An interesting question arising out of another conversation on this forum.
What do you keep or carry around in your Glovebox? Do you really trust it to your shiny iPod or Mobile Phone? Or does yours only carry rainwater, i.e. does it leak?
Mine does not leak - and apart from the leatherette Vectrix wallet containing slimline manual and Service book I only occasionally carry the odd bag of sweets to munch on my travels at weekends.
And I have never, ever, had occasion to use the built-in cigar lighter socket! Although I have found myself contemplating using it to plug in my electric motorcycle gloves as winter has decended. I must find out how much current they draw!
Gloves :D
(Not being sarcastic - I actually do!)
Here's my list:
1) iPod
2) Garage door opener
3) Registration papers
4) Sun glasses
Both the iPod and the garage door opener are attached to the sides of the glove box via some velcro. So they would not get wet should it leak. I don't intentionally ride in the rain though I suppose I will eventually get caught unexpectedly.
The iPod is plugged into the 12v socket to keep it charged. It's blue-tooth and wireless remote control enabled. I have the remote attached to the left handle bar and blue-tooth speakers in my helmet. This makes my daily commute much nicer. I can skip tracks/pause simply by pressing a button with my left hand.
My only wish is that there was a way to open the glove box without having to turn the Vectrix off. I will sometimes back out of the garage with the glove box closed only to have to stop/start the bike just to get access to remote to close the garage door. Not a big deal, but it would be nice if I could just pop the glove box open.
I've also been stopped at a traffic light and wanted to get to my sun glasses. I don't really feel comfortable in that situation turning the bike off and then hoping it reboots itself before the light turns green and the people behind me start to get impatient.
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larry
I carry my summer rain jacket and trousers in there. They just about fit with some space to spare for a wallet.
Norman
The socket will give you a mighty 6 watts/0.5amp of 12v power.
I have one of these openers on the key ring.
I haven't started carrying anything at all in that area. But I plan on adding a cushion of some type and then keeping my Xena brake lock and rain gear in there... maybe.
Gloves, sunglasses, clear night glasses, and occasionally mail that needs to be dropped off on the way. My commutes are short, so there's no need for music, and pointless to try to charge a phone for 10 minutes of riding, so I don't even carry a charger.
In the rear trunk, I carry a collapsable gym bag and several bungee cords, and occasionally rain gear, but the rain gear normally stays on a shelf at work. If it's raining in the morning, I don't ride the bike, but if it rains while I'm at work, my gear is there. I use the gym bag, bungeed to the rear seat to haul groceries in, along with the empty trunk space.
You don't actually HAVE to wait for the boot up. Just turn on the switch, grab the left and right brake, release and go. I wouldn't make a habit of that, but I do this sometimes when dropping the mail off and someone is waiting behind me. As long as you aren't twisting the throttle when you turn the key on, she'll go just fine.
Motorcycle first aid kit and 'On the road assistance' card.
I am a trained first aider and so I also carry a kit, but in the trunk/boot because its just a little bit too big for the glovebox. It is very tempting to use the boot as a catch-all and I must confess to being a bit untidy - that also contains a 5M extension lead and a grubby cloth to wipe my visor and the bike's lenses.
Where the fit of the glove box lid is not quite a good as it could be, I only carry a microfibre cloth and a small spray bottle of Autoglym Motorcycle Visor cleaner. When I'm parked up, the full face helmet, padded gloves (and sometimes an extension lead and jacket) all squeeze in to the underseat storage area.