VTR1000.ORG

Hi,

I bought a black 2000 model VTR1000 yesterday, which I rode home from Kent to central London yesterday afternoon. It has manual cam-chain adjusters fitted, and flat bars, and an aftermarket seat and exhaust pipe (dyno'd), braided hoses, 12 months MOT, fully serviced...........
I handed over proper money for this machine, but the previous owner did everything I would want to do, but would never get around to doing, so I had to have it. At 53 years old, this is probably my last "proper" bike, before dementia sets in, and I start having thoughts like "I really don't need all this power---it would be more sensible for me to have......".
34,000 miles. This bike is so nice, that I intend to buy a cheap scooter to avoid putting unnecessary miles on it. London is covered in 20mph limits---why would I use the VTR in the rain in a 20 zone if I'm just going to ASDA? I'm not going to use it in the winter, and regret that I have no garage in London.
My work takes me on some decent roads---central London to St Albans on Monday, and to Reading on Tuesday, for example. My first request for assistance from VTR1000.ORG is---I'm going to need a carrier to transport my work-kit (laptop, maybe a 3 inch thick file, some paper and a couple of books---solicitor, I'm afraid---still waiting for the billion dollar idea to come to me). I am thinking of just going for the Renntec one, and bungeeing a bag onto it. I see there is a nice Givi one for the VTR, but I have a nonfango 848 topbox from my previous NTV650 (dull, dull, dull), and I don't want to pay for a new Givi top-box when I already have a top-box taking-up room in my flat.
Any advice from someone who has done the carrier-thing would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
David (DEWG)

Welcome aboard David

I can't really advise you on the luggage questions, although a rucksack might be a better option for your laptop. I'm sure someone else will have more of an idea than I have,

Chris.

Welcome aboard

welcome along sir, go for the givi rack with plate, the renntecs are handy but have a very small max load.

Hello and welcome to the forum young man (53yrs old) :thumbup:you are only a pup

Welcome in.

Bike sounds great and as you say, its nice to buy something that has all the mods on that you would want in the first place!

I fitted my renntec rack and box to my storm last week and used it for the first time on Monday, its very good and im pleased with it, I have used Renntec racks with a box on my bigger bikes for years but Givi products are no doubt another level on in terms of robustness and quality, from the rack to the actual lock on the box.

I did manage to snap one renntec rack around welds but that was after a few years of 170MPH "touring" (GSXR1000)

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If I was using one everyday, I think id invest in the extra ££ and go for a Givi, you'll always find a buyer for it secondhand when time comes to sell the bike on so these things never work out as expensive as it first appears.

fabiostar wrote:welcome along sir, go for the givi rack with plate, the renntecs are handy but have a very small max load.

Its 5kg, enough for day to day work use and a laptop but to be fair, I used to pack far more than that in mine.

Greetings - look at a baglux tank cover with a detachable bagster tank bag.

Welcome to the club fella. +1 on the Baglux system, works well.

Thank you for your warm welcomes.
I emailed the Barbican to see if they would let me park my VTR in their car-park a 2 minute walk from where I live. I don't have a Barbican flat, so I thought they might tell me to get lost. Not so! Underground car-park with 24 hour concierge. It's £289.00 a year to park there, but the weather could easily do more damage than that to the bike in a year, even with a cover on it. Covers can act as a sail, and I would be heart-broken if the bike blew over in heavy winds, which we seem to get a couple of times a year.
I'm thinking of getting a Honda Lead 110 for little journeys in London's 20 mph zones, to preserve the VTR. If a myopic car-driver knocks that over while parking next to it, or some little scrote steals that, or nicks bits off it, I could live with that. I can get a good post-2007 model for £850.00. A post-2007 bike won't fall foul of the Ultra Low Emissions Zone that is coming into force in central London in April 2019, as it will have passed the Euro 3(is it 3?) emissions test. As I live within the ULEZ, I get 3 years grace to be able to use the VTR in the ULEZ after it comes into force,without having to pay the £12.50 a day to use it. So the bike needs to last me until April 2022. A spare bike will help me achieve that.
I haven't decided what to do about the carrier yet. I can get a 45 litre rucksack with a laptop compartment for under £20.00 on Amazon, so I will probably do that for now, just to keep me going while I obsess about what the perfect solution is.

Keep safe,

David (DEWG).

welcome to the club.

the Kreiga rucksacks are expensive, but when you wear one you realise that the harness design is so good you don't feel it when riding.

other option is the Ventura luggage racks and removable bags

Hi David, I have a baglux system, tank cover and bag. I got the tank cover off a forum member at a very good price and there is a fella on ebay who sells refurbished bags, again at a very reasonable price. The only disadvantage is the bag needs to come off for refueling. A fairly frequent operation. But, top bits of kit.

Before that I've toured Germany with just a rucsac (on a different bike) and that was OK.

As well as the baglux stuff I have a givi rack. Excellent stuff. The topbox is a Kappa but it has the same fitment as a Givi. Bought second-hand and much much cheaper than a genuine Givi box. Why don't you see if you can fit your Nonfango box onto a Givi plate? It may be possible.

Anyway, nice to see another Storm owner join the circle. We've had a few just recently. People just seem to need to have a ride on the things and then realise what top bikes they are.

The ride-outs (Operation Storm) are a very worthwhile experience too. Once experienced, always repeated. Scotland is the next one. It may be a little far for you although people come from Essex and Kent and the west country. Wales is after that and that's just a short hop for you.

Once again, welcome and enjoy the bike.

dewg wrote:Thank you for your warm welcomes.
I emailed the Barbican to see if they would let me park my VTR in their car-park a 2 minute walk from where I live. I don't have a Barbican flat, so I thought they might tell me to get lost. Not so! Underground car-park with 24 hour concierge. It's £289.00 a year to park there, but the weather could easily do more damage than that to the bike in a year, even with a cover on it. Covers can act as a sail, and I would be heart-broken if the bike blew over in heavy winds, which we seem to get a couple of times a year.
I'm thinking of getting a Honda Lead 110 for little journeys in London's 20 mph zones, to preserve the VTR. If a myopic car-driver knocks that over while parking next to it, or some little scrote steals that, or nicks bits off it, I could live with that. I can get a good post-2007 model for £850.00. A post-2007 bike won't fall foul of the Ultra Low Emissions Zone that is coming into force in central London in April 2019, as it will have passed the Euro 3(is it 3?) emissions test. As I live within the ULEZ, I get 3 years grace to be able to use the VTR in the ULEZ after it comes into force,without having to pay the £12.50 a day to use it. So the bike needs to last me until April 2022. A spare bike will help me achieve that.
I haven't decided what to do about the carrier yet. I can get a 45 litre rucksack with a laptop compartment for under £20.00 on Amazon, so I will probably do that for now, just to keep me going while I obsess about what the perfect solution is.

Keep safe,

David (DEWG).

This emissions stuff coming into force in the very near future is really going to hit us "old" bikes owners hard but I expect the dealers will do well out of it.

I wouldn't be happy riding with a laptop on my back in case I fell off, a good friend came off his bike at slow speed on diesel with a large book in a rucksack and it rode up, into his neck and lifted his lid, ultimately injuring his neck and that was a proper motorcycle rucksack with the 2 chest straps

Falling on to a laptops edge and into your back isnt worth thinking about.

Evenin' all.
Thanks for all the feedback on the carrier/luggage situation. Much for me to consider.
I need to be able to carry my work-stuff on Monday---too soon for me to have made a decision and carried it out, so I have bought a rucksack. I'm not too happy about wearing a rucksack on a bike at all, but it will do for a week or 2 while I consider my ultimate solution. I got a 45 litre rucksack for £11.99 on Amazon. Since picking-up the bike in Kent on Tuesday, it has just been sitting under a cover in the car-park of the estate where I live, so I have not investigated whether there are bungee-hooks/some way of bungeeing the rucksack onto the pillion seat. The bike is moving to an underground car-park with 24 hour security on Saturday 1st July, so I will check it over in the dry then.

My first decent ride will be on Monday morning---central London to St Albans, on some decent "A" roads. I will then return to London, and later on in the day travel to Reading (A4, not M4). I'm working in Reading on Tuesday morning, so it is very convenient that my sister lives a few miles away from there in Spencer's Wood, so I'll stay there on Monday night. After work on Tuesday, it's back to London via Maidenhead, where I lived pre-teens. A trip to Bray, and a general ride by the Thames is essential for spiritual maintainance (unless it's xissing it down, in which case it isn't).

Time for bed.

Stay safe,
David (dewg).

Hello and welcome