There were a couple of first jobs to do on the new bike, namely fitting the sat nav and figuring a safe way to secure a small cargo bag.
With the F800 having a plastic ‘tank’ options for fitting my (very old but still servicable) Givi Tanklock bag mean it needs to be a different type of fitting than the usual Tanklock connector – I’ve got the relevant part on order and that should be here and fitted within the next few days.
The sat nav was an easy fit, in fact the battery almost couldn’t be any closer to where the sat nav is located and making the connections wasn’t much more of a job than removing the plastic centre piece (eight smal Torx screws) and making the connections to the sat nav cable loom and then safely routing and securing the cable.
I only use the actual sat nav connection and don’t bother with the other connections on the loom i.e USB socket, audio inputs etc, so it was really just a case of making sure they were coiled up neaty and tucked away.
Fitting the lead for the Optimate battery charger was just as easy – and both jobs probably took less time on this bike than on my other current and past bikes.
There’s a few pictures below, clicking on any one of them should open a scrolable gallery. Scroll dow further for info’ on the bag fitting.
The bike already had the OEM rack fitted and I already had a Givi 15L ‘cargo’ bag, so it was really just a case of making a solid base for the bag so as to prevent it losing it’s shape when fastened securely to the OEM rack, which has a slight curve to it.
A couple of small pieces of lightweight tongue and grove wood, cut, pushed together with the corners rounded off before being covered in blac 3M tape and it was pretty much job done.
The bag fastens nice and tightly with the standard straps supplied, but for extra assurance I have used a small strap and connector from a Kriega pack.
Next up is weighing up the luggage options – I doubt I’ll be going down the BMW route – pound for pound they just dont stack up against the value from other manufacturers.
I’m probably going for a Shad top case with backrest pad for when my wife is pillion, but I’m just waiting for a couple of questions to be clarified from the manufacturer before I place my order.
Some pictures attached of the Givi cargo bag – its an ideal size for camera gear and once I have the tank bag sorted its an ideal size for a couple of nights away.
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There’s a few pictures that relate to the bag fitting below, clicking on any one of them should open a scrolable gallery.
