New Panniers installed Holan Nomada Pro. The frames fit was 99%, had to drill out the bolt holes one size larger for just enough wiggle room to get the bolts started (hand rail bolts).
Was on a ride last week, tipped over on a big water hole crossing. Turned the key and the battery was dead. Made sense, my battery was marginal and the fan was running without stop in some warm weather and probably not charging...it also failed two weeks ago at a restaurant, left my heated...
New set of E07 Dakar tires
Some posts said the tires were noisier than stock. Put about 125 miles on and the difference from stock isn't worth mentioning. Haven't been off road solo, they worked fine two up on 50 miles of fire roads today.
I have a 2013 also and arrived at the purchase because of many of the same reasons you did. My last bike was a 2007 Road King. If over the border in the U.P. give me a shout. I'm in Marquette.
H58 used to be unpaved and really ruff. Over the years it was improved and graded and finally about 4 years ago paved thru the Pictured Rocks National Park. One of the best roads in the U.P. It's 200 miles round trip from Marquette to Grand Marais. If you are coming from the east, go north...
when the number of days you have for a trip is a fixed number of days, you just can't see everything. I will take the interstate to get to a particular location then start exploring the back roads. I will take 2 lanes to go around metro areas. 4 lane divided highways are also good to make...