2 up touring

[kwackboy]

Hi , two up its great and can pull well over 100mph fully loaded and fuel overages around 45mpg . The D rings are biketek billet alloy rings from bike-it, they work great and my top box has fixed mountings with bungies.




Enjoy the Vee , it's a great bike ..!!

[Flanners]

Cheers...oooh very factory, like that. Thanks for the info.

[Flanners]

Don't suppose you have a link for the D rings etc?

[kwackboy]

http://www.bikeit.co.uk  part number "LUGLOOP" .  

[Flanners]

All packed and ready to go for 2 up for 5 days in Normandy/Brittany, shakedown ride this morning in the sun to test my new baggage layout, tent and cooking gear etc in panniers....sleeping bags, mattresses, clothes etc in the roll bag; will leave the top box at home. Preload wound to max, we are right on stipulated 'lawyer' weight limit all kitted up and the bike feels great, I did not buy it to scrape the pegs or blat at 100mph but for a nice jaunt at 50/60mph along the coastal N routes in Northern France.

[Lifebiker]

Me and Mrs Lifebiker did 2520 round trip to Italy and back on our Desert in June (I have posted this some where else on this forum) standard rubic cube panniers (it's puzzle how to get them on and off!) and Kappa 52 litre topbox on Givvi plate.  Comfy as you like apart from the screen which has now been changed to an MRA (hell of an improvement). Excellent bike for touring and I commute 350 miles a week and it does what is says on the tin...........apart from the throttle issues, see my other posts.

[Flanners]

Will look for your write up...I have an MRA Vario on mine very quiet and no buffeting was on the bike when I bought her.

Just reweighed all my gear,the other half    etc with everything we are actually 31kg under the GVWR so that's good news.  

[TimV]

Interesting topic.What kind of camping gear are people managing to carry for this? When travelling solo I have my tent, Vango Ark 200+, bungeed to the pillion seat,  then a topbox and a pair of Givi 36L panniers. One pannier contains sleeping bag (single, but packs down quite big), self-inflating mat and a pair of trainers - that pretty muuch fills it.

Now thinking about a 2-up trip, I am struggling to work out how to carry everything- as per post above maybe I can strap the tent on top of the topbox, then say we can get all clothes etc into one pannier (10 days worth, could be tricky...with a couple of towels etc), while the top box will have to carry 2 lots of waterproofs, travel info (maps, books etc), camera, chargers, chain spray, visor cleaner, spongebags, drink for the day, & the tat I usually manage to fairly well fill it with when riding solo, that just leaves one pannier for self-inflating mats, sleeping bags, footwear etc.  Very curious how people are managing this while retaining a slight chance of domestic harmony!

[Oop North John]

Very curious how people are managing this while retaining a slight chance of domestic harmony!

My domestic harmony is retained by using B & B's and hotels  

[mr_diver]

as for what can be carried:

Topbox (Givi V47)
Tent - Vango Spirit 2000+ or Turini 200
travel pillows
shoes
odd bits

Pannier 1 (Kappa 44ltr)
pots, pans and cups, plates ect
some food and odd bits

Pannier 2
Sleeping mats (inflatable)
micro fiber towels (packs tiny)
other odd bits

35ltr Tank bag (Richa Multi)
all my clothes for a week

36ltr roll bag (strapped t the top box)
All the mrs clothes for a week
2x 3 legged stools

2 x 40ltr roll bags strapped to the engine bars for the sleeping bags.



We've gone away a few times with this amount of stuff, but don't plan on doing it again as we have the 2 bikes now, but if we were heading off further than is comfy on the Enfield we'd do it again without hesitation.

[TarkMalbot]

Just thought I would add that I found 5 clicks of rear preload made the bike feel pretty good when two up with back box and panniers. No bottoming out, nose not up in the air and handled pretty well round the twisties. No chicken strips put it that way.  Wife weighs about 9 stone and all luggage was full And I weigh about 14 stone.

[Flanners]

Interesting topic.What kind of camping gear are people managing to carry for this? When travelling solo I have my tent, Vango Ark 200+, bungeed to the pillion seat,  then a topbox and a pair of Givi 36L panniers. One pannier contains sleeping bag (single, but packs down quite big), self-inflating mat and a pair of trainers - that pretty muuch fills it.

Now thinking about a 2-up trip, I am struggling to work out how to carry everything- as per post above maybe I can strap the tent on top of the topbox, then say we can get all clothes etc into one pannier (10 days worth, could be tricky...with a couple of towels etc), while the top box will have to carry 2 lots of waterproofs, travel info (maps, books etc), camera, chargers, chain spray, visor cleaner, spongebags, drink for the day, & the tat I usually manage to fairly well fill it with when riding solo, that just leaves one pannier for self-inflating mats, sleeping bags, footwear etc.  Very curious how people are managing this while retaining a slight chance of domestic harmony!

Just had 5 days in France as per post above, Honfleur was stunning, gutted to be back.

I use the OE GT panniers, kit I chose when I had my GSA and it was bought in sales, for lightweight and with good reviews so

Vango Omega 350 tent, superb 3 man tent and only around 5kg. great atrium at front for sitting and cooking.
MRA pots plates and cup set for 2 persons
MRA cutlery roll, spatula etc
Vango pillow....great!
Exped 9M matresses...pricey but small 900g and very comfortable
Clothes by Craghoppers! Sale on at the mo...lightweight, anti mosquito, trousers into shorts etc.
Pack Towel..a shammy leather for humans, packs to nothing and dries so quick
Gul 50litre roll bag for bedding and clothing
Karrimor dry sacks assorted 2litre to 20litre sizes, cheap from Sports Direct, great quality and 100% waterproof

Tent in a pannier with mallet, first aid kit etc
Cooking equipment and 'emergency food, waterproofs in other pannier
Roll bag over the top with bedding and clothing secured by Rok straps
Givi XS 307 Tanklock Tank bag for sunglasses, papers, plugs, passports, tablet, phone, cash, cards...one click and it's off...great piece of kit

All the kit, other halfs kit and us on the bike...effortless cruising at circa 130 kmph...had a nice blat back to Calais along the D940 coast road, stopped for a 3 course lunch before the ferry and scraped the left peg on the twisty bits.

Very impressed with the Vstrom, we both had a cracking time and we both found the bike comfortable with a comfort break every 120miles or thereabouts.