InvictaMoto's Döra the Explörer

Rather than double post, this is the link to the trip Claire, Döra and me just did. Thanks to LD Lines ferry service to Spain from Southern England mileage was cut down by about 1600 miles and in the end Trip 2 recorded a total for the trip at 1102.0 door to door. Over the entire trip Döra was the perfect travelling companion. And like most, she did like the occasional drink but she didn't need any oil! http://devalltravel.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/ Some pix.... At the Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid At the Puerto de Navacerrado Undercover at the Parador in Cervera de Pisuerga Santander port...

Checked on google maps yesterday how long it would take to do a mere 126 miles. With traffic taken into account it came up with over three hours. Okay. Leave at 11am, get petrol at Ashford and cruise up. All went to plan. Tesco packed but squeezed to the front. Worst mpg since I had Döra!! I put that down to the 85mph run back from France. The M20 was free running and Döra in her stride with 75mph on the cruise control. The traffic to the Dartford Tolls was back to the M20, maybe 4 or 5 miles?  I slipped to the front and was away. Cruising speed was down to 60 as far as the A12. From time to time we were down to walking pace but about 90 minutes before the game I was in the cafe attached to the services near the ground. A coffee and millionaire slice later I rode the remainder of the journey and parked right by the stadium. The game started a bit slow and Oldham were under pressure, and conceded the first goal after failing to cl...

The box arrived today and I fitted it straight away. It doesn't look all that much bigger than the E45 I have had for the better part of 20 years! We bought two E45 boxes and two slightly smaller boxes (E36?) to use as side cases.  At the time we had a pair of Yamaha XJ900F's. Audrey's was black and a 1989 model and mine two years newer and blue and white.  We had the Givi wing racks and could share the side cases.  I have used the same E45 on the old GT750 interchangeable with all the other bikes right up to Döra. And now the next generation. Looks good too.

Another few quid. What I saved on the Kappa box versus the Givi version I decided to spend on an inner bag! The logistics of the holiday make it sense and the dimensions on the givi.it website mean that it will fit in snugly and mean we can pull it out and lock the helmets inside. Plus it looks smart enough for the Parador stops!!

Döra was a year old in July and although I didn't have a party I did decide to have a look around to see what I could buy for her.  She already has most things a girl could need, but with our impending holiday to Spain on the horizon, now less than two weeks away, she could do with a luggage upgrade. I looked at the Triumph box for the Explorer and it was very expensive. The rack alone is over £120 and I have a perfectly good and year old Givi rack and fittings. So I looked at the Givi Trekker.  The 52 litre box comes in at about £225 (!) at the cheapest place I can find in UK, and then I saw the Kappa KGR52 "Garda" box. Kappa and Givi are the same company at the end of the day and some years ago we had Kappa panniers on the Bandit. The "Garda" is much cheaper as it is more black that aluminium than the Trekker but is a match for the Triumph oem panniers. Kappa KGR52 "Garda"  It should give us a lot more carrying space for the holiday.