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Story of the Month
In May of 2009 I purchased a new Burgman 650 Executive. A road trip was
in order. As it turns out, some friends of mine were planning a 16 day
trip from MN to the Americade rally in NY and then continuing on to see sights
in VT, NH, ME and then back through Niagara Falls and Ontario. It would be
an excellent "inauguration" trip for the bike.
As one might expect, I added a few accessories. Here are my thoughts on
what I added and were you can find them on our website:
 | Clearview Medium + Vented shield. The size worked great for
me. I've had a Medium + Vented shield on my Silver Wing for years, so
the size was comparable to what I had been used to. I knew the added
height would keep the wind off my head and upper torso, but I was impressed
with how much the added width kept my hands out of the wind.
Suzuki Windshields |
| J&M Handlebar Mounted CB. I had a special mounting bracket
made for this CB so that I wouldn't have to cut any of the body plastic to
install it and to move it a little out of my line of site to the left mirror;
we'll be productizing that mount before long. (Feel free to
contact us if you're interested.) I had heard
reports that the unit exhibits a fair amount of electrical noise when
installed on a post 2005 Burgman 650. (This problem hasn't been reported
on other bikes.) While there certainly is noise on some channels under
certain circumstances, I found good success communicating on channel 2 and was
able to use that to communicate with others in our group. I will be
investigating the problem and hope to work out a solution soon. CBs can
be found on our CB page. |
| Garmin Zumo 550. As one would expect, the GPS plotted routes
and recorded tracks of where we went while on the bike. I enjoyed taking
it with my on a helicopter tour around Niagara Falls to note how fast we were
going. (Interestingly enough, the helicopter seemed to accelerate
through the turns just like we riders do.) Because I used it in
conjunction with the J&M Handlebar Mounted CB, and because the GPS is linked
to my cell phone via Bluetooth, I was able to take a phone call or two from
home. Riding GPS |
| RAM Cup holder. I'm a firm believer in staying hydrated while
riding, so I keep a cupholder mounted to the front brake reservoir when I
expect to be riding for any length of time. I keep a 20 oz water bottle
with a sport-top-type cap in it and refill it with larger water bottles I keep
in one of my T-411 saddlebags or E52 case. The cup holder we have that
works best for the Burgman 650 is the Clutch/Brake Reservoir Cap Mount Point
version found in the Cup Holders section of our
Comfort and Convenience page. |
| GIVI T-411 saddlebags. I generally keep my raingear in the
left-side saddlebag so it's easy to get to in a hurry if needed and keep
things that are needed less often, and with less urgency, in the right-side
saddlebag. These bags are water resistant (and the zippers are covered)
so the contents remain dry through a quick light cloud burst. However, I
always put my gear in a larger garbage bag before putting it in the saddlebag
in case I end up in a downpour. The reflective bits added an extra
measure of safety, and I thought the black color worked really well with my
black bike. These can be found towards the bottom of our
Luggage page. |
| GIVI Monokey mounting plate. Installing the GIVI Monokey
mounting plate on the Burgman 650 Executive was very simple - just remove the
stock backrest and use the same holes for the mounting plate. I didn't
even need to remove any of the body panels. This is towards the top of
our Luggage page. |
| GIVI E-52 case with integrated brake lights. This topcase was
large enough to carry my laptop computer, change of gloves, change of jacket,
and a few smaller items. The handle worked great when I needed to carry
the topcase into the hotel at night. This item is about half way down
the Luggage page. |
| Helmet Pegs.
 When I'm
riding around town, I generally store my helmet in the under-seat storage or
in my GIVI topcase. On rare occasions, I use the under-seat hook.
However, on longer trips, my topcase is usually full and I have too much
loaded on the rear seat to make accessing either the under seat storage or the
under seat hook feasible. I knew that while on this trip, I'd have to
leave the helmet with the bike while in restaurants or seeing various sights
so I added a pair of helmet pegs. Not only did they work great, but they
also looked great - that extra sparkle of chrome on the black Burgman really
stood out. These gizmos can be found in our
Comfort and Convenience page. |
| Tire Pressure Monitoring System.
When you
ride a few hundred miles per day for several days in a row, you should check
your tire pressure every now and again. This Tire Pressure Monitoring
System made checking the pressure really simple - I didn't have to bend down
or get my hands dirty or anything like that. I did find that it took the
receiver unit quite a while to pick up a signal from the tire sensors if I was
taking a reading after the bike had been still for some time. My
solution was to put the bike up on the center stand and spin the tires with my
foot. I had a reading within a few seconds. Very convenient.
You can find them in the Safety section of our
Comfort
and Convenience page. |
The two pictures below show the accessories on the bike. (Click an
image to enlarge it.)
If you've got a good story about a ride or about using a particular accessory
that you think others would like to see, feel free to send it in either via
email to ian@twtouring.com or use the Feedback Form.
Of course, not every story would be published here, and all stories submitted
are subject to editing.
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LLC
