How many of you did it
 

I am bit curious to see how many of you are fully packing the bike as it will be for your big trip and go for a weekend ride before your departure. I myself did it few time and it help me alot and I also did the opposit and just left without testing the luggage fully loaded , I had tendency to travel a bit heavy then a bit too light , i guess for this trip I will travel....

nope, been on 3 decent trips and was always running late.
crashed my bike two weeks before leaving the first time.
before the latest big trip my bike decided to develop an electrical gremlin two days before the ferry left ....

Certainly see the logic of it but have never been organized enough to do an actual shake down trip. I've resigned myself to taking too much stuff initially and planning on doing a ship back of excess gear sometime down the road.

This sounds like a good idea especially for somebody embarking on their first long trip, I was not that organised but learnt enough on that first big trip to know what to take and how to pack it on subsequent trips. It helps that I have used the same bike for 20 years.

I did. Never really helped that much though. It does help to see how you're bike handles the weight though. Helps working out gearing/suspension/wind protection/waterproofing etc...

As with what gear you will need, I find it pretty useless...

A long weekend in Wales is totally different to six months in Africa.

I always take WAY too much and send half of it home a few weeks later.

Yes we did a test ride
 

We did a test ride (shakedown) fully equiped. It was essential, even critical for us as we were 2 on 1 bike and every square centimetre counts. The most important lessons we learnt were how and where to pack things in out panniers to ensure a compromise between easy access and keeping the weight down low.

We also learnt a lot about how and where to put our gear. Out comes and things we learnd were:

1. The 1200GS was missing a second helmet hook under the rider seat. With two hooks we could attach both our helmets.
2. we decided not to carry extra fuel in a jerry can as we didn't need it and would find fuel easily enough on our journey through Asia, India and the Middle East.
3. We repacked all of our gear into colour coded stuff sacks to easily and quickly identify what was what in our panniers.
4. We also added Tank panniers to redistribute some of the weight further forward on the bike to improve handling.
5. We decided on better riding gear, jacket and pants that were more adapted to touring with more pockets and air ventilation.
6. We also decided to carry a cable lock that could be used to secure our jackets and helmets to the bike when left parked on the street for short periods of time.

Before: ie. during the Test ride
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_v...erBoltsWay.JPG

It also gave us confidence in riding 2up on all terrain and make last minute decisions and priorities choice of gear. We even had a fully detailed packing list (that was overkill but helped in planning).

After: Taken on route to Oslo in Cambodia
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_v...ture%20054.jpg

Of course, that was our way, and it helped us but would we do it the same way again, probably no need... :Beach: