So I have been riding 12 months I took my first tour this weekend to France to see the D Day landings Some experience for fellow newbies, firstly Street Twin performed wonderfully, I put on the Puig mini touring screen, it really helped, albeit looks crappy, also bought Krieger US 30 and US 10 the US 10 as a daysack in the US 30 at primary luggage, perfect combo whilst expensive performed really well and was super easy to get on and off found myself grinning at my fellow riders with their 300 bungee straps The weather was horrendous torrential rain realised you need to spend a lot of money to get truly waterproof clothing and boots my advice would be spend more than you’re comfortable with, or don’t ride in the rain which unfortunately for me was not an option Averaged 65mpg, bench seat was not uncomfortable, de-cat helpful to gain attention whilst filtering, got stopped by the French Police only because they wanted to look at my bike Edit- also three of us bought some cheapo Chinese intercom Freedconn £36 (Amazon) each worked well, you can only have two talking and need to disconnect one and connect the other when you want to switch but other than that fine
Glad the trip went well. Have to echo your advice on kit for wet weather. Do your research and spend as much as you can afford. Staying dry makes riding in all weather so much more fun