hello again,

sorry for all the newbie questions, but if you don't ask you never know

anyone use a tank bag on the GS? how do you get on with it? can you fill up with fuel with it on or do you have to take it off to fill up? also any particular brand the bee's knees or are they all much the same? I live in a rural area and have only seen the ones on ebay....

cheers!

I5

I have a joe rocket manta bag. I got it specifically because it's small, I don't like the big tank bags that get in your way. It's pretty low so I don't even notice it's there, but I can fit a wallet, lunch, phone and a few other small things in it. I need to get a tail bag and some saddle bags for anything more, but I'd rather have a big bag behind me than one right on the tank.

I use an Oxford-1 magnetic tank bag, It is very simple to slip it to one side to fill up, there is a retaining strap runs through the yoke but you don't have to undo it.

Once with very high crosswinds doing about 90 the bag "flipped" so if it's windy I anchor it with another strap "through-the-gap" under the tank so to fill up I undo one side, it only takes seconds. Most tank bags come with lots of odds-and-sods of straps covers etc and they are very good news.

I have a Hardshell Speedpac http://speed-pac.com/pac_speed.html, it great for daily driving (going to work carry stuff like wallet, a few papers and such, it is not really deep, but works for me, it is a strap system, and it can be used as a backpack as well.
I use it every day and putting it on and getting it off the tank is 3 clips, very fast (less than 20 seconds, there are accessories for it, hydration pac for example is one I am looking  very much to for this summer.



PS: the reflective  is NOT part of it, I added it once I got it. (another thing you have to sewew in on a bag)

PPS: it does not get in my way if I lean forward on the tank.

I havev a Nelson-Rigg Tank Bag.  Not exactly the same but it looks a lot like this one:



Held down only by strong magnets encased in soft fabric.  Only use it when travevlling out of town, but glad for the convenient storage space.  There are plenty of sources -- here's Nelson-Rigg's website.  Suggest you check re-sellers like NewEnough.

I have a RKA tank bag. Originally bought for my TLR but fits fine on a GS. Expandable and very secure on the bike. One of the nicest bags I have seen.
www.rka-luggage.com

You have to remove any bag to fill up and do not lay it magnet side down on the ground, never know what will be picked-up.

Quote from: dgyver on May 21, 2007, 06:33:36 AM
You have to remove any bag to fill up and do not lay it magnet side down on the ground, never know what will be picked-up.

I don't remove my bag.  It's the cortech mini bag and I just slide it up a little bit, not more than an inch or two and I have full access to the tank.

When I fill up with my magnetic tank bag (Same Nelson-Rigg bag as Redshift, MG-950 is our older model, IIRC), I pick up the magnets on one side of the tank and reposition them just out of the way of the filler.  The bag hangs off the side of the tank while I fill up, then it simply goes back exactly where it was when I'm done

I picked up a SideWind tankbag two years back, it's awsome. Despite how these pictures look, I'm cautions not to put the bag all the way over top of the gas cap (spout), as it has the potential to create a vaccum. It looks like the cap is fully covered here, but it's not.

I take the tank bag off to fill up, I just rest it where my helmet is in the second pic

Pictures.






Cheers,
Jeff

I use a backpack, i dont want to ruin the lines , but i dont need to carry anything really , in my town of southend , its very urban , like your never to far from anything, i think , according to what i think that america is alot more spaced out , being you have tons of space, and im really vain about my bike lol

Jay

Quote from: RedShift on May 21, 2007, 03:51:52 AM
I havev a Nelson-Rigg Tank Bag.  Not exactly the same but it looks a lot like this one:



Held down only by strong magnets encased in soft fabric.  Only use it when travevlling out of town, but glad for the convenient storage space.  There are plenty of sources -- here's Nelson-Rigg's website.  Suggest you check re-sellers like NewEnough.

I use the Joe Rocket version of this.  It's pretty low profile (~4inches) unless you expand it (~8 inches).  Expanded, I was able to put 5 bottles of wine, a 4 pack of Allagash Grand Cru, and a few other beers in it on Friday.  To fill up, I just slide it forward or to the side - very quick.

One thing I would suggest - whatever bag you get, look for one with a handle.  Mine just has a strap to make it more secure - not the best if I end up walking around with the bag for any length of time.

I've got a magnetic Oxford sports as well, its pretty kick-ass for a bag!!  It has the expansion you can un-zipper it and its really deep and you can unzipper the magnetic part and leave it on the bike and the pack has shoulder straps so you can carry it as a back pack.  When I use it unzipped and deep, its a bit cumbersome to have between the arms, but its easy to make a tail pack out of because it has four handy hooks you can use to bungee it to the luggage racks... and it even came with four bungee cords/rain cover and a bunch of other handy bits.

I don't know how to add pictures but heres a link, its the first one but black, and I only paid $89 CAD.

http://www.lockitt.com/OxfordluggageHumpback.htm

I have an older Joe Rocket tank bag that I don't often use...  It's friggen HUGE.

I've heard a lot of good things about the Manta... And I see they make a Manta XL now.

Awesome and not too bulky or gawdy.



the RECON tank bag 51.00 at my stealership

http://www.rapid-transit.com/rt/index.htm

quite a few options out there 

I have to get something as the backpack on the way home (230km) killed me in the wind on sunday, man my shoulders and neck when I got home were sore.... the money they want for a ventura rack and bags is a little pricey at the moment....

thanks for the pics and advice, I'm thinking maybe the SideWind but it'll depend on what I can find in the flesh to look at.... are any of the bags lockable?

cheers 

I use an Oxford Magnetic Humpback tankbag. The magnets are strong enough to hold the bag in place without the safety strap, but you do need to remove it to gas up the tank (I just stick it on the pillion). It's got just about every feature you could think of: rain cover, vinyl window top, zipper rings, side pouches, expandable, extra bungee cords and it transforms into a backpack. How useful that might be is debatable, but the quality is there. Mine was fairly pricey, but there's no denying its usefulness.     

Hi there,

From a previous post:

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=30084.0

I use an Eclipse tank bag. Have used on for 31 years on every bike I've owned since my 1975 Honda CB400F. I'm on my second bag, having replaced the first one after 23 years or so.
Eclipse went under for a while, but now they are back and their stuff is great.

http://www.eclipseluggage.com/

Here's the expandable bag that I use:
http://www.eclipseluggage.com/luggage/200.html

I use my tank bag every time I ride. It is indispensable.
Good luck.

yours,
Todd

Here's what I used on my gs it's the icon urban tank bag

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-ICON-URBAN-TRAVEL-TANK-BAG_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ34355QQihZ015QQitemZ250115683329QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

it'a magnetic tank bag, but when you take it off the bike it holds your helmet and turns into a backpack.