My faithful old ZZR left my garage for the last time yesterday when it was collected by the new owner. Ebay had done its magic and found me a buyer offering the sort of money I felt the bike was worth and we are both happy with the deal. I do confess to feeling somewhat sad when it left but on the other hand I had hardly ridden it since getting the Goldwing and do have a brand new bike on order which should get early next month with a bit of luck.

I have a thing about luggage – almost a fetish I guess. I love it and the more cavernous and Hi-tech it is the better. I am not sure why I feel like this but I think it”s probably the possibilities it conjures in my mind for all sorts of travel adventures. I love stuff with special pockets for things I have or might own or might never own but which seem neat and well thought out. The padded pocket for an iPod with a hole for the wires to come out, the mobile phone pocket at the right height and with a clasp to be released with one hand – they are all to be savoured.

My latest luggage acquisition is certainly cavernous and a bit Hi-tech but its focus is on moto-cross. It has a special place for boots and helmet, a padded pocket for goggles, a roll-out mat to stand on while changing and lots of space for other stuff – in my case two week”s worth of general clothing for touring with the bike. It’s the Ogio 9900 rolling gear bag and I think it will certainly do the business. It is very heavily built (inevitably quite heavy at 14 lbs) and should withstand lots of abuse while at the same time protecting the stuff inside. The wheels are very strong and roll like silk and the whole bag is built on a lightweight frame that will help it survive being crushed along with a lot of other people’s luggage.

On Wednesday I took the ZZR for an outing to Horsham in glorious sunshine. It is probably the last time I shall ride it as the bike is on Ebay and the auction ends tomorrow. It was a great ride with the bike running well and the weather just about perfect for riding. Horsham itself was as exciting as ever, ie. NOT but actually I was in search of a Motorcycle shop called Moto Ward a little way from Horsham at Rudgewick, where I wanted to look at a travel bag suitable for conveying my motorcycling gear (suit, boots, helmet etc. plus enough regular clothes for a two week trip abroad. The bag I am interested in seeing is an Ogio 9900 which looks as if it will do the job. Moto Ward had none in stock but are getting one in for me to look at. The Ogio bags are all imported through one distributor who serves five outlets and Moto Ward is one. I could have bought it off Ebay but the price is the same and I want to see it first.