...well, okay, the bike does now. I got home today to find the delivery elves had left me my Nelson-Rigg Saddle Bags and my Himalaya leather sissy bar bag.
First, I opened up the saddle bags. They shipped flat. Note the nice reflective stripe. It runs along the side that faces the rear, as well. On the front facing (rider side) portion, there are mesh pockets that can hold small items - like a kickstand plate or an Easy-Pass ticket while you're riding - they seem to hold securely closed:
Included, is a waterproof rubberized liner bag:
Before using the bags, you have to install the stiffener:
It arcs around the top of the bag. To install it, you have to work it through a relatively uncooperative loop of fabric. It took some doing, but it got there:
Once you get it threaded, it tucks into a pocket at the back and front of the bag to secure it:
Here are the finished bags. They're quite roomy - I placed my helmet by them to give you an idea of size. They have small pockets on the inner walls for small items:
Next up was my sissy bar bag. It doesn't have any stiffeners in it, so it needs to be packed to hold its shape. I stuffed a queen size comforter in it to show what it looks like packed. It fit with room to spare. It includes a rain cover:
The saddle bags were $90. They have two top straps that go over the seat. They can go under a removable seat, too, but you need a tall bike to clear the exhaust that way. I don't have a tall bike, so running the strips under the seat meant the bags rested on the exhaust. There are two bottom tie downs on each bag to secure them from flapping around or flying off the bike. There are additional buckles to attach compatible tail bags.
The sissy bar bag goes over the rear seat back. It seems to fit better off the back of the bike rather than resting on the rear seat. That leaves room for even more luggage (like a tail bag) on the rear seat.
Attaching the bags wasn't too painful, though both bags had annoying traits that could have been done better.
On the saddle bags, the over-the-seat straps are really odd. They consist of two velcro straps that stick together to connect the bags. I would have preferred a buckle system with woven straps similar to the rest of the mounts. It simply adds more bulk than necessary on top of the seat. I wouldn't care except the front strap intrudes into the rider saddle. I would have crossed them across the rear seat, but they reverse the velcro on the back and front straps so you can't attach one to the other. Bummer. However, I think I got the front set to smooth down enough so it doesn't appear I can really feel them. I honestly don't know what kind of rear seat they thought the straps would fit - they're too far apart and too long to connect them without a lot of fussing. It looks like they'll hold well, but I doubt I'll want to take them off too often - it's too cumbersome to put them back on.
The sissy bar bag has all kinds of straps to hold things together, but the mechanism for holding the whole thing to the seat is like a corset. It cinches tight with laces. However, you have to tie the laces instead of having tab locks. I'll probably invest in some to add on, but still tie them off to be sure.
To get things tight enough, it left a lot of dangling lace, so I tied them off to the signal stem mounts. That seemed to ensure the bag wouldn't creep off the seat back. I'm going to get some hooks to run from some loops on the sissy bar bag to some mounting rings on the tops of the saddle bags for additional safety.
So, other than not liking the seat straps for the Nelson-Rigg bags, they're really nice. I'll keep them on the bike, but I'll need a bigger cover since the one I have (it was that $17 Walmart one everyone seems to like) is fine for just the bike, but a little too small with them on. I'll step up a size.
The sissy bar bag was less than $60. It's far from perfect, but the price makes up for it. It comes with a removable barrel bag and has plenty of pockets. It also has a zipper to expand the capacity by a decent amount. Down the road, I may get something a bit better, but for now, it's fine for the occasional road trip. I don't plan to keep a big bag like that on the back of the bike.