How
to make riding more enjoyable... The story of the Motorcycle Seat Bag
Sunday's ride
began the day before.... with a trip to the local motorbike shops and a mission
to buy a Seat Bag. I was sick of stuffing things under the seat or in my jacket
and it was all becoming a pain and detracting from the enjoyment of riding.
Also the big
I was working to
the KISS philosophy (Keep It Simple Stupid) and the Seat Bag was only to
contain the wallet, coins, keys, mobile phone, sunglasses and camera. The
choice of Seat Bag was as simple as the smallest size
The Seat Bag was fitted to the SuperBlackbird, then the aforementioned items packed and ready for the ride home. There appeared to be plenty of room remaining, so the 'motorcycle' cupboard in the garage was opened to see what else could fit in the Seat Bag.
On the shelf was a BIG CAN of MR SHEEN, right next to the BIG CAN of CHAIN LUBE. Gosh, these cans are really big and take up too much space. Having cleaned my riding boots earlier in the day I remembered seeing a small old can of Mr Sheen in the shoe polish box, so it was hauled out to really fulfil it's 'wax clean and polish as you dust' purpose in life. As for the chain lube - I will buy a small can before the next ride.
With Mr Sheen
packed, I added the visor polishing cloth, motorbike polishing cloth, earplug
pouch full of 8 earplugs, eye drops, two lip balms, sunscreen, one packet
band-aids, sunglasses pouch, reading glasses and case, camera battery charger
and cable, camera remote control, neck warmer for cooler weather, jacket
liner/vest to cure colder temperatures, wet weather gear and spare winter
gloves - just in case - after all
So now I try and stuff all these goodies into this miniature bag, but not all items fit in! Dohh! Maybe I should have opted for the larger seat bag - an extra $6 buys an extra 40% capacity. And ugly looks.
But I remembered the KISS philosophy and ditched the wet weather gear and gloves - after all, the weather bureau forecast was for clearing weather after early morning showers and the bureau is always right - more or less.
So the next morning it's off to enjoy the Sunday ride with Ben and his entourage. At the first stop for fuel, I opened the newly fitted seat bag, (which is still firmly attached), grabbed the wallet and HAT... Dohh! Forgot to pack the hat! As the day progressed, I also realised that I had forgotten to pack a handkerchief, superglue, gaffer tape and red lipstick (for bedraggled rescued maidens use only), so these items are now on my list and will be ready for the next ride.
I contemplated the KISS philosophy and tried to talk myself into believing that more than 30 items is still simple in terms of items needed to be taken along when motorbike riding. But I was just kidding myself. At this point I sympathised with women and all they have to carry in their handbags. Or was I just realising that women carry all those things for the men who don't? Interesting... hmmm...
Anyway, the weather was brilliant on the ride and the wet weather gear was not sadly missed.
So I now have
all my eggs in one basket, I don't feel like the incredible bulk any more, and
that makes the riding more enjoyable.