Is Bestem the "best of 'em"?

[hppants]

The Yamaha factory saddle bag liners must be made of Unobtainium because they are certainly priced that way.

I'm just about ready to give up on a used set (unless anyone has one for sale).

Anybody ever tried these folks?

https://www.bestemusa.com/Yamaha-FJR1300-Saddlebag-Side-Case-Liners_p_1023.html

The ST1300 guys rave about them. If you have them on your FJR, what can you say about fit, zipper quality, overall quality, service, and anything else you'd like to share?

Thanks and stay thirsty, my friends....

 

[Redfish Hunter]

The Yamaha factory saddle bag liners must be made of Unobtainium because they are certainly priced that way.

I'm just about ready to give up on a used set (unless anyone has one for sale).

Anybody ever tried these folks?

https://www.bestemusa...ers_p_1023.html

The ST1300 guys rave about them. If you have them on your FJR, what can you say about fit, zipper quality, overall quality, service, and anything else you'd like to share?

Thanks and stay thirsty, my friends....

To tell you some of what you already know I have a set for my ST1300. This was something I did not really want, I was buying a 2nd hand Heli-riser and the guy had these for sale as well. He cut me a deal. Now, I can't live without them. Or more accurately, I can't live without the left one. My rainsuit, my spider-web bungie thingie, flashlight, tire repair kit, etc. lives permanently in there. The entire bag is well made, it is well thought out with regard to the two outer zipper pockets, in short I highly recommend them for the ST. I have never seen a set for the FJR.

An odd thing about the ST, it may be the same on the FJR, I will have to check, there is an indentation in the inner side wall of the saddlebag. With the Bestem fully packed the outer pocket sticks out making closing the saddlebag difficult. I switch the bags around, putting the left into the right and vice versa. That way the "outer pocket" fits neatly into the saddlbag indentation. If our mutual friend Mike has a set of these, ask him to look at this. It was pointed out to me and I felt pretty dumb for not seeing it before.

 

[ionbeam]

At the risk of being a pariah, type Bestem in the search box and you will have two pages of opinions and reviews ready for immediate self gratification.

 

[RedPorscheKilla]

The Yamaha factory saddle bag liners must be made of Unobtainium because they are certainly priced that way.

Anybody ever tried these ?

......else you'd like to share?

Thanks and stay thirsty, my friends....

Well I bought those and have to say, I'm very apply with 'em. Great quality, super zipper you name it they've got it. For the price paid the biggest bang for your buck. I first looked for the OEM liner, saw the price, shouted out HELL NO! Ordered me them from bestem.

You won't regret it!

V

RPK

 

[Patriot]

I have a set of oem and these and they are equal to the task

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=fjr1300%20liner&_sop=15

 

[Burnspot]

I have a set of the Bestem bags and have used them for nearly 3 years now. One of the bags sees daily commuter use (the other holds emergency stuff, cover, etc) and it's held up just fine. I've had zero problems with the zippers or having any stitching come loose...very happy with them.

 

[hppants]

I'm bumping this old thread with good reason.

I just returned from a 10 day tour in the Southeast. In typical fashion, I brought way more clothes than I actually needed. As such, I probably over packed my bestem bag liners a little. As a result, on day 9, the zipper on one of them went off the track.

I was a little perturbed as these bag liners were only 11 months old. I emailed Bestem and they asked me to ship the bad bag to them and they would take a look at it. Within 1 week, I received TWO (2) brand new replacement liners.

I can't ask for better service than that. Well done, Bestem. Very well done, indeed.

 

[eg23232]

I had them for my 2007. Zipper on one of them went out fairly quickly. Took them to a local luggage repair shop and had the cheap zippers replaced with good quality ones. After that, no issues. They went with the bike when I sold it though.

 

[El Toro Joe]

I got a pair of the Bestem bag liners this year to replace my OEM bag liners...I like them for the money, they have held up well for me...so far

 

[Burnspot]

A year on from my previous post about them and nothing's changed; good bags for the money.

 

[devaldez]

So, to be the contrarian here, I ordered a pair from Amazon a month ago. I'm on my 2007 Gen2. The liners from Bestem don't fit my saddlebags. They appear to be off by a little bit in each direction. I can cram the bags in, but lose volume and damage the piping.

I'm returning them today and finding an alternative. I also posted reviews on Amazon and Bestem about this.

 

[El Toro Joe]

I've had a set for a few years now...no problems fitting them into the panniers.

 

[hppants]

I used the Bestem bag liners on my Gen 1. Broke a zipper and they replaced it no questions asked.

However, I do believe the OEM liners for my 14 are a higher quality.

 

[Nanahanman]

Ordered Bestem from Amazon and ended up sending them back.

A bit of a PITA to get them in the case when full.

Ordered a set from Kathy's Journey Designs. Great product and fit.

https://kathysjourneydesigns.com/products/Kathy's-inner-saddlebag-liners-for-Yamaha-FJR1300-cases/502.html

 

[Queensland Ken]

Kathy's Journey Designs is A1

 

[RaYzerman19]

I thought US FJR's came with saddlebag liners...... no more?

 

[Warpdrv]

My 15ES came with new liners.

My 05 liners held up very well for quite some time, then the top side of them ripped, probably from over stuffing.

Just down the street there is a place that does leather & upholstery contract work for just about any company, they have some really heavy duty sewing machines. They have been customers of ours for damn near forever. Any time I have a sewing issue I bring my stuff there, always fix it up just right..... We barter for services - Love the Barter System.

They sewed up that bag better then new.

Don't discount local assistance if you have an issue...

 

[El Toro]

I had a set of the Bestems for my ST1100. They were quite inexpensive and they worked fine, although they weren't as nice as Kathy's or as Yamaha OEM.

I have the original factory bag liners for one of my used FJR, and they are like the original factory bag liners that came with the two FJRs that I bought new.

The other used FJR did not come with bag liners. I looked at the factory liners available from www.mrcycles.com. I think they might have cost $119 or similar. They were just like the three pair I've seen that were actually delivered with FJRs at the time of sale in model years 2006 to 2009. These were priced somewhere in the $110 range if I remember right.

I did not buy them. Later I found what were advertised as new factory bagliners for the FJR on Amazon. These were priced around $89. I bought them, and the quality is very high, but they do not match the three pair that I know were delivered at the point of sale between 2006 and 2009. They came in credible Yamaha factory packaging, but then the Chinese are getting very aggressive and clever in their counterfeiting activities, so who knows if they're really Yamaha authorized or not? The differences are in color and logo design... both the known OEM and these claimed OEM bagliners fit the FJR hard bag as expected.

Maybe Yamaha changed the bags and those delivered in more recent model years are different from earlier ones. I dunno....

What I do know is that the Bestem bags worked for my ST1100 and when I sold the bike I gave them to a friend who still rides his ST1100. He likes them too. Those bags must be 12 years old or more at this point.

And the other thing I know is that there may be more than one color/style of factory bag liners, and both of the ones I've seen have been much nicer than the Bestem in apparent quality and appearance.

 

[El Toro]

I thought US FJR's came with saddlebag liners...... no more?

People lose them. People don't bother to include them when they trade their bike. All FJRs come with owner's manuals and body plugs too, but how many used bikes do you see at a dealers showroom with these original accessories still included once the bikes been traded twice?

FWIW, I liked my OEM FJR bag liners well enough that there was a time when I used them to haul books and paperwork back and forth to my office, and this is a true test of how well a bag liner will hold up. Load it with books, and if it's not first rate, it will soon show its weakness. I don't think that the Bestem bag liners would not have held up to this sort of service. I was not comfortable enough with them to ever use them for this purpose.