LDRydr
A Homeless Nomad
A while ago I came across a thread about using a T-Bag Dekker bag on a luggage rack on an FJR. I posted a reply, but....
As I'm leaving to ride to the IBR finish next week, and my FJR is so new to me I haven't acquired any luggage for it other than the original side-bags, I needed more space. I have a T-Bag Dekker (original, not the newer "Supreme" model) that I used on my H-D. Being the thrifty fellow I am I decided to make it work for the FJR. It won't work in the passenger seat because it's so wide it covers up the locks and latches on the side bags making it difficult to open them.
The Problem.
The Dekker bag has fabric-covered foam panels that hold it together, and make it rigid (they're held in place with miles of Velcro). This bag is designed to go on an H-D Tourpak-mounted luggage rack, thus the Dekker is just the right width to sit on the luggage rack and be properly supported. A luggage rack for the FJR (in my case a Geraud's rack) is not wide enough to support the bag, and, because of the way the panels fit inside, the bag droops both on the sides and the trailing edge of the bag as seen in the pictures below.
This drooping is due to the bottom piece of foam residing inside the walls of the side pieces of foam, as shown here:
The other issue, at least using a Geraud's rack/backrest is that with the backrest in place it pushes the T-Bag even further rearward on the rack. Not having a passenger on this upcoming trip I simply removed the backrest, which allows the T-Bag to move further forward on the rack. Before and after pictures below. Note how the trailing edge of the bag is a ways from the edge of the rack in the two pictures at the top of this post.
Certainly one way to fix this would be to mount some sort of platform on top of your luggage rack. Something like a nice piece of exterior-grade plywood should do the trick, and look nice. NOT! And I didn't want it on the bike when I remove the bag.
The Solution:
I figured the bottom of the T-Bag just needed to be beefed up, and it needed to extend out to the outside edges of the bag so the vertical panels would all rest on it. Not having access to a machine-shop, and being the thrifty fellow I am I instead headed to my local Tap Plastics store to have them cut and shape a piece of acrylic plastic to insert in the bottom of the bag. Took them about 5 minutes to cut/shape it, and cost me $15. To put it in the bag I removed the bottom and two side foam pieces and slipped the sheet underneath the front and rear foam pieces, and then put everything back. If I remember correctly it's 1/4" thick, don't go much thicker or things won't fit back together. The sheet looks like this:
With the sheet in place the whole bottom of the bag is now rigid. Even though the bag is wider than the rack the plastic help stop the drooping. Notice also how the bag comes all the way to the edge of the rack now.
One More Issue:
As you can see in the photos at the top the retaining straps are too short to reach down around the rack and back up to the buckles. Thankfully my wife has a sewing machine and knows how to use it. We got some more 1" web straps and simply sewed on some extensions to each of them. She also sewed up a couple of soft fleece covers for the front two straps so the straps won't muck up the paint on the bike. You can see them in the finished-product picture.
My Extra Webbing Top Cover:
You'll notice in the final picture I have a webbing cover over the T-Bag. Some of the free-form T-Bags come with this, the Dekker does not. We used to use it on our H-D to strap down extra clothing (such as leather chaps) when the weather got really hot. I ordered the webbing piece from the T-Bag folks, and took my bag to a local upholstery shop to have them sew on the four additional tie-down buckles to attach it to. The lid of the Dekker bag is fabric-covered foam like the rest of the bag, so it is firm, but I wouldn't want to put anything heavy up there. You may be able to do the same thing with one of the spider-webbing bungee products.
A couple of final thoughts. The T-Bag does tend to get dirty, sitting around the garage when not in use, wife putting it on the ground while I'm trying to get the bike loaded up, bug strikes, etc. If you take all the panels out the rest of the bag can go in the washer for cleaning. Don't dry it in the dryer. Putting it all back together is like a monkey humping a football, and it will take a bit but it can be done.
Remember, I was using this bag on a Harley, where tank-bags are unknown. The Dekker was the perfect place for putting things like maps, suntan lotion, cameras, cell phone, chargers for cell phones and camera battery charger, and my laptop (for rally work). The little side compartments zip off and have their own straps and can be worn like a fanny-pack. Pretty handy for taking valuables with you for that short hike to the Kodak Moment spot at the scenic viewpoints. BTW, the pouch on the front of the bag, facing the seat, contains an attached rain-cover. It's form-fitting and works like a charm in the heaviest rains. The only part of the bag not covered would be the small patch sitting on the luggage rack.
As I'm leaving to ride to the IBR finish next week, and my FJR is so new to me I haven't acquired any luggage for it other than the original side-bags, I needed more space. I have a T-Bag Dekker (original, not the newer "Supreme" model) that I used on my H-D. Being the thrifty fellow I am I decided to make it work for the FJR. It won't work in the passenger seat because it's so wide it covers up the locks and latches on the side bags making it difficult to open them.
The Problem.
The Dekker bag has fabric-covered foam panels that hold it together, and make it rigid (they're held in place with miles of Velcro). This bag is designed to go on an H-D Tourpak-mounted luggage rack, thus the Dekker is just the right width to sit on the luggage rack and be properly supported. A luggage rack for the FJR (in my case a Geraud's rack) is not wide enough to support the bag, and, because of the way the panels fit inside, the bag droops both on the sides and the trailing edge of the bag as seen in the pictures below.
This drooping is due to the bottom piece of foam residing inside the walls of the side pieces of foam, as shown here:
The other issue, at least using a Geraud's rack/backrest is that with the backrest in place it pushes the T-Bag even further rearward on the rack. Not having a passenger on this upcoming trip I simply removed the backrest, which allows the T-Bag to move further forward on the rack. Before and after pictures below. Note how the trailing edge of the bag is a ways from the edge of the rack in the two pictures at the top of this post.
Certainly one way to fix this would be to mount some sort of platform on top of your luggage rack. Something like a nice piece of exterior-grade plywood should do the trick, and look nice. NOT! And I didn't want it on the bike when I remove the bag.
The Solution:
I figured the bottom of the T-Bag just needed to be beefed up, and it needed to extend out to the outside edges of the bag so the vertical panels would all rest on it. Not having access to a machine-shop, and being the thrifty fellow I am I instead headed to my local Tap Plastics store to have them cut and shape a piece of acrylic plastic to insert in the bottom of the bag. Took them about 5 minutes to cut/shape it, and cost me $15. To put it in the bag I removed the bottom and two side foam pieces and slipped the sheet underneath the front and rear foam pieces, and then put everything back. If I remember correctly it's 1/4" thick, don't go much thicker or things won't fit back together. The sheet looks like this:
With the sheet in place the whole bottom of the bag is now rigid. Even though the bag is wider than the rack the plastic help stop the drooping. Notice also how the bag comes all the way to the edge of the rack now.
One More Issue:
As you can see in the photos at the top the retaining straps are too short to reach down around the rack and back up to the buckles. Thankfully my wife has a sewing machine and knows how to use it. We got some more 1" web straps and simply sewed on some extensions to each of them. She also sewed up a couple of soft fleece covers for the front two straps so the straps won't muck up the paint on the bike. You can see them in the finished-product picture.
My Extra Webbing Top Cover:
You'll notice in the final picture I have a webbing cover over the T-Bag. Some of the free-form T-Bags come with this, the Dekker does not. We used to use it on our H-D to strap down extra clothing (such as leather chaps) when the weather got really hot. I ordered the webbing piece from the T-Bag folks, and took my bag to a local upholstery shop to have them sew on the four additional tie-down buckles to attach it to. The lid of the Dekker bag is fabric-covered foam like the rest of the bag, so it is firm, but I wouldn't want to put anything heavy up there. You may be able to do the same thing with one of the spider-webbing bungee products.
A couple of final thoughts. The T-Bag does tend to get dirty, sitting around the garage when not in use, wife putting it on the ground while I'm trying to get the bike loaded up, bug strikes, etc. If you take all the panels out the rest of the bag can go in the washer for cleaning. Don't dry it in the dryer. Putting it all back together is like a monkey humping a football, and it will take a bit but it can be done.
Remember, I was using this bag on a Harley, where tank-bags are unknown. The Dekker was the perfect place for putting things like maps, suntan lotion, cameras, cell phone, chargers for cell phones and camera battery charger, and my laptop (for rally work). The little side compartments zip off and have their own straps and can be worn like a fanny-pack. Pretty handy for taking valuables with you for that short hike to the Kodak Moment spot at the scenic viewpoints. BTW, the pouch on the front of the bag, facing the seat, contains an attached rain-cover. It's form-fitting and works like a charm in the heaviest rains. The only part of the bag not covered would be the small patch sitting on the luggage rack.
