What do you want to carry?

[DoD#i]

Mostly intended for people that do carry stuff, or would like to.

Brought on somewhat by the recent K5/Kwing post - that thing strikes me as way far back. But I identify with hauling milk as an important, useful function. I used to bungee-net two bags of groceries sitting on the rear seat to the sissy bar on my Maxim. I need something more functional than just a bungee-net for the GS - heck, the "bungee-net hook points" back there cause my hooks to dig into the plastic on the tail section - not a very functional design.

Hard side bags give the bike a wide butt, but they also move the load down and in as compared to a trunk behind the passenger.

The guesstimates on fitting a helmet (full-face) are based on mine, plus a little fudge as I don't have the biggest head on the planet.

The grocery bag and milk are fairly standard sizes, at least here. They are also the kind of thing that people who make swoopy curvaceous hard bags clearly don't think about much.

The giant solo-izing trunk is a nebulous idea involving replacing the seat and rear plastics in exchange for some serious cargo capacity. It would probably have saddlebag bulges running down to connect at the passenger footpeg mounts.

I'm playing with making something, but it won't be soon, if ever.

[the mole]

Mine came with a Ventura rack, and I kept the brackets and made a new rack out of stainless, then got a $145 Chinese top-box off Ebay. Most useful mod ever, holds a full-face helmet on its side plus a bit of other stuff. Its about 12X18X10. Only hassle is you have to lock/unlock each time, you can't latch it without the key. It sits out the back and looks high/tail heavy, but I never notice the weight in there, even if its full of groceries. If I want I can reverse the rack on the brackets so it sits over the passenger seat, but in practice I never bother. I like your dea of the integrated tailpiece/luggage system. That's certainly the best way to carry weight if you don't carry a pillion.

[GeeP]

I recently bought a couple of Pelican 1510's for the SV.  They're right at 27 liters each, as I recall.

[Trwhouse]

Hi there,
I know what you are wanting to do, but be careful.
A rear top trunk on a luggage rack puts a load in the worst possible place on a motorcycle -- high and behind the rear axle -- where it can cause all kinds of handling havoc.
By placing a load way back up there, it can cause the front end to feel lighter, leading to possible loss of control.
The best place to carry stuff is in a tank bag on the fuel tank, where it is better distributed.
Saddlebags, even the soft strap-on versions, are the next best place to carry stuff on a bike.
I use an Eclipse tank bag every day and Chase Harper soft saddlebags whenever I need to carry more gear.
I highly recommend skipping any case that mounts back and high over the rear axle.
Best wishes,
Trwhouse

[shiznizbiz]

I mostly use My net and a camelback motherlode molle compatible assault ruck.  The bag makes things kinda easy.   Fits great and it doesnt seem to impead mobility/manuvuerablility at all.  Maybe im just used to carryign and compensatign for a bag. I used to be a Bike Courier.  (a little bit of army exp didnt hurt either)

[Jay_wolf]

I use a Rucksak  and u can fit alot in there  or put milk , beer what ever, under ur  shirt and tuck ur shirt in , with jacket over the top , i had to do it with a 3 litre bottle of coke , and it was fine

[ecpreston]

I picked "gigantic trunk that vanishes the backseat", because it's closest to what I'd be interested in.... how about a somewhat reasonably sized trunk that vanishes the backseat?    Enough to put in a few groceries (beer!), without looking like it's hanging off the bike. 

[pjm204]

My dilemna is that I want to be able to carry a good amount of stuff to do like weekend long trips but I'll have a passenger too. That eliminates my normal backpack on me at least. Could I use soft saddlebags and still carry a passenger? If so which ones work well on the GS? mine is a 2001.

[DoD#i]

Re: (gigantic trunk) As I said, somewhat nebulous, but that is the basic idea. It's gigantic as compared to any of the other options, not intended to be so gigantic as to stick out where the rear-rack trunks do.  I'm not sure how Trwhouse thinks he knows what I'm wanting and then thinks I'm thinking to emulate the trunk hung way out off the back, when my only trunk idea is the close-in passenger-replacement trunk. You know you can carry a lot of weight there because you've done it if you've ever hauled a pillon. I rarely carry a pillion, and envision it being a matter of 15 minutes or so to unbolt the trunk-thang and rebolt the stock plastic, grab-handle, passenger pegs and seats when I might want to. Lights might want to be relocated, which would add to that time.

Another variant would be more in the 2 bags of groceries size range, but melded to look like a (kinda big, fat) racer tail. New option, change your vote if that fits better what you want.

As for saddlebags, those (and a rear rack) are the only thing really compatible with a passenger. Just put the heavy in the bags and the light behind. You might want to consider fabricating something rackish between the screw on the underseat bar and the rear footpeg to be sure that bags won't deflect into the rear wheel - one reason I'm leaning towards a hard option is my worry-wart-ness on that basis, as well as slightly more theft resistance with a hard option - but there's actually quite a bit of space there.  I've yet to see a sissy bar for the GS, but those are great to bungee-net stuff to, especially with a small rack behind.

[gsJack]

After years of soft luggage I finally put on a E33 (33 liter) Givi Monolock case in the spring of 04 and it's been there and used daily for over 4 years and 50k+ miles since.  Best investment I ever made for a bike, never leaked a drop in the hardest of rains and doesn't wear out like soft luggage does.  I add a tank bag on trips and have plenty of room for a weeks clothes.

In daily use I've stopped for milk with a jacket rain liner, rain pants, sweat shirt, extra gloves, and misc small items that appear to almost fill the trunk and squeezed in 2 gallons of milk lying down with a half gallon of ice cream between them and rode home with the trunk closed and locked.  The wight of the loaded trunk pales in comparison to my weight.   



I already had a Suzuki factory luggage rack when I added the Givi and had to go back and add some braces for support that only cost about $10 to make, been solid ever since.  Rack was $80 and case about $100, less than $200 for the whole deal:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/GiviRackPics.jpg

On the old 97 GS I made my own rack and used soft luggage:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/gsrackpics.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/gs500t.jpg

If I had to do it again and didn't have the Suzuki rack that's now obsolete I'd make a simple inexpensive one like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v443/jcp8832/GS500_givi_rack.jpg

[Trwhouse]

Dod#i,
I'm a psychic. That's how I knew what you wanted in a trunk.
Anyway, you didn't explain it as well the first time, but now I "envision" what you are looking for in a trunk.
I still say that's the worst place to put weight, behind you, but hey, knock yourself out.
Good luck,
Trwhouse

[Mdow]

Backpack

[laserred97gt]

No option for carrying my Remington 870....

Oh well, maybe just a sling over the shoulder...      

[DoD#i]

Get some of those cute bar-mount gun racks the ATVs use. A long saddlebag (ie, one that would fit better with no passenger) would probably take it broken down. Or adapt one of the horsy-type scabbards, I suppose.

[shiznizbiz]

Anyone remember the old cases/sheaths they had for the M-1 garands back in ww2 for the bikes they used.  They were fork mounted I believe.  I know they also still have something like that.  I remember seeing a hard case on a Dirt Bike while I was in the Army. Carried a Cav Scouts M40.