Touring on a sports bike

[duncanpage]

Hi people

I'm looking for advice on what madifications to make to my '10 ZX6R for a bit of a tour either to Scotland or Italy.
I've currently got:
Oxford first time expandable tank bag
Oxford first time panniers
RAM mount for my iPhone but I will probably get a bike satnav like a zumo or tomtom as it'll no doubt rain on me!
Double Bubble screen
R&G crash bungs all round
Carbon fibre engine covers


I'm about to fit:
Heated grips
12V charger fitted into tank bag to charge camera batteries / phone
Universal Throttle Grip (cruise control)
Scotoiler

Can you recommend anything else?
I'm not sure if I'll be camping or staying in motels/hostels but if I'm camping I'll put a tent and sleeping bag in a waterproof roll bag strapped to the back seat.
I'll pack all the items in waterproof bags before fitting into the tank bag & panniers as I've heard they're not as waterproof as oxford make out!

As it's a 7 month old bike and would have had it's 4,000 mile service before I set off, would I really need to take tools with me?
I have breakdown recovery included as part of my Barclays bank accound so if anything drastic goes wrong I'll be one phone call away from a lift back home

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

Only thing i can add..Are the panniers close to the exhausts?
Fully loaded and soggy, they may hang lower. [biting lip]

Pat
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Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[Itchy]

Depends on the type of tour tbh. If it is a riding tour bring as little as possible, I don't like side bags anymore I prefer one big bag on the back which can fit tent, sleeping bag sleep roll and cooking kit as well as a small food bag and one change of clothes.

Saves fuel and if you are on the roads low down weight doesn't matter as much as it does off road, but you probably are not Sjaak Lucassen!
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[duncanpage]

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

^^^^Then ride that Baby

Have a great time
____________________
Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[Phoenix]

Always pack stuff inside bin bags in soft panniers because they all leak, the rain covers are useless and will rip to shreds after a hundred miles or so of buffeting.

I tour on a Fireblade, previously a 918 and now a 954 which is a fair bit sportier, the only issue is back seat space for your tent/sleeping bag, it's much easier with a luggage rack as it just keeps it away from the panniers and it's even more of a necessity when you're using a tailpack too otherwise you end up with a giant mountain of luggage strapped to itself and a complex procedure to get it on and off every day.

I too have a 12v socket but no GPS or grips, grips aren't essential unless you're going early or late in the year, it can be cold up in the Alps but it's only brief so isn't worth it. I find wider grips such as heated ones make my hands ache a lot less though, thin bars hurt as your hand has a smaller pressure point on it and a tighter grip.

Ah, forgot the tools, even though your bike is new you may still need to adjust the chain, although maybe not with a scott oiler. I take a socket for the axle with appropriate ratchet, an 8/10/12 spanner and any necessary allen keys, there's my bike toolkit too. I also take a cable repair kit and puncture kit with 12v compact pump. You're supposed to take spare bulbs too, I didn't this year but only because all 3 of my headlight bulbs are the same so i'd never be without, my rear's are LEDs and indicator were mostly blocked by the luggage anyway.

[motobiker]

Seat.

Most important thing of all in my opinion. a Comfy seat. So.. consider the kinds of miles you're going to do. Is the seat you have up to that? day after day?

In my experience most 'oe' seats aren't so having it rebuilt would be high on my priority list. Not exactly expensive.

Only if necessary of course.
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1999 R1100GS + 2006 F800S
(Nottingham)
Sooner or later opinions fade and the name on the tank matters not. I think that happens somewhere between 3rd and 4th gear. Enjoy the ride... everything else takes care of itself.

[Devans]

Scotland is 5minutes away compared too Italy, i consider Scotland a weekend away and would do it on a tankbag and maybe my hard panniers if i were two up.

Italy is a different story though, it's a hell of alot further and i wouldn't personally do it on a Ninja, but that's just me.

Deffo get soft cases and a tankbag, i've used a rucksack before and it kills my shoulders and limits my riding.

If you do Italy pack light, i'm finally learning that i always overpack

12v power socket is so useful and heated grips are nice but not needed really, i havn't really missed not having mine on my trips away however long or short.

[stinkwheel]

Make sure you have plenty of tread on your tyres. Scottish roads, especially in the North are empty, fast and grippy. They have a lot of granite chips in for the winter which wears tyres fast and your average speeds will be much higher and for a lot longer than you are used to. Perfectly possible to spank an entire tank of fuel without once dropping below the speed limit.

If you are an enthusiastic rider, you will also need to "recalibrate" your internal fuel clock. I've seen runs have to stop every 80-100 miles for fuel due to heavy use of the right hand.

I see people on a regular basis stopped in the Highlands looking at the big lumps of shredded rubber hanging off their back tyre or the canvas showing through with a look of mixed puzzlement and dismay on their face.

So make sure you have good tyres, budget for having to replace one if it's a longer tour and take enough tools to get the back wheel off. A sports tyre can easily be totally spanked in 2-3000 miles.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Pernig]

If you are happy with your iPhone as a sat-nav I'd consider getting something like So Easy Rider. That particular one is 'version 4' which has mounting points for RAM mounts so maybe you can put it onto your bike from your existing iPhone holder?

I have the version 3 which was a bit cheaper but it has really long velcro straps to tie it to your handlebars instead of connecting to a RAM mount. It's pretty secure though.
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H100 Breaking for spares

[Stevie GooGs]

Could not agree more with Stinky when i first moved to Ullapool i was shocked to see my back wheel rip to bits on just over 1.5k miles. A lot of the roads are good and grippy, some have lots of fishing HGVs on them so they can have ruts and be split in the middle (ie nice and shinny and slippery). There are also limited places where you can get tyres for your bike, Spiningdale and Muir of Ord are the only places i know north of Inverness where you can get a bike tyre.
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Current: 2019 Yamaha T7 -> 2015 KTM Superduke R | 2000 Yamaha R1 Past -> 2009 KTM 990 SM -> 2005 kawasaki ZX10r -> 2000 Honda CBR 600 FY -> 2002 Honda XLV 125 Varadero
Bike Pics! -> My Photography Website

[Peirre oBollox]

[Louise]

Ugh wrote a long post, but pressed back button
Basically, ive never toured - but rode to Cornwall back in Sep - only 220 miles ( the way we took)
Pack minimal, I took what I thought was needed for the week - I ended up using nothing.
On my bike is for myself and the GF as she took fack all on her new bike.
If you can, get a padded seat - my arse hurt from 60 miles, my legs hurt, my neck hurt.
ive seen pans for £40 for sports bikes, heat resistant for underseat exhausts, altho look fairly small to put stuff in.
Bungee cords - We ended up buying another pack down there to load even more stuff
https://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r167/LouiseB24/rsz_untitled.jpg

[ms51ves3]

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

^^^^12AX7..probably Russian
____________________
Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[Stevie GooGs]

Never toured on the ZX10R but went from Ullapool to Glasgow and back the same day which is about 250miles each way, the bike was small for me and I felt it on my ankles, knees, back.
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Current: 2019 Yamaha T7 -> 2015 KTM Superduke R | 2000 Yamaha R1 Past -> 2009 KTM 990 SM -> 2005 kawasaki ZX10r -> 2000 Honda CBR 600 FY -> 2002 Honda XLV 125 Varadero
Bike Pics! -> My Photography Website

[supZ]

i've done scotland on the blade, 1660+ miles and it was perfectly fine.

had oxford 1st time panniers and my HG tank bag (that i strapped to the back instead to keep it out my way) and without the panniers even being expanded i had plenty of room for a weeks lot of clothes. all my leccie stuff and inners were in the tank bag.

no seat modifications or anything, the 954 is still quite comfy for a sportsbike but i did add a cigar socket connection to charge my video camera en-route.
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CBR954RR - Daily toy
CBR600RR - Trackbike

[Des]

I use my Fireblade for touring, it has a few additions:

Slightly higher bars
Lower pegs
Gel seat
Garmin Zumo
Higher screen
Renntec rack (OK as a bungee point, but they can't take much weight)
Heated grips
Scottoiler

For luggage, I use 2x tailpacks and a very small tank bag (small enough that I can refuel without moving it). I have soft panniers but have not used them yet!
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1998 Fireblade
1988 VFR

[Phoenix]

[Des]

[willis1337]

https://www.renntec.co.uk/iqs/cpti.568/kawasaki_zx6r_motorbike.html

Above is good, easy to put on and should do away with the need for a rucksack.

On the satnav front, I have a tomtom rider but if buying again would get a zumo. If you're thinking of doing an IAM motorcycle course (or are already a member/associate) you can get £120 off a new zumo through the IAM website (members area).

[Des]