As the title says, I've been thinking about changing my tank bag setup. I currently own, and use (pretty much continually) a Bagster full tank cover along with a small clip-on Bagster tank bag. You can actually see it in my avatar. Unfortunately, the bag is starting to show its age, and it appears that there are fewer of these available recently and the price they want is pretty steep. Plus the newer model tank bags are made for some bag users needs, but they do not meet my own.
The bike never leaves the driveway without the tank bag on it. I have the bag wired with a 3-way Cigarette lighter socket power inside, and that in turn powers my zumo 550 GPS, a Starcom1 intercom (also installed inside the tank bag) and charges my crackberry when needed. I have opened up a seam at the front of the bag to allow me to run power and audio cables in and out from the starcom to GPS and radar detector, as well as our Starcom1 headsets.
All in all I have been reasonably happy with this set-up, but I can definitely see some room for some improvements.
So, here's a list of the things I would see as "required" for my tank bag functionality, as well as a few "nice to haves" attributes.
1) The tank bag should be easy to get on and off of the bike quickly, so it can be brought inside the hotel at night, but it should also be somewhat secure-able so it won't get yoinked at a gas or quick lunch stop when on a trip and it can't be stowed in an empty bag. Also need easy access to the filler cap for gas-ups The Bagster was easy on and off, and worked great for fueling, but provided little to no security from theft.
2) The bag should be intrinsically water-resistant (at least) or better yet waterproof so that no steps need to be taken when riding into a rain storm. The Bagster bag is Cordura and requires a shower cap cover when it rains or all the stuff inside gets wet.
3) Need to be able to get wires into and out of the bag without violating #2. Need to get power in to starcom and phone charger, and get power and audio cables out to the GPS and RD.
4) Must be physically small so it doesn't foul the switches on the handlebars at full lock steering and still allows good line of site to GPS and instruments. Bagster actually is good this way.
Nice to haves:
1) Aestethically pleasant. I say this is only "nice to have" because I'm already used to having a pretty damn ugly tank bag on the bike. So yeah, an aestetic upgrade would be nice.
2) Bag should be hard or semi hard sided, so the unit retains its form when empty or lightly loaded. The little bagster bag I use has plastic stiffening it the sides, so it does this somewhat. I don't like riding around with a floppy tank bag.
3) Ability to carry a camera inside, which means it needs to be waterproof and soft, as well as secure-able. I'd like not to have to get off and open a rear saddle bag or trunk to get at my camera.
I've looked at what is currently available on the aftermarket, and the features that are almost universally missing are the waterproof-ness and the security.
I like the Bags Connection stuff, and the way it quickly attaches and detaches from their proprietary gas-ring mounting, but none of the bags I've seen are waterproof (without a shower cap type of cover being installed) and there is no locking mechanism that I have seen to prevent someone from popping it off and running. I'm also not sure how easy it is to gas up with this tank bag, as when it's detached it doesn't seem to support itself and would be flopping around loose.
Maybe this is something that is yet to be invented? I'm definitely looking to hear what creative things folks have done to address some, or better yet all, of these requirements.
The bike never leaves the driveway without the tank bag on it. I have the bag wired with a 3-way Cigarette lighter socket power inside, and that in turn powers my zumo 550 GPS, a Starcom1 intercom (also installed inside the tank bag) and charges my crackberry when needed. I have opened up a seam at the front of the bag to allow me to run power and audio cables in and out from the starcom to GPS and radar detector, as well as our Starcom1 headsets.
All in all I have been reasonably happy with this set-up, but I can definitely see some room for some improvements.
So, here's a list of the things I would see as "required" for my tank bag functionality, as well as a few "nice to haves" attributes.
1) The tank bag should be easy to get on and off of the bike quickly, so it can be brought inside the hotel at night, but it should also be somewhat secure-able so it won't get yoinked at a gas or quick lunch stop when on a trip and it can't be stowed in an empty bag. Also need easy access to the filler cap for gas-ups The Bagster was easy on and off, and worked great for fueling, but provided little to no security from theft.
2) The bag should be intrinsically water-resistant (at least) or better yet waterproof so that no steps need to be taken when riding into a rain storm. The Bagster bag is Cordura and requires a shower cap cover when it rains or all the stuff inside gets wet.
3) Need to be able to get wires into and out of the bag without violating #2. Need to get power in to starcom and phone charger, and get power and audio cables out to the GPS and RD.
4) Must be physically small so it doesn't foul the switches on the handlebars at full lock steering and still allows good line of site to GPS and instruments. Bagster actually is good this way.
Nice to haves:
1) Aestethically pleasant. I say this is only "nice to have" because I'm already used to having a pretty damn ugly tank bag on the bike. So yeah, an aestetic upgrade would be nice.
2) Bag should be hard or semi hard sided, so the unit retains its form when empty or lightly loaded. The little bagster bag I use has plastic stiffening it the sides, so it does this somewhat. I don't like riding around with a floppy tank bag.
3) Ability to carry a camera inside, which means it needs to be waterproof and soft, as well as secure-able. I'd like not to have to get off and open a rear saddle bag or trunk to get at my camera.
I've looked at what is currently available on the aftermarket, and the features that are almost universally missing are the waterproof-ness and the security.
I like the Bags Connection stuff, and the way it quickly attaches and detaches from their proprietary gas-ring mounting, but none of the bags I've seen are waterproof (without a shower cap type of cover being installed) and there is no locking mechanism that I have seen to prevent someone from popping it off and running. I'm also not sure how easy it is to gas up with this tank bag, as when it's detached it doesn't seem to support itself and would be flopping around loose.
Maybe this is something that is yet to be invented? I'm definitely looking to hear what creative things folks have done to address some, or better yet all, of these requirements.
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