Fanny Pack / Leg Bag

One of the things I’ve learnt whilst riding is that I don’t particularly like wearing a rucksack whilst riding.  It wasn't to bad on the CB500 as it was a fairly upright sitting position but on the VFR its a pain. 

I've got a Givi Maxia 3 top box but for ‘lively’ days out it does tend to alter the rideability and look.  I’ve also got an Oxford tank bank and this was really my go to item to hold my junk as precious little fits inside my jacket.  Being magnetic and expandable and able to convert into a rucksack its very versatile and I do enjoy using it.

But on a whim after seeing a similar item being worn by someone else I’ve spend some pennies and bought a hip/leg/waist bag.  Its pick enough to hold my phone, powerpack, wallet and shades.  What more do I need ?  It also means its not left on the bike by accident and frees the tank bag up for more items when on longer trips. 

Its an Ebay special from China so I wont be to heart broken if it only lasts a season but what do you expect for £20 squid.  I just hope it arrives in time for my trip.

 

 

Camping Straps

After doing a bit of research into how to strap stuff onto the bike I decided that bungie cords and old skool rope were definitely out.  That left me with a choice of straps.  I was torn between velco straps as used by Saffy Sprocket called Andy Strapz  and cargo straps.  I’ve decided to go with Rok straps in the end.  This are fairly cheap for what looks like reasonable bits of kit.

I've gone for 2 packs of  60” in length on the premise that to long is better than to short.  A result at £13 a pack.  I probably only need one set to hold the tent on the rear of the seat but a spare set never hurts to have.

Camping Stove

As this will be my first trip out on the bike camping, I'm not going to splash out on the latest and most expensive gear until I decide if its for me.  I’ve bought this little thing primarily to do brew ups rather than to do meal cooking on. Its cheap and cheerful but hopefully will survive the week. For 20 quid I cant really  complain if it only lasts this year can I.  The nice thing is that it all fits inside itself so its small enough to go in the panniers.  I was looking at the Jetboil range and I suspect that's what will replace it next year.

 

 

New Tent

So summers here and I’ve decided to try and open up some options regarding touring on the bike.  Since I passed my test I’ve been doing just daily rides out and whilst you can cover some serious miles on the bike in a day I started to wonder if I was missing out on some of the trip highlights by pushing so much to get the miles in. 

Whilst I might be in my 50’s now I used to enjoy camping when a kid and since the new VFR came with a full set of panniers and currently not having to worry about a pillion, camping seemed to be a sensible way to go.  The money I save on B&B / hotels I can spend on eating in the pub each night if I don't fancy cooking !!!

After doing some research I I narrowed down my choices to a Galaxy Vamgo 300, Coastline Plus 3 or a Lonerider MotoTent.  Being the first year of trying this I knew the investment in gear was going to be be steep ie £300+ but then I saw someone offering a tent on marketplace for just £30 inc p+p that seemed to fit my requirements.  I think its Colemans previous version of the Coastline Plus so decided what the hell and bought it.

Its the Coleman Bi Space 300….

Yes I know its discontinued but for the first year I think it will do fine.  Now its time to research and source a chair, travel cot and jet stove.  I cant be without my coffee in the morning.

VFR Hazard Lights Series - Part 3 - Option 2

 

This is the second post on this topic. The first can be found here

So i bought a 2017 VFR right hand switch gear off ebay for £7 just so I could see the physically what the wiring was like to explore this option.  Wiring diagrams are great but sometimes you cant beat the touchy feely.

Great start, it looks factory not surprisingly. The plug to the main loom is the same as what's already there which is also a bonus

 

Potential Problem

Hmmm the pin outs are different between the two plugs but to be honest I was expecting this or more pins in the newer plug for the hazard functionality

 

Investigation

Time to hit the wiring diragrams and see what each pin is doing.

Wiring Diagrams

2017 Switch	2003 Switch
Both linked from VFRDisccusion.com

 

Pin Usage

For the purposes of these articles I will assume the clip on the connector is always at the top as in the photgraphs above and that the pins number left to right and top to bottom

 

 

Pin	2003 Switch		2017 Switch
	Wire Colour	Usage	Wire Colour	Usage
1	Black with green stripe	Front brake switch	Black with green stripe	Front brake Switch
2	Black with grey stripe	Kill switch	Yellow with red stripe	Engine start button
3	White with black stripe	Kill switch	Black with no stripe	Kill switch, Engine tart
4	Brown with blue stripe	Engine start button	Not used	Not used
5	Not used	Not used	Blue	Indicators
6	Black with green stripe	button	Orange	Indicators
7	Not used	Engine start button	Green	Indicators
8	Blue with white stripe	Engine start button	Not used	Not Used
9	Yellow with red stripe	Engine start button	Black with red stripe	Brake Switch, Kill switch

VFR Hazard Lights Series - Part 2

 

Fitting Additional Switch

Not ideal as I want to keep it looking like it came out of the factory and not cut holes in the fairings for switch's or Velcro them on to the panels.  For this reason I'm not going down this route so its dismissed straight away.

Some say this is the easiest and quickest way to add them and I’m sure it is but its not for me.  If you do a google search you can find plenty of examples on how to do it but I wont be covering it here.

 

VFR Hazard Lights Series - Part 3

VFR Hazard Lights Series - Part 1

So  after an incident with a flat tyre last week that left me with a long wait for a recovery truck in the middle of a nasty set of twisties it became apparent thata set of hazard lights on the bike would be a good idea.  Its something I toyed with doing on my CB500 but never got around to doing before the bike was involved in an accident.

 

From my previous investigations I knew there were 3 options available…

1. Aftermarket switch and mess around with the wiring.
2. Buy an upgraded right handed switch gear from a later Honda bike that has the hazard functionality and see if the wiring in it can be adapted to the existing wiring on the bike.  Advantage is it would look factory fitted.
3. Modify the existing switch gear on my bike to add the functionality to it as it has a blanking plate where the headlights switch is normally.

 

Time for some investigation…

My Biking Life: VFR Hazard Lights Series - Part 2