Aftermarket Saddlebags

Has anybody put aftermarket saddlebags or a tail bag on thier gen 8? Did you have exhaust clearance or heat issues?

I was considering a set of Firstgear Silverstone saddlebags. http://www.revzilla.com/product/firstgear-silverstone-saddlebags

Demo vid here http://youtu.be/YQeTXkA67qk

 

http://wolfmanluggage.com/products/peak-tail-bag I have this tail bag permanently attached to my passenger seat. It's just a quick swap between the cowl and seat, and I like the convenience of the cowl when I just need a little room, the tailbag/seat when I need a bit more room, or the factory saddlebags for the most room. Also, I never carry a passenger...that's why I just leave it attached. As for saddlebags, I know the factory bags cost a fortune compared to aftermarket, but for me it's worth it to have perfectly matching, lockable hard bags that come off in a matter of seconds.

 

I can't offer definitive answer regarding your 8th gen, but I rode for a few years with Cortech Bags (very similar to what you are looking at) on my 6th ggen. The bags made contact with the heat shields of the 6th gen pipes but heat never had a detrimental effect on the bags or their contents on my bike. This included a couple very long rides which were several days in length. So the contact was definitely there on the 6th gen. The 8th gen has pipes much lower than the 6th so there may be no contact between the bag and the pipe at all. I don't know.

Naturally, you would not want to carry butter or icecream in the bags.

 

Randy - a frozen roast might be acceptable if you want to defrost it for cooking ....

 

That's what your stomach is for....

I've heard some stories of people going a grand or so out of pocket for the GIVI G35 hard bags and had them warp from heat when the pipes were more than the 3" minimum clearance that Givi specifies.

 

As I mentioned, on my 06, the bags had direct contact with the heat shields. But not the actual pipes.

Thinking this over, I suppose if I spent a lot of time at a stand still with the engine running, it could be an issue. But we tend not to do this and are on the move most the time, therefore there is air movement between the bags and the source of the heat, thus keeping things relatively cool.

I would think you should be OK buying these bags for your 8th gen.



This was spring of 2012 at the beginning of a 5 week 8,000 mile tour. Bags and their contents were not affected by the heat from the exhaust. Can't say as much about the stator though.

 

Holy Crap, Randy! How were your shoulders after a day of riding with a backpack?

 

Harldly know you are even wearing it. That is a 75 liter hiking pack from MEC so is quality stuff. Well put together and very water tight. Well it was. It has some 100 K miles under it so it is starting to leak a bit now. The bag delivers about 80% of its weight to the hips and very little to the shoulders. You can see in the photo, that while sitting on the bike, the bag rests on the trunk bag so that takes all but maybe 5% of the weight off the shoulders. Made four trips to R3 in California with that set up. I even wore it on my Iron Butt 1000 mile 24 hour run last spring.

 

What kind of capacity do your saddles and tail bag have?

 

I don't have the saddle bags any more. Switched to OEM hardbags about 2 years ago. I was looking on line to find the stats on the gear but it has since been discontinued and replaced with newer designs. This is today's rendition of what I had for a tail bag:

http://www.cortech.net/inc/sdetail/super_2_0_24l_tail_bag/181/575

Here is today's version of the saddle bags:

http://www.cortech.net/inc/sdetail/super_2_0_saddlebags/181/613

I quite liked these. Still have the tail bag but gave the saddle bags away when I got the hard bags. Both are expandable. The rain covers are shit though. I threw them in the trash. I packed my clothing in white garbage bags then put them in the saddle bags when I went on my trips.

 

Thanks, I was curious about the capacity to see how much room you had for that trip.

Right now I'm running a 46L top case and 2x 36L panniers. It's quite a bit of capacity, but I wasn't sure if it's enough for a longer trip.

 

The OP should be in better shape for aftermarket luggage with low mount pipes on 8th Gen.

I'm doing the same calculations with my 6th Gen trying to reconcile carrying capacity with those high mount pipes. As my daily mule and for commutes I love my Ogio tail bag. I've got a permanent strap hooked up under the saddle and then I just slide the rear straps looped over the passenger grab rails, then snap-snap up front and I'm gone. Secure and simple. I should post a pic because I've never had any set up this convenient on a motorcycle. Better than a tank bag because no worries about scratching paint.

I think I'll go with either matching Ogio saddle bags -they're sleek and sporty looking but definitely do not have huge capacity - or one of those oversize Twisted Throttle totally waterproof ADV rider type duffle bags (in place of my tailbag.) I also have a decent size tank bag, but no matter what, it'll be hard to carry enough gear to camp which I was hoping to be able to do occasionally while touring on the VFR.

My other consideration is I just bought and have not yet installed 2 Bros CF Black Series slip ons and the very last thing I want to do is damage those with some nylon bag or strap chafing on them mile after mile. After market luggage is a tough call when you care about the cosmetics of the bike.

Randy, you're a warrior lugging that but my days of wearing a back pack on a motorcycle are over, never to return.

 

The firstgear Silverstone series also has a tank bag, a mini tankbag (which I rather like), the saddle bags and the tail bag. All together, it's way more space than I'm ever likely to need for less than $500 plus shipping. It's just that the honda hardbags are really wide and with the trunk and waterproof liners and keybarrels and everything else it's a $1500 thing. So I don't think, I really want to go down that particular $1500 foxhole.

 

S'truth. People pay big money to get their hips lipo sucked. You can get used to being fat but given a choice on an otherwise sexy bike...

 

Check oot the stuff from these guys:

www.giantloopmoto.com

 

Okay, thread resurrection go! I use my VFR anytime I don't absolutely have o use my truck. Small grocery trips, errands, commuting, classes and the occasional weekend jaunt. There was no way I was going to shell out $1500 for Honda's luggage and key barrels. So I amazoned a set of Firstgear Silverstone saddlebags. Good quality, reasonably water proof with the rain covers on (though I keep a small trash bag in each bag just to be safe) and not near as bulky as the Honda bags and trunk. I really like them. They mounted on snugly and the rear sets work well for bungeeing down the bags without interfering with rear wheel travel or touching the paint. View attachment 31246 View attachment 31247 t

 

I thought the factory bags were about 1k did they go up??? Do the ones you have get close to the muffler on the other side? Looks like you went under the cowl with a strap? Easy on off??? Was going to order the factory ones but am not overly excited about giving Honda even more money.

 

If you ad up the Factory Bags, waterproof liners, key-barrel parts, top trunk, liner for trunk and an extra key-barrel, It's roughly $1500. There is a good 7" of clearance between the bottom of the right hand bag and the pipe. I put the straps under the cowl because I could and it does hold everything in place better. It took about 5 minutes of Tom-Foolery with the straps to get them in the right place for the cowl to come off and go back on easily. The bags came with a pair of bungees which I hooked to the rear D-ring on each, through the triangular space in the rear-set hangers, and across to the forward D-ring on the opposite side bag. That way, no part of the bungees ever touches paint. If you push the bungees as far up in the triangular cut in the rear-sets as possible, they won't ever come close to interfering with rear wheel travel. This created a really sturdy set up. Bags don't move even a little. I'm happy with the way they went on.

 

I got my Honda bags directly from Direct Line Parts for $699

 

Just went to direct line parts and put everything in the cart that I would need for a complete set in white. $1600.