My first real acquaintance with two wheels happened, well, almost two decades ago. Since then, a lot has changed, both in my life, as well as in the world of motorcycles. One thing, nevertheless, remains the same: the feeling of freedom when one hits the open road, the grin on one’s face when the helmet comes off after a nice ride.
For me, any excuse to ride is a good one; be it a four-hour trip to return something in a store I visited with the family or a ten-minute ride to the grocery store. I ride often and regardless of weather, except for when it really snows.
So, for the better part of two decades, I’ve been mostly lucky with my machines – I either was close enough to home to push it, or suffered only minor mechanical inconveniences. Then again, I spent all those years riding street bikes.
Nevertheless, when the G650GS invaded my realm, which, until then, was free of major mishaps, my peace was to be no more. This, however, is not the bike’s fault. The machine has been super reliable and mechanically sound, giving me zero problems except for the occasional bolt that needs tightening. My peaceful realm has been disturbed by no other than myself.
The G650GS just begs me to take more chances...more adventures so to speak. Often, I find myself riding a dirt road I know nothing of, or a trail that leads to who-knows-where. I feel like a kid again, the kid that used to ride BMX bikes and jump over rocks and splashed in the mud and... Yup, that kid!
While, in the past, I’ve been lucky enough to get away with the joke-of-a-tool-box most companies provide with their bikes, I know that with this new adventure-bidding machine I won’t be so lucky in the future. I never worried about blown tires on the road, but now, what if I’m twenty miles from the nearest house in middle of the woods? What if...
As anyone who has the G650GS or the older F650GS knows, there simply isn’t enough room under the seat for anything but the factory tool kit. Well, that just won’t do. Luckily, most of the bike hardware is now Torx head bolts, so fitting a full size set of Torx bits will solve most problems. Throw in a pair of adjustable pliers, a ratchet wrench, a combination screwdriver, a couple of tire irons, and a tube repair kit, and you simply find out there isn’t enough room to fit this anywhere in the bike in its stock form. Most of the time, I carry a set of hard bags on my bike, but then, most of the time, these are full of other items, such as clothing, camping gear, first-aid kit, and the like.
Hence this solution: A tool tube.
I found an “owner’s manual tube” on Agri-Supply website: Tool Tube
These little tubes are the deal to be had at $4.99 plus shipping, so I ordered two and set out to mount them on the bike. The only suitable location I came up with is the Givi sidecase racks I have bolted on my bike. Fortunately, there is enough room to mount these inward, on the inside of the racks facing in to the wheel well. A trip to the local hardware store, and I came home with four rubber lined clamps, four ¼” stainless bolts with washers and nuts, and some plastic zip ties. The clamps are great in that not only they reduce vibration, but they also protect the powdercoating on my racks. The zip ties are only used as a backup, should the clamp break so the tubes won’t fly into the spinning wheel.
After mounting these, I did a “dry” run on some local trails with the tubes empty, to make sure there is enough clearance and the mounting holds up to some serious abuse. After about 80 miles over rough terrain, I came home and checked all connections, and am happy to report that all is well and secure. During this test run, my suspension bottomed out several times, and never did the swingarm come in contact with the tubes.
One of the tubes holds my stock tool kit, along with the pliers, the Torx bits, and the wrenches, while the other has my wheel repair parts/tools. This kit is not perfect, but I’m confident that I now carry enough to make it back home instead of ending up stranded in the woods somewhere.
Oh, and as with any bolt-on additions: blue Loctite is a must.
No comments:
Post a Comment