sportsguy
searchgeek - author
Alright. So I couldn't find my original post on this topic, so I'll start a fresh one for the updates.
Background:
I wanted a tank bag, but had some requirements...
1 - mounted above the tank, not on the tank, so no scratching my paint.
2 - secure - fabric bags can be easily sliced open with a knife, or walked away with
3 - water proof - none of those fabric bags with waterproof covers to worry about - I do live in Seattle, after all...
4 - water proof - no zippers...
5 - follows the lines of the tank
6 - lockable - does this need to be explained?
7 - paintable to match the bike.
So, I spent a week or so searching online, but no luck. Plenty of "advertised as waterproof" bags, a couple of ways to mount bags above the tank avoiding scratches, etc. But, alas, nothing was quite what I wanted...
Fast forward to this long weekend.
As luck would have it, the one piece I needed to skip to phase two of the project popped into my life mid-last week. Having the bits I needed in hand to mount to the bike, I started playing with foam. Here's an idea of what's brewing. This is NOT the final shape, nor the final mounting system, just the current progress. The next step is to get hooked up with a local plastics shop to prototype the trunk itself. The final shape with depend more on their limitations.
OK, enough of my blabbering, time for the pics... low res due to my iphone being the handy camera tonight.
Raw foam glued and waiting
Another view of the raw foam
I know, you're thinking "It's HUGE!" Final product won't be this tall... or square
The mounting rail...
Backside of the foam carved to recess the mounting ring & rail
You can see here the trunk on the mounting rail raised to allow access to the fuel cap - it's not raised all the way, and clearancing for the RAM mount in front was not completed at this stage.
Side view - shaping under way, and side-lock visible for securing the final unit in the "down" position
Shape coming along - after recessing the mounting rail and ring, the trunk sits approx. 1/2 inch above the tank
Follows the lines of the gas tank - narrower in front, wider in the rear.
Another raised shot showing the mounting rail and ring around the gas tank filler
So, that's the rough idea. The project is finally starting to resemble what I had in my mind. A bit taller than I had originally planned, but should offer plenty of interior volume for a camera, GPS, wallet, etc. All lockable and locked to the bike. Let's skip the debate on "waterproof" and "water resistant", too, please... As mentioned, I live in Seattle, so I just want my sh1t to stay dry & safe.
As this progresses, I'll post up more, but I don't expect to get much past this stage until after the new year starts. Depends on if I find a local plastics shop that can do the work I want and what their timeline is like.
Background:
I wanted a tank bag, but had some requirements...
1 - mounted above the tank, not on the tank, so no scratching my paint.
2 - secure - fabric bags can be easily sliced open with a knife, or walked away with
3 - water proof - none of those fabric bags with waterproof covers to worry about - I do live in Seattle, after all...
4 - water proof - no zippers...
5 - follows the lines of the tank
6 - lockable - does this need to be explained?
7 - paintable to match the bike.
So, I spent a week or so searching online, but no luck. Plenty of "advertised as waterproof" bags, a couple of ways to mount bags above the tank avoiding scratches, etc. But, alas, nothing was quite what I wanted...
Fast forward to this long weekend.
As luck would have it, the one piece I needed to skip to phase two of the project popped into my life mid-last week. Having the bits I needed in hand to mount to the bike, I started playing with foam. Here's an idea of what's brewing. This is NOT the final shape, nor the final mounting system, just the current progress. The next step is to get hooked up with a local plastics shop to prototype the trunk itself. The final shape with depend more on their limitations.
OK, enough of my blabbering, time for the pics... low res due to my iphone being the handy camera tonight.
Raw foam glued and waiting
Another view of the raw foam
I know, you're thinking "It's HUGE!" Final product won't be this tall... or square
The mounting rail...
Backside of the foam carved to recess the mounting ring & rail
You can see here the trunk on the mounting rail raised to allow access to the fuel cap - it's not raised all the way, and clearancing for the RAM mount in front was not completed at this stage.
Side view - shaping under way, and side-lock visible for securing the final unit in the "down" position
Shape coming along - after recessing the mounting rail and ring, the trunk sits approx. 1/2 inch above the tank
Follows the lines of the gas tank - narrower in front, wider in the rear.
Another raised shot showing the mounting rail and ring around the gas tank filler
So, that's the rough idea. The project is finally starting to resemble what I had in my mind. A bit taller than I had originally planned, but should offer plenty of interior volume for a camera, GPS, wallet, etc. All lockable and locked to the bike.
Let's skip the debate on "waterproof" and "water resistant", too, please... As mentioned, I live in Seattle, so I just want my sh1t to stay dry & safe. As this progresses, I'll post up more, but I don't expect to get much past this stage until after the new year starts. Depends on if I find a local plastics shop that can do the work I want and what their timeline is like.
