55th Class Reunion on a Two-Wheeled SUV:
A Two-Wheeled What?
Laying On the Utility
Thinking Small for a Big Trip
Day 1: Tucson to Las Cruces
Day 2: The Road to Santa Rosa
Day 3: Kittycorner to Kansas
Days 4 and 5: Wet Wichita, Sunny St. Joseph
Day 6: This Way to Humboldt
Enjoying Humboldt (Iowa)
Gas Tank Blackjack
The Real Kansas in Technicolor
A Liberal Dose of Memories
Holbrook? How Did We Wind Up In Holbrook?
Painted, Petrified, and Perfect
The Home Home Stretch
A Honda VLX Shadow is not born with a lot of luggage capacity. Apparently the designers were not thinking of utility -- not my kind, at least. To convert it to an SUV, be it ever so Spartan, the first thing I had to do was install a luggage rack. The one offered by Honda was pretty dinky, but an aftermarket source supplied a somewhat larger one which would still fit the bike. Then I rounded up an Ace toolbox, a number of nuts, bolts, and washers, and four U-bolt brackets. With a lot of careful measurements and precise drilling, I managed to attach the toolbox to the luggage rack so that it seemed to be born with the bike. Encoded, in fact, right into the bike's DNA.
In normal use, the tool box carries a gas log, an air gauge, a pen, a pencil, and a cell phone. That cell phone is my principal emergency equipment. Knock on wood, I've only once had to use it to summon help (I left the lights on and came back to a dead battery), but it has sometimes helped me find my way out of a maze. A modest complement of groceries and other small supplies will also fit in the tool box.
For more ambitious foraging, I have a couple of saddle bags. The ones which Honda customized for the bike, just like their luggage rack offering, struck me as miniature. Fortunately, I had an ample pair left over from the CM450 era. Its leading support strap is a little bit crowded on this passenger seat, but it works. Add a roll bag for rain gear and a pizza bag for parties. Top off with a glorious selection of bungee cords, and that's about as much as I use around town.
Touring, of course, demands more. A Rev-Pack travel bag accommodates the bulk cargo. No, it does not displace the rider; it only looks that way in the photo because of the angle. And the green trash barrel is not part of the ensemble.
