Light luggage solution

[CasterTroy]

In the past, I’ve always been able to conveniently throw a bag on my bikes and take something with me wherever I go. Be it lunch, or a rain gear, or a heavier set of gloves.

Recently it’s gotten cold, and I’ve FINALLY got a cold weather suit with a liner. It’s GREAT….it keeps me warm even down past freezing. But the problem is in the afternoon it gets up in the 60’s still…so I can’t wear this Eskimo suit home. I have to remove the lining. But on the R1 I have nowhere to PUT it. On all of mypast bikes I’ve either had bags, or could throw a bag on with no issues.

I have a magnetic tankbag, but the R1 only has a ½ metallic tank so the bag rides pretty far back, and makes for a crappy ride when it’s on there…..and the tail…..well with the undertail exhaust and NO way to hook anything, it makes my tailbag useless.

On my longer trips I bought a cycleguys plate to secure to my back seat. And it secures pretty well with straps (here seen with my bracket to protect the saddlebags from the exhaust)




The PROBLEM I have with this setup, is that in order for me to feel good about this plate staying on, I have to zip tie the pass seat straps to the plate, and that takes time….then my son may want to ride and I have to un-do all that crap.

Solution?

Source R1-forum for a rashed pass. seat and make a more permanent, easy to switch on and off solution.

Strip off the fabric and foam and get started



Next…attach the cycleguys plate





Next….place my tailbag on the plate mounted to the spare seat





Well…that’s ghey! The plate sticks out way too far and looks pretty crappy.


BUT!!! I DO have a bag that fits perfectly on there!



And it even has a pocket for my solo cowl when I take it off



AWESOME….so now I have 2 options…..but, I still want the smaller bag for most days.

What to do? Well…a trip to Lowes solved that. I picked up some 14Ga alum sheets and made a plate for the smaller bag…and since I now had 2 options, I decided to drill the plates the same and add posts in the same location so that I could switch the seat from one bag to the next with just 4 bolts being turned.

So what I did to the BIG bag was sandwich the bottom of the bag between the cycleguys plate and the same size aluminum plate in the bottom of the bag. For the small bag, it had 4 mounting points on the corners so I secured those to the now cut aluminum plate I made for it. THEN I placed 4 posts in the middle of both bags



Here is the smaller bag with the seat attached






And now the seat/bag assembly on the bike

[G-Rex]

Most people would have just bought an Aerostich suit.

[bmblebee]

I think it is a smart mod...better get a patent before someone starts making and selling them

[G-Rex]

Too late. Luggage locker already has the patent on that type of system.

[CasterTroy]

luggage locker has some cool stuff...but my reasoning was I had some kick-ass luggage already...didn't want to buy anything else but make what I HAD work

[Phenix_Rider]

Originally Posted by bmblebee

I think it is a smart mod...better get a patent before someone starts making and selling them

Ducati (and some other company- forgot the name) already does. I've seen the 848 version in person- it's pretty small. I think they're available for almost anything with separate seats- using the stock seat mounts.

[anthonyk]

Nice! Are you worried about the security of the seat latch at all? I guess it's not like you're mounting a heavy full-on hard topcase on there.

[NONE_too_SOFT]

very nice job. im impressed.

[CasterTroy]

Thanks again

Originally Posted by anthonyk

Are you worried about the security of the seat latch at all?

Nah....not putting anything in there but liners and small stuff

Originally Posted by anthonyk

I guess it's not like you're mounting a heavy full-on hard topcase on there.

No...these would JUST be for the small bags...I don't think the R1 tail would really support MUCH more

[CasterTroy]

Originally Posted by G-Rex

Most people would have just bought an Aerostich suit.

I tried one last year....it was a friend of mine who's about the same size.

it was nice, but wasn't warm in the right places. My arms and outer thighs are the only thing that gets cold, and the aerostitch just wasn't all that. I actually got an Olympic 2 piece that is fully convertible to a summer suit as well. The panels on the chest zip down in sections and roll up to reveal a total mesh section....so does the back. And the liner is actually a VERY neat light windbreaker with a pleated liner that you can wear as a walk-around jacket. The pants are what killed me on the aerostich when it got warm...I couldn't stop sweating. So a 2 piece was the only way to go for warm afternoons.

Here in NC it can be 28 in the am and 65 in the afternoon.....and if you know anything about the south..the humidity of 65 can make it feel like 85 everywhere else.