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September 06, 2015

All bright eyed and bushy tailed

Sep 5: With Roland safe and sound back home in Germany, I am now officially off into the second leg of my Canadian adventure. Of course I had a short night, didn't sleep well and was up at 7am, planning to leave by 9am. Breakfast contained of cereal topped with rice milk and a peppermint tea to calm down the stomach. You could tell, I was feeling anxious.

All my carry on stuff had been stowed away the night before in the saddle bags and in that huge trunk provided by Motorcycle House. As you may notice my backpack full with clothing, flip flops and other tidbits fits perfectly snuggly into the sissy bar bag. The side pockets are expandable and contain additional motorcycle gear such as the heated vest, electrical cables, gloves, and other items that might (or might not) come in handy. On the outside mesh pocket a bottle of fuel has found a place, secured with an extra strap.


I wasn't confident about riding with the bag sticking up like a sore thumb, when adding the roll bag on top of the sissy bar bag, hence the roll bag got fixed with rok straps on the pillion seat, and contains my little freeze box, food stuff and electrical tidbits.



One of the saddle bags mostly hold motorcycle related stuff like rain gear, tool kit, first aid kit, Ram mounts and other valuable items. The other box stores the laptop, my cosmetic bag a fleece jacket and the selfie stick.


So far, all has found its place, and there is still some space left for the opportunity to buy little trinkets and souvenirs. Time will tell, how this gear will fare under real life conditions. Thanks, Kiara from Motorcycle House to provide me with the opportunity to test these luggage items.


My mechanic took care of tire pressure, and made sure that all is strapped on securely. Then he jumped on his Vespa, while I mounted the Shadow rather reluctantly, struggling to keep the balance with the bike fully loaded, and lead the way to the ramp to Highway 20 East in direction of Quebec City.

Thanks again David for all your support in this project. Our Thunderbird Black Betty Honda Shadow ACE will write history from now on...

Fully loaded and ready to roll.

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HIER geht's zur deutschen Version.

7 comments:

  1. Pretty exciting to start a new road trip on a new-to-you bike. That tail bag looks huge! Hopefully it isn't too heavy with it sitting way back behind the axle. I like the organization and still having empty space.

    I'm looking forward to the posts!

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    1. Thanks for tagging along, Richard. The bag feels like having a pillion rider...

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  2. That tail bag isn't huge....it's cavernous! Mind the center of gravity.

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    1. Dom, only clothes in the backpack, so fairly lightweight. The heavy stuff is in the saddle bags.

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  3. Sonja, it sems like yesterday when this project was only the whisp of an idea.

    I'm looking forward to the post from the road.

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  4. Awesome, hard to believe the ride is really here already. Have fun!!

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  5. The roll bag seems much better placed on the seat ... it will provide a bit of a backrest for you on the journey as well. It's all about comfort.

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