I have baggage...

[CTRider]

...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.

[98ninja98]

Those look pretty good.

Do you have any pics of them on your bike? I'm wondering if they'll fit on a sports bike.

[Guitar7272]

Sweet. To get that first pic to work just click edit it in advanced mode and then post. There's a bug in the forum software...

[CTRider]

Originally Posted by 98ninja98

Those look pretty good.

Do you have any pics of them on your bike? I'm wondering if they'll fit on a sports bike.

It's raining pretty good out there now, so I can't take any yet. However, I'll take some as soon as I can.

They'll fit any bike that has enough clearance over the exhaust. The bags are 14" tall. Add a few more inches to account for sagging of the mounting strips (the bags will rest slightly below the seat). and to provide a gap over the pipes. They have heat resistant panels on the bottom, but they can't touch the exhaust directly. If the exhaust is under the tail, you're fine. If it slants upward a lot, probably not. You just need at least two tie-down locations near the bottom of each bag. The front one will probably be the passenger foot pegs. I had a metal loop behind the license plate mount for the back.

[CTRider]

Originally Posted by Guitar7272

Sweet. To get that first pic to work just click edit it in advanced mode and then post. There's a bug in the forum software...

Thanks. That worked great. It never used to do that before.

[Guitar7272]

Originally Posted by CTRider

Thanks. That worked great. It never used to do that before.

No problem! I cant figure out what exactly causes it to happen because its intermittent, but they did a forum upgrade like 6 months or so ago and it's done it ever since... Annoying, but at least you can get around it.

[CTRider]

Originally Posted by Guitar7272

No problem! I cant figure out what exactly causes it to happen because its intermittent, but they did a forum upgrade like 6 months or so ago and it's done it ever since... Annoying, but at least you can get around it.

It looks like when you edit the post outside of advanced mode, it changes the IMG tag to a hyperlink URL tag.

I guess it just means you can't make a quick mode edit to a post with hotlinked pictures.

At any rate, I'll post some pics with the bags all on the bike as soon as the weather cooperates during the day. The saddle bags are on it right now, but the bike is covered - not to mention I'm working.

[Guitar7272]

Yeah the weird thing is it doesnt do it all the time though so it's hard to nail down whats going on.

[CTRider]

I finally was able to take some pictures of the saddlebags installed on the bike. As noted in the rear closeup below, the silver carabiner clips on the top rear are not part of the bags - I added those. However, there are two top mounts on each bag (I used two to install the clips) and buckles on the body sides of the bags for clipping items on that are mounted on the seat.:

Here's on overall view of the bike with them on:



Here's an overall view from the rear:



Straight on in the back. The carabiner clips on the top rear are NOT part of the bags. I added those to connect my work bag to them:



From the side to show size and pipe clearance:



The front tie-down:



The rear tie-down (it looks closer to the tire than it really is in that photo):



The right bag open. The flap stays in that position if there isn't too much weight in the pocket:



From the top showing the top straps:

[A2rider]

They look good, Ken.

[CTRider]

Originally Posted by A2rider

They look good, Ken.

I really like them - especially the size. Too many saddle bags are the size of a fanny pack - completely useless to hold anything. I wanted to be able to carry stuff.

Hard bags would have been my preference, but I'm not going to lay out that kind of money of a $650 bike.

Maybe in a few seasons, I'll look into a Nomad.

[A2rider]

I lowered my bike, and I thought bags would be non-existent. But Darrell brought home some small ones, and I'll see if I can get them on. I would only use them when I had to, bags don't go with the Mad Max look very well.

[2WheelFun]

Ken, they fit the bike very well and look great! Are they snug being strapped on the way they are?

[CTRider]

Originally Posted by 2WheelFun

Ken, they fit the bike very well and look great! Are they snug being strapped on the way they are?

Yeah, it would take quite a bit to pull them off. I would have preferred having a mounting point lower in the rear, but the current setup seems to hold them pretty tight to the bike. They won't be flapping around. In addition, my butt will be on the front seat strap, so if they go, that's a real problem - it means I fell off...

[2WheelFun]

Originally Posted by CTRider

Yeah, it would take quite a bit to pull them off. I would have preferred having a mounting point lower in the rear, but the current setup seems to hold them pretty tight to the bike. They won't be flapping around. In addition, my butt will be on the front seat strap, so if they go, that's a real problem - it means I fell off...

Maybe you could strap yourself to the bike too!?

[spitfire9]

Those are cool. And HUGE, lol. Man, you can carry bowling balls in them!

[CTRider]

Originally Posted by spitfire9

Those are cool. And HUGE, lol. Man, you can carry bowling balls in them!

Don't think I'm not tempted - I have two bowling balls I use (each hooks differently, depending on what I need). However, I doubt the bags would support 15 pounds of weight in each since they don't have brackets.

At least the weight would be low on the bike...