I guess you could call it a "failure", but I prefer the term "learning experience".

              - The Martian, Andy Weir

We have two big things to address: the cargo situation and the shutdown issue.

Cargo

Let's start off with cargo. I think I may have been a bit overzealous in terms of what I can take - let's start with the absolute fundamentals. I'd like to get rid of the box up top and replace the saddlebags if possible.

Needs

• Camping gear: Tent, sleeping bag, backpacking stove, stove fuel canister, pan/mug, headlamp.
• Work: Laptop, charger, AUS-to-US adapter, phone.
• Entertainment: Kindle, camera (200mm + 120mm lens), batteries, camera batt. charger.
• Day-to-day: Toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, spare pants, 2 pairs underwear, 2 pairs socks, spare shirt, fleece.
• Nutrition: 3L camelbak w/ water, about 2L space for food.

Wants

• Work: iPad for doodling.
• Entertainment: DJI Mavic Mini 2, 600mm lens, spare battery
• Day-to-day: One extra pair of clothes
• Nutrititon: An additional water bottle

Camping gear is all centralized in the Darche duffel, with the exception of the cooking gear and headlamp. If we get a folding pan and a reasonably-sized mug, it should occupy about 3.5 Macbook Airs' worth of space.

If we just look at needs for now, I know that absolutely everything on that list (excepting camping gear) can fit with room to spare in the 60L container I have on hand. So, let's divvy it up into two smaller bags. We'll use one bag for soft and inexpensive stuff - clothing, nutrition and toiletries, and the other bag for hard stuff - camera, laptop/kindle, cables and chargers.

I bet we could do this with two 30L containers. I really love the feel of the Tactix container I'm using now - and it looks like Bunnings has a 30L version. This would give us a waterproof, lockable container. The hard-stuff valuables crate we could pad with some foam padding - a brief search reveals this blast from the past that could be cut up into smaller bits and glued to the sides of the crate.

Shutdown Issue

The Problem: The motorcycle's engine coughs, then looses power until RPMs reach zero and the engine dies.

Supporting observations: These power losses do not, at a glance, seem to be correlated to speed or particular RPMs. When restarting the engine, the starter button needs to be held for a few moments. The engine turns over for much longer than it does when cold-starting before catching, usually taking between 3-6 seconds. When the engine first starts from a cold state, it catches immediately but will run rough for a few moments until warm - misfires are common.

Hypotheses:

• The fuel system has dirt or debris in it - a fouled filter, a dirty carb, or the air intake tube is clogged.
• The spark plugs are old.
• There is a loose wire with the ignition system.

Experiments:

• Pull out spark plugs. See if they show evidence of being fouled. Do this with a torque wrench to ensure proper tightening.
• Run motorcycle, then drain each carb using carb drain. Check to see how much fuel flows out of each.
• Pull off fuel hose from carb, crank engine with fuel hose pointed to can. Check to see how much fuel flows out to see if problem is with fuel pump or fuel filter.
• Check reluctor coils behind clutch for broken wires (may lead to trouble with spark ignition).
• Clean air filter. Isn't particularly dirty but may be inhibiting air flow.
• Ensure fuel petcock is not blocked. Check both lines.