was quick and painless and the headset and phone recognize each other immediately without a problem. 

 Sound quality from the speakers is good - nice and loud. Don't expect Hi-Fi but the quality keeps me happy.

EDIT:
As one of my readers pointed out (thanks Chiller tek) - I don't ride and take/make phone calls.
Part of riding is to get away from things.....listening to music or gps nav points is the primary use for the Scala Rider.
For completeness I did take a call to test the functionality.

\BitSar

Monday 2 September 2013

That was tough.......

I've ridden King Lake, Lake Mountain, the Reefton and Black Spurs many times - all great roads.

I've ridden these roads in Summer and Winter with varying degrees of seasonal difficulty........I rode them this Saturday...........it was hard work.

Saturday was the first properly warm, dry day we've had in a while. A buddy and I decided to "Hit the Hills" out East - we should have waited a little longer for Winter to pass.

Coming into King Lake from Kangaroo Ground our spirits were high. The road was dry and clean - the air was a comfortable 23C, we hit the throttle with gusto, stringing together a lovely run into King Lake junction.

The burnt vegetation you see along the road is due to the intense Black Saturday fires of 2009, this area was hit hard and is still recovering.



From King Lake we headed through Healesville out to Marysville - this leg was again fun and fast - no problem with road condition. Usually we would stop to take some caffeine on board at the Marysville bakehouse, for some reason today we decided to push on.


We took off over Lake Mountain in the general direction of the Reefton Spur.

As we continuing to climb into the Sub-Alpine region, the indicated temperature on the dash started to drop - eventually bottoming out at 11C. All of a sudden it felt very much like Winter again.

The road condition was becoming increasingly treacherous. Leaf litter, stringy bark, clay, loose gravel and potholes were the name of the game. Staying upright became a bit of a challenge. Both myself and my riding buddy had a few "moments".......we promptly decided to back off.


Unfortunately we were not clear of the bad conditions.

Reefton Spur was also covered in a loose top-layer of debris and detritus. The front end did not want to stay on line through corners and the rear was more than happy to spin up on nearly every exit.......this was fun for a while - it became not so fun pretty quickly.


By the time we reached Reefton Hotel we were more than happy to get off the bikes for a while, have a cold drink and sit in the sun - we were absolutely shagged.

I looked at my buddy and said - "mate, that was tough" - his face said it all. No. Reply. Required.

A couple of riders showed up who had come from the Warburton side - they asked how the Reefton was - we told them - they went back the way they came..........which lucky for us, was our way home.



\BitSar
--had a ball - just trying to stay upright.