Travelling heavy.....

[Redshift]

Once a month or so I hit the highway to get away for a night or two with my better half on the back, two loaded down panniers, a tank bag and a rucksack. Often I am travelling 1,000k's or more at very close to the max. load capacity for my '02 750. Should I be thinking about mods or adjustments to maintain braking & handling performance under these loads? Can anybody offer tips for travelling heavy for someone who is new to the "touring" experience?

[guy2600]

In the braking department I'd throw in a set of ebc HH pads and some stainless lines, that should help some. The rest I'd just set-up your stock suspension stiffer and see how that feels. If you feel like your bottoming out the suspension with stiff settings than I'd bump up the spring rates on your shock and forks, depending on which is bottoming out. I beleave there's a thread on setting up your suspension some where...

[tdrcomm]

In the braking department I'd throw in a set of ebc HH pads and some stainless lines, that should help some. The rest I'd just set-up your stock suspension stiffer and see how that feels. If you feel like your bottoming out the suspension with stiff settings than I'd bump up the spring rates on your shock and forks, depending on which is bottoming out. I beleave there's a thread on setting up your suspension some where...

Good suggestion.

Wow! Never gone that far with a live backpack. Ask Meanstrk or Cyber, too. I think they have more experience with touring with a passenger.

[Redshift]

The stainless lines & HH pads sound like a sensible idea. I'll do that.
I've never experienced any bottoming out but I've been thinking of lengthening the spacers in the forks and I'm a little concerned that with heavy loads it might be asking for trouble. I guess I won't know until I try it. If it doesn't work out then at least it's reversible. Unless I snap the Kat in half!

So... Meanstrk and Cyber are the two-up touring aficionado's huh?

Thanks for the pointers!

[The CyberPoet]

I don't know how much long-distance riding Meanstrk does (but he sure knows how to carve up a road).

Are you sure you are close to or at 470 lbs (214 kg) of total load weight (i.e. rider + passenger + cargo weight combined)? Because if you are, my advice will radically alter from someone carrying 350 lbs (160 kg) worth of total load wieght.

Generally:
Tires: any time you are 350 lbs & up, you want the cold (pre-ride) tire pressures to be around 39 - 40 in the front and 41 - 42 in the rear (be sure not to exceed whatever the max is listed on the imprint of the tires). Get in the habit of putting your hand on the center of your tires whenever you stop for gas -- while touring they should be slightly warm to middle warm, never uncomfortably hot to the touch. You already just swapped tires to the Z6's, so I don't have to give you any suggestions in that direction (errr... after two years!).
Forks: you should be using a 15 weight fork oil to help compensate, in addition to the spacers, or better yet, a stiffer fork spring from Ohlins (I sell, good choice if you switch back and forth frequently from one-up to two-up), or RaceTech (better choice if you ride within 25% of max weight most of the time you're on two wheels). Figure around $180 plus labor to install if you include the cost of the oil, springs and seals you'll need to replace.
Rear Suspension: Best thing to do would be upgrade the rear shock unit to something aftermarket designed to provide a much stiffer setting, but if you are sticking to stock, max the preload and jack the dampening up a couple notches as well. Know that your stock shock will go south in short order (3-4 years max) as it's built to a price and with a typical 150 lb load weight in mind. If you go shopping for used replacements, look for one from a substancially heavier bike that was less than 3 to 4 years old (a 10 year old shock is generally worthless, as it'd need to be rebuilt and most stock shocks are not "rebuildable", where most aftermarket ones, like the Ohlins I sell, are fully rebuildable).
Tools: Make sure you carry a decent get-you-out-of-podunk tool kit including a tire plug and pump, as well as some spark plugs, about three feet (1 meter) of fuel line hose (to transfer fuel from a passing car that you flag down in case of emergency), electrical wire, cold-weld tape, a bunch of zip-ties.
Weird, but it works: if you tend to push on when your other half is tired, consider getting velcro for the back of your jacket and the front of hers. It might keep her from dozing off and subsequently falling off from behind you.
Seating: for two-up riding, the best solution I've found for the Kats is still the Corbin saddle, especially once you factor in the seat-back for the rear passenger. Not cheap, but you get benefits both one- and two-up. Larger, flatter seating area with better support for both.
Brakes: Upgrades already covered. Clean your rotors as part of your pre-ride check list (windex [ammonia+alcohol based window cleaner] and a few paper towels is far cheaper than brake cleaner spray, and can be scored from most resteraunts, hotel staff, etc).
Signals: Make sure that you and her work out a system of physical signals that communicate unmistakable messages.
Two Taps on my shoulder means she is seated and ready for me to actually roll away (I won't move the bike until I get it).
Pressure squeezing on my stomach means slow down -- more means way down.
Two taps on my thigh means "We need to stop as soon as you can find an off-ramp or other stopping spot" -- three means "stop ASAP!".
Circular rubbing on the tummy is "I'm hungry"... etc.
The most important ones are "I'm ready", "stop soon" and "stop ASAP". Develop these physical signals even if you have helmet-to-helmet communications -- they may be vital if batteries go dead (or rain gets into the circuits), etc.
luggage: Consider finding bigger panniers (saddlebags in American English) so that the backpack isn't necessary... bigger yet again, and you can eliminate the tank bag as well. I use the Givi hardsided ones, and that's enough for two-up for a week without laundry.

I'm sure I'm missing stuff, but that's most of what I've got aside from the general touring advice you'll find me pointing to regularly (http://www.katriders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14175 ).

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[Redshift]

Thanks for the run down Cyber. I don't know many touring riders so I appreciate the advice.

According to my manual the dry weight of my Kat is 211kg and max weight is 440kg. My pillion & I combined weigh in at around 170kg including jackets & helmets. Add around 25kg or so for fluids (fuel, oil, etc) and that leaves me with around 34kg of carrying capacity. I have 2 x E360 Givi panniers which add another 12kg or so (including mounting rack) when empty. Add 14kg of luggage (7kg either side) plus a 5kg tank bag and you can see that I'm within 3kg of maximum gross weight. These figures are rough of course, but quite reasonable.

I ride daily (or close to it) without the pillion, tank bag or luggage (but with the panniers still attached) which makes me over 80kg lighter.

I like the velcro idea! Cracked me up. I don't like to push on once my pillion is weary though. I have always told her that I might be up front, but she is in charge. So we stop/slow/etc whenever she says so. We have a good series of signals to keep comms clear. She never mounts or dismounts without my signal & I never take off without hers. I like the idea of a hungry signal though... don't have one of those.

I may have to put the Corbin, front springs & rear shock on the agenda. I've been tempted by the Corbin before, but the price has scared me off some. Got some good ideas from the other thread you posted too.

Cheers.

[The CyberPoet]

The 214kg load limit was arrived at taking the wet-weight of the bike fully fueled, oiled, etc. and subtracting that from the GVWR that was listed in the '00 owner's manual. I have a spreadsheet here that I designed for use for such calculations for various motorcycles (I also researched the weights of fuel/oil/etc). You might want to consider hitting a truck-stop or weigh-station and asking them to weigh you on the bike (sans passenger) to get a real-world hard value.

For your own calculations, fuel is 6.45lbs/gallon (0.77 Kg/liter), oil is 1.875-1.95lbs/liter (.87Kg/liter), brake fluid is 1.96 lb/liter (.89Kg/liter).

If you are pushing the GVWR, especially with the passenger, I would seriously suggest thinking about welding a bit of extra bracing on the rear subframe system to help carry that load (I'd probably seek out Walteri for advice on where/how to brace it -- not because he has weight issues, but because he has braced other frames in the past), and shedding any weight the bike doesn't need (such as the rear under-cowl rails the external helmet lock is mounted on).

Obviously, all this would be moot if you could convince your other half to ride her own motorcycle

Up to about eighteen to twenty-four months ago, the Kat had the heaviest total "cargo load" capacity of any bike on the American market other than the Boss Hog (which is build around a car engine). BMW then dropped the weight on some of their bikes & re-engineered the frames which upped their total cargo load weights to a bit higher than that of the Kat.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[crazymofo]

shameless free plug

if ya want a wool seat cover for the tours redshift, i got one for sale in black



cheers.joe.

[Redshift]

Ever the scrupulous researcher CP?!
I did briefly consider looking up densities to calculate an accurate fluid weight... I suppose I needn't bother as the CyberPoet Department of Meticulous Accuracy has come through again!

The weigh-station is a great idea. Another seemingly simple solution from the CyberPoet Department of the Blindingly Obvious that somehow didn't occur to me already.
If I ever make it to Florida I'll have to buy you a beer (the international symbol of gratitude)

[The CyberPoet]

If I ever make it to Florida I'll have to buy you a beer (the international symbol of gratitude)

Give me a couch to crash on when I turn up down under instead and I would be infinitely more thankful!

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[Redshift]

But the couch is where I sleep!
Hell, I can spare you a bed if you're in town. Plenty of space here for fellow adventurers.... Got a trip planned?

[The CyberPoet]

Got a trip planned?

Not yet, but the itch is there and I think I will be going somewhere far, far away this year. Just not sure whether I'm headed east over the Atlantic or west over the Pacific.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet