These are pictures of my Ventura rack and bag and Dri Rider saddle bags  I pretty much think these are as good as it gets for soft luggage at a resonable price the cost was about $480 Aust which is about $368 US but I had the bike shop throw in the saddle bags for free when I bought the bike so really it just cost me $350Aust for the rack and bag as you will see by the photos they can take alot and are very robust and water resistant I've covered quite a few K's with these and cant recommend them enough.
If youve got a better soft luggage set up I would be interested to see it but not hard luggage. Its not a brag I would just be interested, any way the capacity of the set up is about 92 litres excluding what you can strap to the racks rear section.
Sorry I havn't posted pics directly to the forum but theres about 23 pics to veiw and I thought that maybe a bit much to put up.
There is quite a few pics so if your looking for luggage ideas look through them and see what you think  

http://www.putphoto.com/Lukewarm+Wilson/Bike+Luggage/

Hey there L. Wilson,
Your luggage looks good but alot more $$ than what I paid. Bear in mind I use my saddle bags about once a year for a week long tour but the tank bag is a permanent fixture - just the size varies - its expandable. Cost for the saddle bags was about $65 CDN and they hold a weeks worth of clothes, pair of low rise hiking shoes, sandals, a light wt sleeping bag, a liter of oil, lrg can of chain lube, bike lock, wet weather booties, sm can of WD 40...I think that's it. However, they are not waterproof so everything is in plastic bags which is no biggie. They do however expand outwards to increase size by about 35%.
The tank bag was about $35 CDN and also expands to about 10 inches in height from a base of about 6 inches - great pillow for crusin' on the highways. Has a see through map pocket, small exterior zip pocket (wallet, ear plugs etc) interior mesh pocket under the top portion - anyway...lots of room. It all came from an unexpected place, Canadian Tire - a national chain here but nobody thinks of them when the subject of motor bikes comes up. They have their own product line 'sidewind'.

Here's a pic of me as I headed out for my tour Aug 19/05 with bike fully loaded.  



And a shot of my baby on the prairies near Crowsnest Pass Alberta with a bunch of very large power generating windmills in the background and behind those ....the Rockie Mountains - our playgound destination.   (I don't know why this pic is larger than the previous one...shouldn't be :dunno: sorry



My trip was cut short when I got a phone call that my wife was in hospital having her appendix removed!  That's another story but she's doing well now.
Ride Safe
Dandy D

Thanks Dandy D thats a hellva tank bag youve got there I didnt think you could fit so much in. I'd thought about a tank bag but usually when I go away on a trip I take my camera gear with me and one of the things I have with my camera gear is a Tank mount so it was one or the other so I went with the tank mount because once thats on I've got no place to stick the tank bag.
I also noticed you seem to be making the same mistake I did with my saddle bags if you take your seat off you will notice that there are cut away sections in the body work to allow the straps to sit in so you dont have the bag straps rubbing into the seat you will find the rear strap will need to be jiggled around a little for the seat to lock in but once fitted that way they are alot more secure  I was actually going to ditch them until I found what I was doing wrong because they seemed to move around a little under hard riding not much but a little which was annoying but no problem now  

Hey that's something to try...thanks for the tip.
It may be that the bags sit lower doing it that way which would impeed my hwy riding position, i.e. feet hanging off rear pegs and lying on tank bag. As it is now, my right foot will just fit under the bag and not get caught   .
I'll definately check it out though - started running out of bungee cords to secure things  :lol:  but the bags moving around was pretty minor.
Actually putting the straps UNDER the seat will make riding 2 up a better deal for the passenger, hmmmm
Thanks again, (geeze this IS a great forum!)
Dandy

You can see a 99-liter soft luggage setup that I used only once (and only as a test) in [this post].  For my "serious" trips I usually opt for a [92-liter mixed setup] (both hard and soft luggage) or I stuff in the 17-liter tail bag and make it 109 liters.  (See the first few photos from [Day 1] of my 2002 B.C. trip.)

On the longest trip I ever took (which was before I bought the hard luggage) I had the all-soft-luggage setup minus the 30-liter Cortech tail bag and the tail rack ... so only 69 liters.  'Course, I moteled it on that trip -- no camping / cooking gear....

Oh, I almost forgot about the 139-liter (!) setup I used last December, transporting the bike I bought from Ed_in_Az.  (See the 3rd photo from [Day 2] of that trip.)

=================================

Hey Dandy ... your photo of the windmills beats mine (see the 2nd photo from [Day 4] of my 2003 B.C. trip).  But like it says on that page, we couldn't see much of anything thanks to the forest fires that summer.

Nice set ups Kerry I do like the soft luggage set up youve got there and love the pics of the trips away    

Ahh,, the good ol' sidewind tankbag. I have the same one... Never leave the garage without it!!! Even if it's bone dry empty it's on my bike

Hey Dandy. Nice setup. Where'd ya get that windshield? Price? How tall are you and does it keep the winds somewhat at bay? Thanks, Wilson

Mr. W...
sorry for the delay - haven't been on here for a while.

Anyway the windshield is a National Cycle F15 tour shield. I ordered it through a local bike shop (Alberta Cycle for ne one who wants to know) for a measely $75CDN including the hardware. I don't understand the NC web site?? The price listed on the website at the time I ordered (last yr) was $105USD !!! So don't trust the web site pricing.

It works like a charm. Nice to duck in behind especially in the rain. When doing so, the wind coming up over the shield will clean the water off my visor when I move to just the right position...its sweet. Keeps me warm on the cold days. It is actually formed in such a way that the wind blast is directed to the bar ends - just outside my hands. So the hands stay pretty warm too. I do have insulated riding gloves which I do eventually have to use.
The air is directed to the top of my helmet (I'm 5'-6") taking all the pressure off my chest. the only negative thing about the whole wind re-directing thing is that the wind wraps around the sides of the shield and I believe kinda slaps the side of my helmet. The wind noise is increased as compared to no-shield but I almost always wear ear plugs so - no issue. I have read that this is a common issue with a lot of windshields. The shield is actually adjustable for the angle. I have it set pretty high. Any lower and the wind gets directed AT me!
Its a must for hwy. I can lay on my tank bag (pic above) and get into the sweet spot where the air is very still and there's practically NO noise - its kinda weird but really good.

Anyway, hope the description is helpful, if not too late!  
Ride Safe
Dandy

P.S. Sitting here at 1:30am typing this while hearing sport bikes tearing through my 'quiet' neighbourhood.  
Have respect people...it goes a long way.