Luggage dimensions, DSLRs, and more…

Several of you have asked what the capacity difference is between our $849.95 Tourfella accessory bags and the RX3’s stock bags.    We have a set of Tourfellas in stock right now, I found a tape measure earlier today, and here we go…

I guess I should mention that all dimensions are approximate…I was eyeballing the tape as I was doing this and trying to account for measurement parallax as best I could.  On the Tourfella bags, they won’t have that big gaudy “Tourfella” red label on them (this was just a set I photographed in China).   The aluminum Tourfella bags are elegant and they are very well constructed.   On the Tourfella bags, the left and the right bag are identical.  They are a heck of a deal at $849.95.

The stock RX3 bags are resin (that’s a fancy way of saying plastic), and they’re nice, too.   They are different on the right and the left; the right bag has a cutout for the muffler.   Here are the stock luggage dimensions…

Some of you guys have asked how many liters the bags hold.   Guys, I don’t know.   I could attempt to get liters from the dimensions you see above, but what would be the point?  Are you going to pour soda pop or something in there?   And even if I did make the calculation, it would have to account for the angled surfaces on the bags, the inside corner radii, and, well, you get the idea.

So, on to the next topic.   You know I’ve been thinking about a new camera.   Well, that’s one of the things I’m thinking about.   Like you, I’m spending most of my time thinking about my new RX3 on its way down the Yangtze River enroute to me, and I’ve been thinking about the Baja trip.   And the trips we’ll have following that ride.    It’s a good set of thoughts.   But you already know that.

Well, today I bit the bullet and I bought a new Nikon.   Actually, I bought two of them…one will be a dedicated motorcycle trip camera and the other will be my bigger one for other stuff.    I want to talk about what makes a good motorcycle camera in this blog.

I am just getting over the worst case of bronchitis I ever had, and to compound the felony, I had an adverse reaction to the antibiotic my good doc gave me.   Wowee, that’s not something I’d care to go through again!  Anyway, I’m back among the living now, and I decided to give myself a treat.  Actually, like I said, two treats.   I bought a D810 Nikon today (that’s the big flagship Nikon), and I also bought the smallest digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera Nikon makes.   That’s their D3300 model.   The D3300 is going to be my dedicated adventure touring camera.

There are lots of reasons for getting the small D3300 Nikon.  For one, it’s small.   My old workhorse D200 has served me well for 10 years, but that thing is a tank.  It’s heavy.   And it’s big.  By itself, with its case and a couple of extra lenses, it basically took up the entire top luggage case on the RX3.   Wearing it around my neck while I was riding was uncomfortable, but I needed to do that to get the best photos from the cockpit.  Nope, I wanted small and I wanted light, and that’s why I went for the D3300.

Some of you might wonder:  Why not just get a little “point and shoot” digital camera?   The short answer is that the photo quality from a point and shoot camera can’t compare to a DSLR.   The little point and shoot cameras have a time lag, too, between the time you press the shutter and the time it actually takes the photo.   Nope, this boy needs a real camera.   I demand nothing less.   So do you…the photos you’ve been seeing here in the blog for the last several years are DSLR photos.   You demand good stuff, and so do I.

So I bought the D3300 this afternoon, and I’ve been playing with it a bit tonight.   Folks, it’s awesome.   I set it up to account for the ambient lighting (it somehow figures the white balance out on its own), and snapped a few photos in my mancave to see how it would do.   In a word, it’s incredible.   Way better image quality than the D200, but that’s what 10 years of digital camera engineering will do for you, I guess.    I grabbed one shot to see how faithfully it would capture the wood grain in a few gun stocks, without flash, and well…you be the judge…

You’ll be seeing more photos here on the blog from the D3300, and I want to plant a seed in your mind.

Folks, this D3300 Nikon camera sells for $499 with the lens.   I paid $2,000 for the D200 without any lenses 10 years ago, and it doesn’t do as good a job as the new D3300.

Next thing to consider…having photos from any motorcycle adventure really adds to the adventure, both during the ride and after the ride.   I’m just more tuned into the scenery, the people, the food, the bikes, the road, and everything else when I have a camera with me.   I’m thinking about how what I’m seeing will make a great shot.   It really adds to the experience.   And then there’s what happens after the ride.  My good buddy Dick Scott, whom you read about a few blogs down, tumbled me to that fact 20+ years ago when he told me he felt like he was taking a ride all over again when he looked at his photos.   Boys and girls, you need a camera, especially if you’re going to ride with us in Baja.

Hey, that’s it for now.

Ride safe, keep an eye on the blog, and just think…your RX3 is on its way here!