Packing

I've been pulling my gear together and alternately cursing because I can't find something and rejoicing when something returns from having gone walkabout.
This is the first long (more than a week on the road) tour I've contemplated since I got my '03 BMW K1200GT in February of 2003.
In terms of speed and handling and creature comfort, it's a quantum jump from my '91 K100RS which I retired a couple of years ago after putting more than 160,000 miles on the odometer.
But for some reason known only to David Robb, chief designer for BMW motorcycles in Munich, it's a substantial step backward in terms of carrying capacity. Yes, it has hard saddlebags - color matched to the bike, even. But they're smaller than the ones on my old bike. The left one is especially small, since Herr Robb decided the K1200RS (the bike from which the GT is derived) should have an upswept exhaust pipe that needs a cutout on the inside of the bag.
I've packed my removable fabric saddlebag liners accordingly, but have yet to see if they'll fit into the actual saddlebags.
Motorcycle touring, for me anyway, necessitates a constant search for smaller stuff. I bought a smaller tent over the weekend because the one I've used for the past five years takes up too much space in the big waterproof bag that rides on the tail luggage rack and also holds my sleeping bag and Thermarest air mattress.
I've entertained myself on long boring stretches of highway (i.e. I-70 through Missouri, Kansas and eastern Colorado) with music from a Sony MiniDisc player loaded with hours of MP3s. I use custom fitted in-ear stereo monitors, made for me by an audiologist, so I get the benefit of glorious stereo sound as well as a huge reduction in wind noise and the attendant fatigue.
Last week, my wife gave me an early birthday present in the form of an XM satellite radio receiver. It mounts on a special bracket atop the brake fluid reservoir on the right side of the handlebars, freeing up a whole bunch of space in my tankbag and giving me a chance to hear hours and hours of new music rather than being limited to my own music collection. It also has the Weather Channel, news, and traffic/weather reports for several major cities.
So upgrades over my old bike now include:

XM radio
Electronic cruise control
Heated seat
Heated handgrips
Electrically adjustable windscreen

The plan is to roll out early tomorrow morning and aim for Topeka, Kans. where I'll meet friends for dinner. Then, on Wednesday, it's off to Colorado. I hope to reach my destination at friends' house near Breckenridge sometime late Wednesday afternoon.
Of course this all assumes no problems and reasonable weather. At the moment, the Weather Channel's website forecasts rain at every major city along I-70 from here to Topeka tomorrow. I have no desire to start my vacation with a day-long slog down the interstate in the rain, so if that wretched forecast is still in place tomorrow morning, I'll call my friends and put off my departure for 24 hours.
In the meantime, I keep thinking of stuff I forgot to pack and wonder how in hell I'm going to squeeze it all in.