Ode to a Tank Bag

Old pharts have them, a few trusty pieces of
indispensable gear that not only are an integral part
of every trip, but hang in there season after season,
climbing in seniority as other bits are replaced,
until they reach the pinnacle of primacy, laying claim
to being the oldest piece of kit in active service.
Retiring such favorites can be difficult, but I've
finally come to the sad realization that the tank bag
that has faithfully shlepped tons of stuff on trips
all over the country for the last 25 years, should be
put to pasture.

What used to be a red Eclipse standard tank bag has
been in service since 1983. It's sat upon five
different motorcycles and has accumulated over 200,000
miles.
Maps & tools, flashlights, food & drink; groceries,
gloves and gifts; sox, shoes & slippers, cameras,
film, batteries, rain gear, spare visors, suvenirs,
and journals have all been transported with nary an
issue, but a combination of worsening conditions for
viewing maps and a sexy looking sweet young thing
catching my eye has forced the issue.

Frankly, it's been due for replacement for quite some
time. It faded to a sickly looking orange long ago.
The clear map window stained from the underlayer so
that maps have an orangish/red tint to them. The foam
pad has been held in place by electrical tape for
years. The zipper pulls have been replaced. The bag is
so misshapen from over-packing that it's tough to get
the rain cover over it and it bears little resemblance
to current bags of the same design. I regard the bag
as a rarity because they discontinued making the red
ones after the first couple of years (I think the
black one is still available, and I still recommend it
because it's one of the largest capacity bags out
there). Early in our relationship, my girlfriend Clare
offerred to get me a new tank bag to replace it. She
was nonplussed when I recoiled in shock at such a
suggestion. About five years ago, I did get another
tank bag for use with a second motorcycle, but ol' red
has still been the regular fixture on the VFR's gas
container. Cracks in the map window and the subsequent
peeling away of clear contact paper patches is
proverbial back-breaking straw, it's become too
difficult to make out details of any graphical nature.
Seeing the over-sized, zippered, map container on Mike
Schwab's MotoFizz tank bag on the way to the Very
Boring Rally last month in Duluth made me realize that
there was a much better alternative available and I
bought one at the rally for delivery to home. It was
waiting for me on my return and now I must consider an
appropriate display setting for yet another piece of
fossilized gear. Maybe a hall of fame locker room type
setting with the combat boots that were used for
twelve years and the soon to be replaced RoadCrafter
suit. The patina of use on all of these items attests
to year of use and abuse and never fail to trigger
memories of miles, movement, motion, and emotion.

Assuming the personal OPOKIAS title now is a Widder
electric vest that I think I got in 1985. It's
longevity is in part attributable to the fact that it
shrank in the closet and was not in use for many
years, but when it's replacement failed, I tried in on
and discovered that it had magically re-expanded
during it's time on the bench ;-)





_______________________________________________
vfr mailing list
vfr@xxxxxx
For subscription and delivery options:
https://lists.cs.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/vfr