Do you ride with your Hard Bags?

[Texan]

Leave em on. Looks great. Looks slower and more old-mannish to the LEOs. Holds lots of potentially necessary stuff like your warm gear in the middle of summer in case you have to make a quick break to the Rockies.

 

[Big Sky]

Bags are always on if we're going overnight or longer. For just a day-trip, they are off and we get by with just a tank bag. They are always off and on the shelf when the bike is garaged because it goes between the wall and truck and I need to navigate between them - the mirrors are bad enough.

 

[ALDAWG]

I though that I read here that the LEO's think that the bike is slower with the bags on...
I keep the bags on so the LEO's think that I am touring and not racing...

+1

 

[RollOn1]

I ride with mine on about 85% of the time. If I am headed out for a short jaunt and the bags will be empty, I take them off and go with the tank bag. Short jaunts just don't seem to be my thing, hence me buying the FJR, and I am not a big fan of having a backpack on so most the time the bags are with me.

 

[Slick]

I don't know about riding with my hard bags...

Sometimes I ride with my bags hard.

 

[FJRBluesman]

I ride with them on all the time, I usually have stuff to store in them, that's why they're on. I'll occasionally ride with them off, but rarely.

They may also act as a sort of mild protection to your bike if you go down.

 

[DaveInMn]

Off except for multi-day trips.

Use a tailpack for all the necessities on day-trips.

 

[hotbike dave]

I just want to through this out to the collective wisdom.When riding 2 up the bike was sluggish, well yeah, it's overloaded.

But I removed the Hard Bags to try and lighten the load.

To my surprise the handling improved 100%.

Empty the 2 bags weigh about 25 pounds, so that shouldn't affect the

handling that much.

I bought the FJR mainly because of the Hard Bags and the top Case.

But now I'm riding with only the top case, even when I'm riding solo.

The Bags are sitting in my Garage, and looking very sad.

A year ago I saw a add for a FJR where the bike and the bags were being

sold seperately, the saler said the bags had never been used, that the bike

had always been riden without the bags. At the time I thought this was kinda

wierd, but I'm really geting a kick out of the bike without the bags.

So who else usually rides without the bags?

my bags are always on /never tried to push the handling on the fjr where they would make a real difference--- if it goes that far the r1 comes out

 

[fjrchooser]

Without the bags its just fun transportation. The bags add utility I won't do without, even my bicycles have storage. Bags off for maintenance only.

Even though the bike handles better without, the straight roads around here don't tempt me to leave them behind.

 

[scubatech]

I always have them on. I figure it's good to have rain gear,tire repair stuff,etc. One of the reasons I switched from the Blackbird was more comfort,hard bags. I can't tell any difference in handling.

 

[ahchiu]

I keep mine on all the time, I take the bags for granted, I rode my R6 to work and walked to the store getting ready to leave work and just figured out I had no storage to bring the food home, It's nice to have and not need than need and not have.

 

[FJR Flyer]

For daily commuting, they're always off, with the Bestem top case on. For trips or if I know I have a lot of crap to bring home, I'll throw the bags on.

 

[RenoJohn]

1.) The hard bags are OK as far as hard bags go ...but they do affect handling, speed and flexibility as to where you can go. It is hard to maintain speeds above 140mph with the bags on.

2.) A soft/small tailbag is a great way to haul a few required items, but a hard (ie Givi) tailcase is worse than the saddlebags as far as performance goes. (high weight and bad aerodynamics.) So given the option, go with the saddlebags and leave the topcase at home.

I now avoid saddle bags whenever possible. More than half my miles now are without them. Yes it means packing light but for me it is worth it. Most recent rallies I've done without them. (i'll ride to the rally with them, but not the actual rally).

Here is an example of where saddlebags are bad, very very bad: (spank rally 07)

In the dirtbike world you always have your bars wider than your bags, to avoid things like this they act as a cat's whiskers so you know if you can get through. Not on the fjr, the mirrors and bars are both narrower than the fat-ass FJR.

Why ride a fat chick when you can ride a svelte one? To me it's that simple.

 

[TCMike]

Come to think of it.....I've never ridden with the bags off. I should try it one of these days. The storage was one of the selling points for me...I put my helmet(when not in use), and other gear I may need for the ride in them.

 

[BullCBX]

After my little "incident" this past weekend, I'm sure glad my bags were on. They both ended up with a lot of scrapes, but they also kept the mufflers in good shape, but more importantly, they protected my Russell seat and prevented it from damage.

BullCBX

 

[luvtoride]

Always ride with bags on. I've tried riding without them before & feel absolutely no difference. Not sure what the big toodo about that is.

 

[RenoJohn]

I've tried riding without them before & feel absolutely no difference.

Put me on the other list, IMO there is a big difference.

 

[RollOn1]

[quote name='RenoJohn' date='May 1 2009, 10:03 AM' post='578346'

Why ride a fat chick when you can ride a svelte one? To me it's that simple.

I concur with your logic completely, in a one way or the other sense. But imagine a chick strong and capable enough to pack all your gear all day long, without complaint, who could then strip down to the sexiest thing you've ever ridden, without so much as a comment of how hard or fast you rode. It is just such a ride we all enjoy! :yahoo:

 

[boomerang]

Bag's on most all the time. The only real differance I can feel with out them is the bike is slightly more flickable in the twisties but,not as well balanced at slow manuvers. I keep them on though because I use the fjr for a grocerie getter on a daily basis. Saves me money and is a lot more fun when doing some thing that I normally would hate to do,SHOPPING. Besides the hard case's keep chines food nwarm longer.

 

[Lone12]

New to the FJR but have only had them on for the first 25 miles. Then took them off and haven't had a good lenghty ride with them on yet (as of 750 miles). Coming from a ZZR, I am use to not having the added room of the saddle bags, so I'm just making due with the tank bag.

After I get the saddle bag locks locks secure, I may try a weekend day ride with them on just to see the difference, but I don't think that I'll ride with the bags other than the longer trips. We'll see...