It’s been a bit of a whirlwind since last Friday, but it’s now Wednesday evening and the Norden is in the garage and prepped. The bike would have been ready to pick up from the dealer Monday morning, but in a one-in-a-million chance the sidestand safety switch was DOA and the dealership had to overnight one. They got the part and got the bike put together on Tuesday, but in another one-in-a-million someone pulled out of their spot without looking when the mechanic was doing a test ride and knocked him and the bike over. The tech was OK and the bike suffered minor cosmetic damage to the crash protection.
I really can’t thank Manchester Honda KTM Husqvarna enough for helping me out; they went out of their way to make the deal and get me the bike as soon as was reasonably possible, even with surprise issues. I was able to make it to a happy hour my boss threw as a send-off for me and spent most of Tuesday evening getting all of the parts I had in the garage installed on the bike.
I tend to categorize upgrades to a travel bike as performance, comfort & ergonomic, protection, and luggage capacity. Luckily the bike comes well set up out of the crate with all the performance I need (engine, suspension, brakes, etc are all top notch) and the Expedition edition comes with great ergonomics and comfort features. There was definitely work to prep the bike for better luggage capacity and bike protection, however. Bike protection includes crash/tip-over/general physical protection as well as dust protection for the fork seals and air filter.
Tuesday Progress (T-3 Days)
Packages of parts that I’d ordered on Friday started arriving on Monday and Tuesday, so I had a decent haul of new and scavenged parts from the Tiger & DRZ to start prepping the new bike. Tuesday progress included:
- Heavy-duty pannier racks (Touratech) and luggage plates (Kriega)
- Larger tail rack (Touratech)
- Fender riser (Touratech)
- Fork Gaiters (Sealsavers)
- Aluminum-backed hand guards (Barkbusters)
- Phone mount (Peak Design)
- Powered, lockable GPS cradle (Garmin)
- Install tank bag and paint protector (Giant Loop)
Wednesday Night (T-2 Days)
Since I was able to get the bulk of the work done on Tuesday, there was relatively little to get done tonight. A few parts that were ordered over the weekend showed up, plus tweaking the setup and adding straps, tool stashes, etc.
- GPS mounting bracket (Vanasche Motorsports)
- Pre-filter for the air intake (Rottweiler Performance)
- Folding mirrors (Doubletake)
- Side stand foot enlarger (Tusk)
- Set up my stash of emergency tools in the side panels (tire irons, tow strap, extra air pre-filters, etc)
- Tank pads (Stompgrip)
- SAE lead (Amazon Special)
Remaining Prep
Tomorrow (Thursday) should consist of figuring out how to pack the truck and getting the house ready for our departure. I was originally planning on using a hitch-mounted motorcycle carrier for the DRZ, but the Norden will bring the weight perilously close to the max rating both for the carrier and truck’s max tongue weight. To avoid any other surprise issues, I’ll be pivoting to just hauling the bike in the bed of the truck.
That’ll mean getting more creative with loading the bed (and potentially cutting some gear). Tori and I will also need to unload the bike each night (and re-load it in the morning) we’re on the drive out to SD so we can lock up the camping gear overnight. Luckily we only have two nights at motels on the way out, so it’s not the end of the world.
Tomorrow’s also when Monte gets dropped off for his own vacation at the kennel, so we’ll say our goodbyes and drop him off before we start getting the truck packed for an early departure on Friday.
As we ride out, I’ll need to dial in things like my suspension and bike ergonomics. I would never have intentionally planned on setting off on a 6-week trip with a brand new bike, so usually I would have had a least a few thousand miles to get used to the bike and set it up for myself. Honestly the bike’s felt pretty good on the from the get-go, but I’m sure I’ll find hotspots or things to tweak as I get riding and start to clock some miles.