21/05/2015 Riut Bag – Safer Urban Travel

So I was lucky enough to see the Riut Bag at the Gadget Show Live 2015, and I was very impressed. A simple but brilliant concept, a bag made for travellers that makes the stuff inside safer. How? By having no zips on the outside, so unlucky pick pockets, opportunistic thieves and other general scum, this bag makes your pathetic little lives that little bit harder.

I think what makes this even cooler is the fact that it is a successful Kickstarter Campaign, an invention by someone with an idea, who pitched it to the world and the world said yes!

So there we have it a great concept, now how does the inventor make us want one, well she makes it desirable by making it good looking and even more desirable by making it practicable.

And this is the feature list the inventor has packed into one back pack that makes it practicable…

RiutBag specifications

– No outer zips, they are all against your back
– 20 litre capacity, weight 1.06kg
– Holds up to 15 inch laptop: 16.14 inch or 41 cm diagonal measurement across outer laptop case
– Invisible strap lengths
– Waterproof material: base and outer shell
– Sturdy handle and hook for hanging
– Hidden ticket pocket in each strap
– Foam lined throughout for comfort and protection
– Water bottle holders: up to 750ml capacity
– Adjustable chest strap
– One model available
– One colour available

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Grip Puppies Installation – BMW F800GS Adventure

Grip Puppies are a well regarded, and cheap, addon for your bike that is designed to increase grip and improve comfort mainly by cutting down the vibrations that travel along the handlebars, through your hands and into your arms, often leaving you with that horrid tingling feeling when you get off the bike.

Coming in at a mere £15 they are definitely worth considering.  I have had them on my bike for about 1500 miles and at this stage I can confirm that they absolutely increase comfort and decrease shaky hands at the end of a trip (or even earlier).  For me they don’t eliminate the sensation completely, but they definitely cut it down and ‘recovery’ time is far less.  That has to be a bonus!

There is one negative, if you have heated grips these will decrease the efficiency of them.  The heated grips will still work but it will take noticeably longer for the heat to reach you and they will appear to have a reduced temperature.

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TomTom Rider V5 Hardwiring to BMW Can Bus Port (Aux Port / Sat Nav Port)

BMW very kindly supply you with a Can Bus Supported Auxiliary Port on a range of their bikes that means you can easily wire your Sat Nav into the bike, meaning it will be powered from the battery of the motorcycle, however when you turn the bike off the Can Bus System then shuts down the power to the sat nav a short time later resulting no power going to the sat nav cradle and no battery drain.

Well that is the theory anyway, however some users have experienced battery drain and blame this set up, claiming that the Can Bus System isn’t compatible with their Sat Nav. That may be and BMW won’t say officially if that may be the case, stating only that their ‘Sat Nav’ port is for use solely with their Navigator System, and why not if you want to be 100% sure that everything is going to work beautifully together then you need to hand over £700 for the privilege.

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Moto VLog Coming Soon!

Moto VLog Coming Soon
Moto VLog Coming Soon

I have decided to dabble a little into Moto VLogging, and I will be commencing series 1 of it soon!

I have realised that I often have a lot to say and I also really enjoy my bike so why not get out, show you guys some of the stunning countryside we have and put the world to rights through the power of speech and the medium of video!

I hope some of you at least will join me on this journey so just subscribe to this blog, bookmark the page or subscribe to me on YouTube to ensure you get all the updates as they happen.

Now it is just a matter of waiting for the kit to arrive!

Oh and if you’re wondering the chariot I will be riding will be a 2014 BMW F800GS Adventure Travel Edition.