March 19
Grabbing our bags, helmets and GPS, we followed our agents out into the lot and the warm Californian sunshine. Two bikes had already been moved into the loading area. A red Electra Glide and a jet black (is there really any other colour for a Harley?) Heritage Softail Classic. We were given a quick walkround to look at dents or scratches and (there were a few but not serious)after signing yet another form, that was it, we were at last on our own with the bikes. The bike was lower and more compact than my Road King Classic. Just swinging my leg over quickly, I was pleased to feel the balance low down and the 26 inch seat meant that my 30 inch inside legs were actually bent at the knees. This is a great bike for smaller riders. Hopping off, I now turned my attention to luggage. Because the Road King had been in for a service, I hadn't been able to check the fitting so this was going to be a learning experience.
The RiggPak is very well designed. For it to work, you must have a sissy-bar but you don't need a rack..unless you are two-up when you will have to have one.
Single rider, you can rest the pack on the passenger seat. However, I had a rack so decided to use that method. On the back of the pack, there is a zipped cover which when undone, reveals five velcro straps, one above the other, running the width of the pack. The trick is to undo each of these and slide them over the sissy-bar. When tight, they firmly lash the main pack to the sissy-bar. Finally, the cover is zipped up and the whole package looks quite neat. The roll bag is then attached by four snap-loks to the main bag and that's it. I'll show a photo of the installed system in a later posting.
For now, after all the planning, travelling and general faffing about, we were actually able to start riding. We loaded our individual Tom-Tom's with the first journey sector. We were heading to the Bayside Best Western in San Diego and my GPS told me it was 125 miles. H's showed 109. This was to prove a fascination to us throughout our tour. Same GPS's, set up with the same preferences, yet mine determined to route us through Nicaragua at every possible opportunity...
I flicked almost identical switches to my Road King and the Heritage burst into life with that trademark initial thump. Checking over my shoulder that H was ready, I slipped the clutch, eased us out onto the road and started our tour...in completely the wrong direction.
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