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Bike with Less Character
- Thread starter sburns
- Start date
What type of tank bag? My magnetic one is useless on this bike. Unless I take off the plastic pieces on the tank...totally useless.
sburns
Well-known member
Are we still talking about motorcycles..
There are no winners in a GTAM rack competition.Are we still talking about motorcycles..
Dunno, we can certainly create a poll and figure out who has the:
- best headlights
- best bottom-end
- best cans
- best seat
- best chassis
- best bolt-ons...
I've never noticed any handling difference on mine with or without the topcase. Might depend on the size of the case. I think mine is relatively small at 35L.
I have definitely noticed a handling difference using large semi-rigid fabric panniers that are heavily loaded. Not from the wind, but there can be a noticeable set of wiggles if you make a sharp steering input at what are now HTA172 speeds. The bags and their contents get torqued around and feed that back into the bike for an oscillation or two.
I just remembered that I also dropped the front-end by 10mm by raising the fork tubes in the triple, which makes the steering more responsive and which might contribute to the sensation. That was a common thing to do on the 1st gen bikes. Not sure if it still applies to the newer ones.
Yes, the majority of hard side cases, and some soft panniers, bolt onto pannier racks which hold them away from the side of the bike. They do this to clear any bodywork/exhaust and also to maintain the rigidity and orientation of the case itself, which is mostly rectangular in shape.
This is absolutely fine if you're on the street, but if you're going out into the bush, having your weight as close to the centre of the bike is preferable, both for clearing obstacles to your side and for optimal handling.
Rackless panniers are just soft bags that sling over the passenger seat and are attached together by straps or some other material. They're exactly as described - you don't need a pannier rack to use them. Sometimes paired with a rear bag that fits between them, which is a nice place to have it, since the pillion seat is right over the rear wheel.
Pros
- If you experience a fall with the bike, the soft bags won't crush your legs
- They don't dent or lose their shape. I've crashed (many many many times) with hard panniers and they eventually lose their shape, their waterproofing seal at the top, as well as the ability to fit back onto the rack.
- They hug the body of your bike for mass centralization. In slow, technical sections, they won't cause unnecessary sway or additional inertia to the bikes movements or your inputs
- Conforms to whatever's inside the bags so you can cinch them down small and tight if you're not at carrying capacity. They don't leave any empty spaces like hardcases, which when empty, are still big and bulky
- most of them weigh lighter than hard cases
Cons
- Less perceived security. But this is just perception. With a 8" flat-head screw driver, I can break into any Givi topcase and most other hardcases. Any Givi topcase owner will know this.
- Rubs up against paintwork. Also you may need an additional exhaust shield to protect the bag on that side from melting
- Is more work taking the bags off and on - at least the base system. Most of the newer rackless setups have drybags inserted into holsters which you can quickly pull off the bike to take into your tent or hotel/motel
- Because it's a dry bag system, if you need something from the bottom of the dry bag, you need to take everything out. But I guess any luggage system is like that, just with dry bags, it's more of a pain
- Takes up the space where a passenger would sit. But if you're going hardcore off-road, last thing you want is a pillion
My advice is, if you're not going to be doing a lot of off-road where balance and mass centralization is an issue, then having a rackless pannier system is less important. There are rack-mounted soft panniers which are a good compromise for weight and trail safety:
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If you aren't baller like some of our residents and are willing to stray quite far into KLR territory, I've seen a funny/practical rackless pannier "system" made out of a pair of denim jeans or cargo pants. Each leg had a knot tied in it, and a zip was sewn across the top at the waist. Throw it across the passenger seat and strap the legs to the passenger pegs like it was half of a passenger. I wish I could find a picture of the setup.
Like Lightcycle said,if you’ve got a lot of weight in there it affects it more so, but as for aero-affected front end lightness with typical day-trip packed stuff it’s not affecting the front end until you’re nearing 170kmh-ish on the back straight of mosport.
Soft close-fitting luggage would have less affect at high speed but I really like being able to lock my helmet in there if I go into a store/restaurant.
Yeah, no issues until close to the first number in your speed changing to a 2. Box has stickers telling you not to exceed 120 kph. Box has no issues at all at higher speeds.
This is what I want....
And this is what I have...
With my rear tail rack...
EDIT: This would be the goal...found on Ducati Scrambler forum...
And this is what I have...
With my rear tail rack...
EDIT: This would be the goal...found on Ducati Scrambler forum...
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Found this, may be of interest to you:
IMO, he should have removed the passenger grab rails, they push the bags out too far.
Edit: His channel has some great Pan Am ADV content! This guy isn't afraid to take his ADV bike on some ADVentures!
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Thanks for all the information. The grab rails are part of the entire stock tail section, so I understand why he left them on, but I agree with you.
I'm thinking of the HD sport cases for on road use and some small-ish soft bags for shorter trips etc. I tend to stay away from top cases.
I had side-loading hard cases for the longest time. Biggest complaint is that when the bike is on the side-stand, the contents of the left case tends to fall out when opened. Fine if you've got everything in an inner liner, but if you've got a bunch of loose stuff in there, this happens:
Top-loading cases are easier to manage, but side-loading crashes better - the seal on the lid stays intact.
DAMHIK.
LOL, I agree. but that is the only option, so I'll get the liner things or pack better. The nice thing is the larger case will hold a full face helmet.I had side-loading hard cases for the longest time. Biggest complaint is that when the bike is on the side-stand, the contents of the left case tends to fall out when opened. Fine if you've got everything in an inner liner, but if you've got a bunch of loose stuff in there, this happens:
Top-loading cases are easier to manage, but side-loading crashes better - the seal on the lid stays intact.
DAMHIK.
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