Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

ducati_paul wrote:

dilligaf wrote:the socks are the ducks guts. got some last time.

I got a couple of pair of socks for me and one pair for my G/F, Mine were size 11 -14 hers were 6 - 10, when I got them home I compared them side by side and they're the same size I am a size 11 and JUST fit in my 11 - 14's

Stop whining .......... sounds to me like you have 2 pairs (obviously will not fit your g/f's little feet)

Jennysc wrote:I got to my local Aldi about 9.10 and all the GPS systems were gone !!

Just get the manager to call the other stores in the area

z900/zx9 wrote:

Jennysc wrote:I got to my local Aldi about 9.10 and all the GPS systems were gone !!

I looked at the boots but the smallest size (8) were still too big......... what about catering for the women rider, grrrrrr

Lucky as the boots are shit

Just looking for some cheap boots for my daughter for when she pillions

Rossi wrote:

Jennysc wrote:I got to my local Aldi about 9.10 and all the GPS systems were gone !!

Just get the manager to call the other stores in the area

It's cool, didn't actually want one, lol. Thanks

Went into Aldi @ Toombul(Northside Brisbane) today to have a look at the wet weather gear & walked out with a jacket.

http://www.aldi.com.au/au/html/offers/2827_9311.htm

I spent some time looking at this jacket but couldn't fault it for the $ ($119 good buy i reckon + mainly want it for work commute).

Helmets.........hmmm dunno, i reckon they are on par with a Nitro!

waynemorgan wrote:Just been to Aldi's in Penrith and picked up a tank bag.

Awesome - will be great for touring. Very roomy with plenty of pockets, strong magnets, waterproof cover, map pockets, laundry, small kitchenette and sleeping room for 2....... ok let's just say it's big. Great value for $59.

Wayne, I got one last year and they are a great bag, but I worried about the magnets marking the paint, so I went to a fabric shop and got a piece of black felt to go under the tank bag. The magnets are still strong and the paint is protected for a lousy $4 extra ..........

I went to Aldi today to pick up a GPS unit. It seems to be a pretty good deal, I suppose we will find out when we take it out to play with it! Only being able to hardwire it into the battery seems a bit of a pain in the arse though, that means we can only attach it to one of the bikes. J was muttering something about 240v plugs and whatnot, so hopefully he will work out a solution!

smithy5 wrote:
Wayne, I got one last year and they are a great bag, but I worried about the magnets marking the paint, so I went to a fabric shop and got a piece of black felt to go under the tank bag. The magnets are still strong and the paint is protected for a lousy $4 extra ..........

Thanks mate - I'd been wondering what I could place under the magnets - might head off to spotlight and pick up some supplies

We are having some problems with wiring the GPS. Would anyone have any instructions on how to wire it to the tail light (or similar)? Imagine we know nothing about electrics.
Jeff wired ours directly to the battery, all worked fine. Powered the GPS off, left it attached to the bike in the garage overnight. Next morning, tried to start the bike, guess what - drained battery. He doubts he wired it incorrectly (red to pos, black to neg, simple, right?), so he figures that the GPS draws power to charge itself, even if the GPS unit is off. And this is enough to drain the battery. So, he's unwired it for the moment, and wants to wire it up so that it only has power when ignition is on. Wiring it into the tail light would be great, but he dont know how to do this...

As for moving it between bikes, even once you've got the power all set up, how would you get around moving the bracket? Undoing the cradle from the mount is OK,but undoing the mount from the handlebar is a pain. Anyone know if a similar mount (that can take the ball of the cradle) is available?

The helmets were smaller than expected, even a large didnt fit me (my KBC helmet is a large and fits fine). Same with the gloves... XL was waaaaay to small for me

esie wrote:We are having some problems with wiring the GPS. Would anyone have any instructions on how to wire it to the tail light (or similar)? Imagine we know nothing about electrics.
Jeff wired ours directly to the battery, all worked fine. Powered the GPS off, left it attached to the bike in the garage overnight. Next morning, tried to start the bike, guess what - drained battery. He doubts he wired it incorrectly (red to pos, black to neg, simple, right?), so he figures that the GPS draws power to charge itself, even if the GPS unit is off. And this is enough to drain the battery. So, he's unwired it for the moment, and wants to wire it up so that it only has power when ignition is on. Wiring it into the tail light would be great, but he dont know how to do this...

As for moving it between bikes, even once you've got the power all set up, how would you get around moving the bracket? Undoing the cradle from the mount is OK,but undoing the mount from the handlebar is a pain. Anyone know if a similar mount (that can take the ball of the cradle) is available?

On my KTM I have my handlebar heaters (Yeah I know! ... but I LIKE them! ) wired from the horn wiring as it's live when the ignition is on but off when the ignition is off, just piggyback the wires

if you want to be really funky then you could wire it into the headlight circuit. OR if you want to be really really funky then put a headlight relay in and then wire it off the relay output
Or to be simple (aside from the additional length of wire required to get past the engine/tank, which i would avoid if i had the choice), just remember the rear lights have one negative, the positive for the brake lights itself, and the positive for the second element in the globes, which is always on. What you need to do is determine which is which. The easiest to figure is the negative as that's got some form of black in it. The others you can test by either using a peircing wiring tester that has a little needle that you can force into the core of the wire or a needle, and pair of pliers to pierce the shielding and a multimeter to test the voltage.

Just remember not to confuse the negative with the brake circuit (when your not activating the brakes, etc) as they both won't show +12v.

Just went to Aldi Emu Plains (yeah, I'm a bit behind), and they still had plenty of the bags...
I've been umming and ahhing for a while, but I went ahead and dropped the $70 anyway.
What can I say? WELL WORTH IT.
When I first got the bike, I went to a couple of places in Parra and bought a tank bag for $70, got it home, didn't stick, too small, etc, etc (and it was about the size of my fiances purse at the time), lucky I took it straight back and they grumbled but accepted it. That purchase made me a cynic regarding the strength of tank bag magnets, but this bag just puts the other (I think it was an RJ's) to shame!

+ everything Wayne and Smithy (and the others) have said, it's big, comes apart into multiple pieces (and all connect interchangably), easy wet weather cover and small details, like the pen slip on the inside of the big pocket (screwdriver/small tools?), and the deep pocket at the base of the map compartment in the top of the big bag - perfect size for my phone/GPS, plus as others have mentioned, the "bum bag" and "shoulder bag" and back pack attachments all mean that this is very versatile.

I can see this being perfect for the Gingers Creek run, and just from playing with it this afternoon, I'd give it an awesome rap.
Anyone second-guessing this bag combo should just go out and get it. It's a bargain at $70.

One quick question to those of you that have this bag, regarding the handlebar/steering column cord and clips... Did you use them? I'm trying to find a place to run the cord around, but it doesn't really work with the small tank on the 250. The tank bag has to be right at the front of the tank for the magnets to get a good grip and leave the base as level as possible, whilst the clips are then overhanging the front of the tank, and if I was to use the cord, I would only need about 2" of it to run around the front + then it looks like it'd be a pain to get on/off easily (even like for overnight stays) -- looks like something I'd want to be home in the garage (with ample light) to stuff around with. So, did you just set them off to the side/store them in the bag as a backup?
On a similar note, has anyone here (with the shape of kawa tanks in mind) run the tank strap under the tank and out the other side? (excluding you naked guys -- I'm just discussing the problems with the fairings getting in the way)

I think (and hope) that it'll stay put without the handlebar clips and also without the tank strap, but I'll have another closer look tomorrow at where I could run all these cords and take it for a quick test run using only the magnets.

Cheers,
-Pat

Mate, just go with the magnets - the Aldi's are the strongest I've used !

magnets have worked perfectly for me so far too