Thursday, April 15, 2010

Luggage

The first piece of luggage I ever bought was the Big Mak Jr. tank bag. In hindsight I wish I would have purchased a larger Big Mak bag, but the Jr. is decent. I like the Big Mak feature that the bag is securely on the tank, but you can easily flip it up to get to the gas cap. Tank bags are incredibly pricey for the RT so I am sticking with this one for now. I only use it to for quick access items like sunglasses, chapstick, ear plugs, glove liners, and occasionally my keys. I also stuff any stray accessory cables in there. The RT came with hard side cases and a hard shell top box (aka trunk). I quickly purchased some liners for the side cases. Again, an expensive item so I went on the cheap and purchased the Bestem side case bags. They have actually worked very well and I don’t think the expensive BMW bags are any better. The only thing that is questionable on the Bestem bags is the zipper. The zipper is a little flimsy, but it hasn’t broken yet and I’ve been using them for over three years now. Since Leslie will never get on the bike I figured I could get a nice piece of luggage to mount on the back seat. Over the winter I purchased the Nelson-Rigg CL-150 expandable sport tail pack. I haven’t used this bag yet, but it is a perfect size and is waterproof so that is really all I was looking for in a seat bag. I am planning to put items like food, water, and maps in the tail pack so I don’t have to pull the key out and open the trunk and fumble around for them at a gas station. In June, I am planning a trip to Italy and plan to rent a BMW R1200GS and ride around. I knew I would have a lot of room for luggage so I bought a nice backpack specifically designed for use on a motorcycle. It is the Kriega R25 backpack. I will use it on the upcoming trip in May, but I will likely just put it in the trunk versus wearing it on my back. In Italy, I won’t have a trunk so I will need to wear it. It is very comfortable and shouldn’t cause much discomfort. That’s it for luggage. Packing for two or three weeks on the road is a challenge, but since I do not need space for camping equipment, I should have enough room for an adequate supply of clean clothes.

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