23 June 2012

Tiger Farkles - Again

Over the last few months I did a few small things to the Tiger - mainly installed a different windshield that doesn't bang my head around as badly as the OEM shield. I contemplated several routes, mostly the adjustable screens from Madstad and Palmer and in the end decided to get the Palmer as it looked a bit more solidly mounted and was also looking a little be less bad. I don't the looks of either very much but the results are really not bad.

Here's a photo of the bike of the new windshield:

Palmer Windshield and Touratech Tankbag

I'm fairly happy with the windshield right now, but it might not be the end for this topic.

As you can also see in the photo above, I bought a Touratech (Kahedo) tank bag. And as you will also certainly remember I absolutely hate Touratech USA. I'm kind of okay with Touratech Germany though (I just wish they had a reasonable "foreign shop policy") and therefore, when I was in Germany last week I bought this bag there.

The result: I paid just a bit more than half of the US price in Germany.

The tank bag is very high quality, solidly made, made in Germany by Kahedo. It's a midsize bag that doesn't get in the way when I'm on the bike but still has a decent and usable size, it's also expandable another ~ 10cm or so, has two side pockets, a little bungee on the rear for stuffing gloves or so while at a stop, a good sized handle and a map pocket that can actually be used for a map. The map pocket is attached by velcro and I can easily take it off, the bag itself is attached with two straps in the front that can stay on the bike all the time and a velcro patch that is attached to the tank with an adhesive patch and for stable attachment is hooked around the edge of the tank under the seat. It works great so far and seems very usable. On and off in about 10 seconds, no straps hanging around, nothing around the tank opening that gets in the way when filling the tank. So far so good, real world experience and review to follow.

Here are some more photos:

Please ignore the little bit weird colors in the photos. I accidentally shot them with the white balance set to "Tungsten" and then corrected later as good as possible in Aperture as I was plain to lazy to get the bike out again ... 


  1. Looking good.

    We had a friend buy a Tiger a month or so ago and he has tried a few windscreens and also 3 sets of bars I think.

    Hope this windscreen does the trick for you.

    1. Windshields are always a problem. Once you're over 175cm they pretty much all don't work. And therefore the only thing that's important for me is to get something adjustable, so I can work out the position that is the least bad.

      On the other hand - no windshield works pretty well. Long term I might get a summer set up with a tiny windshield or so.

  2. I like the accidental artsy colours in your pics, no need to change.

    Who would have 'thunk' that shopping in Germany might be cheaper than shopping in North America. Usually it's the other way around.

    Now, I just hope you can take your farkles on the road and test them appropriately.

    1. Yeah, Touratech is quite weird. I mentioned that just a few postings back - the tank bag is about twice the price in the US. I still refuse to buy from Touratech USA and try to avoid Touratech in general, but in Germany their prices are at least halfway okay. On the high side, but comparable to other high quality stuff.

    2. Not only are Touratech prices much cheaper in Germany, the distibutors in UK never have anything I want in stock!

    3. That's similar to the US. Everything that isn't super common is either backordered or super expensive.

  3. I thought the colors looked very 60s. Nothing wrong with that.

    The only Touratech item I felt compelled to get was their GPS mount for the 60CSx. I love the way it looked, we'll see how it works on my upcoming trip.

    1. ;-)

      Yeah, it really looks like 60s ... I also have the cradle for the 60CSx, this works pretty well and I'm happy with it. The tank bag was actually the item I was complaining about last time that it is completely out-of-this-world-priced at Touratech USA (372USD vs. 185USD in Germany before tax). I have to admit it's really high quality and looks good, is nicely and safely attached and so on. But it's NOT worth close to $400. The $200 I can see. The $400 - no freaking way.