Luggage setups??

[Ladyhawk]

I've been away for awhile. But I've been busy. I can't recount the hours I've spent researching the internet for this bike. In any case I finally have a set of crash bars or highway bars on my bike as well as my husband's. I feel so much more confident with them as our driveway is almost a mile of gravel to get to the main road.
The bike has got 500 breaking in miles and we have the first snow this morning. It was close. Part of the reason I've been missing is the bike just wouldn't perform - coughing, lurching, acting like it wasn't getting gas, then forging ahead all at low rpms. Of course, it's a new bike! I suspected a gummed up carbuerator (sp?) but the dealer where I purchased it swore it couldn't be. Two other bike shops said - it was gummed up with old gas. Humm. After putting up with poor performance for 500 miles and after getting the 500 mile check-up and fluids change, I decided to drive it in to a dealer and complain. Well, as luck would have it, the bike decided to get me out to the main road and a couple of miles away from home when it decided to DIE with cars behind and cars coming. Panicked I coasted to the side of the road and down the hill to a driveway where I played with it to no avail. A red pick-up pulls up beside me and a young man gets out and asks if I'm having trouble. "I think so," I respond, with my helmet swimming with sweat. He plays with the idle and the gas and determines I'm in trouble. He just happens to know the head mechanic at the dealer where I'm headed - because the mechanic lives next door to him. This young man and his wife have a bike and he has a trailer which he is willing to bring back for me. Where did this man come from? I am so amazed at his generosity. He says it's nothing. He says it's his nightmare to get stranded on the road and knows how I'm feeling. So he goes home, gets his trailer, loads on the bike in about 10 minutes flat! I am at the dealer who has agreed to stay open till I arrive about a half hour after their closing time! My husband has been called to meet me at the dealer to give me a ride home.
So, guys, I know now when I see those friendly hands waving at me when I pass another fellow cycler on the road, that those hands are for real, helping hands.

Two weeks later the bike is fixed - at no cost to me! The dealer who is close to me got Kawi to foot the bill for cleaning the carbuerator (sp?). You know I'm feeling really lucky and really blessed. I am thinking I made a good bike choice, have a company that stands behind its product, a husband to ride with and friends on the road to bike when I need them. You guys out there are really just awesome.
I can't wait for spring!

[Ladyhawk]

OK this is it for today from me. Just a joke sort of - when I brought in my hard bags the cycle guys laughed and said to my husband that I could run away from home with those bags. They commented that I could probably put the kitchen sink in them. That's when I told them about the spigot option I passed on. Hope some of you are in climates where you can still ride! Enjoy.
I am busy with my map of the US, putting in little dots of all the places I want to visit and where we have friends to see. I am so excited I can hardly wait for winter to be over.
To keep the candle burning, I bought the book Maximum Control to read over the winter. It's pretty good and there are some good tips and some maneuvers I need to practice before hitting the big highway west.

[Ladyhawk]

I considered these too but opted for real hard bags since we'll have to take a laptop with us for my husband, lest he come down with a case of work withdrawal. On my old Honda I have a hard top case which is so handy to drop in junk like phones, wallets, and laptop all of which you want secure and don't want wet - ever.

[Ladyhawk]

Have any of you noticed the location of the built-in helmet lock on the 500? On my bike at least it looks like if I used it my helmet would drop down onto the hot muffler. It doesn't look like a particularly useful location for a full helmet.
On my Honda I have a built-in helmet lock and I use it all the time. I hope to find an aftermarket lock I can add on to the frame somewhere. Any suggestions as to a good location or brand of lock that has worked for you?