My quest for hard saddlebags...

[Roaddawg]

...You also mentioned that your current setup doesn't interfere with the passenger comfort witch is somewhat important to me.
BTW I'm looking at those european Yamaha city bags and I'm thinking to call a n old friend of mine to see for how much will I be able to get them.

Yeah, when I was mocking it up, it was important to keep the pass. pegs usable, since the Givi's take them away. I put my wife on the back, and she said it was comfortable and her calves didn't hit the bags. I still like those 'city bags' as well, but the price I found was in the neighborhood of $700 US. Let me know what you find out.

 

[Roaddawg]

That might work. Could you close the lid on the 8-pak o' bottles? Excellent choice using the measuring stick of beer, something most people can visualize. Gads, is there anything beer can't do? Well, except drive... )

I figured everyone knows the size of a beer! Closed the lid no problem. I could have squeezed a ninth one in there, but it was opened...:iconbeer:

 

[Roaddawg]

Well, I commuted into San Francisco today and had no problems at all. I was very pleased with the bags. Split traffic no problem. Didn't even know they were there. No vibrations, probably because I put rubber washers between the mounting brackets and bags. Stored two pairs of gloves, longjohns, bacalava, and lunch bag. It was so nice to just lock up my stuff and walk away with only my helmet. I hope this thread inspired those of you who are looking to do the same. (That's what this forum is for anyways, right?!) If you have any questions about the mounts and such, let me know. I can take more pics as well.

 

[gearhead]

I've spent the past couple days thinking about those bags and this is an upgrade I would love. You only spent $125 for the bags and material to make the brackets? What size tubing and flatstock? Did you have to weld? Love my softbags, but locking up my work stuff to run into the grocery store would be so nice.

 

[bjpinub]

I really like the sport-touring look on the FZ6R and have gone for that image myself, except I have the Cortech soft bags on mine (see pic). If your cardboard mock-up is accurate, I think it looks really good and would put those on mine. If you go this route, I can't wait to see some pictures.

Did you get the Sport Saddlebags or the TriBag Saddlebags? Also, did you get the corresponding Sport/TriBag Tail Bag? Thoughts? How much storage do they provide? Do you have to run the straps over the rear seat, or can they be hidden under the seat? How easy/difficult are they to put on and remove from the bike? How do they handle while riding (stay pretty sound or flop around like a wet noodle)? I have been thinking about getting some. I want something which will look good on my FZ6R, not out out place. Any thoughts from the other users reading this post?

 

[Roaddawg]

I've spent the past couple days thinking about those bags and this is an upgrade I would love. You only spent $125 for the bags and material to make the brackets? What size tubing and flatstock? Did you have to weld? Love my softbags, but locking up my work stuff to run into the grocery store would be so nice.

I forgot to respond back to you. I used 1" wide by 1/8" thick aluminum bar (about $8) for the two top brackets that i mounted in the holes for the passenger grab bar bolts. I used 1" galvanized conduit (in the electrical department at Home Depot for $1.50 something for a 10 footer!) No welding. Used black flat head hex bolts and nuts. I thought about redoing the aluminum brackets and weld them together to make it more solid, but its not bad at all. Put on about 500 miles now with the bags and still no complaints, except I wish they were a tad bit bigger, but not much.

 

[Roaddawg]

Did you get the Sport Saddlebags or the TriBag Saddlebags? Also, did you get the corresponding Sport/TriBag Tail Bag? Thoughts? How much storage do they provide? Do you have to run the straps over the rear seat, or can they be hidden under the seat? How easy/difficult are they to put on and remove from the bike? How do they handle while riding (stay pretty sound or flop around like a wet noodle)? I have been thinking about getting some. I want something which will look good on my FZ6R, not out out place. Any thoughts from the other users reading this post?

You could also make some simple brackets like I made for the hardbags to keep the soft bags from flopping around. I spent many hours looking for bags and I'm still looking for the perfect ones...I found some rigid bags for a Kawasaki KLR that I thought had good lines for our bike, but they didn't lock. If they locked, I would have got these ones and hard mounted them.

 

[gearhead]

Did you get the Sport Saddlebags or the TriBag Saddlebags? Also, did you get the corresponding Sport/TriBag Tail Bag? Thoughts? How much storage do they provide? Do you have to run the straps over the rear seat, or can they be hidden under the seat? How easy/difficult are they to put on and remove from the bike? How do they handle while riding (stay pretty sound or flop around like a wet noodle)? I have been thinking about getting some. I want something which will look good on my FZ6R, not out out place. Any thoughts from the other users reading this post?

Sorry so long to respond, I just noticed this post. I have the expandable sport saddlebags from Cortech. I picked them up off Craig's List for a song and they were in like-new condition. As for storage, I will use Roadawg's unit of measure: BEER. I can easily put a 12-pak in each side bag without opening the expansion. With the expansion, I can get my laptop bag in there and commute to work. I have found them to be very stable and don't flop around. I just rode 170 miles on Sunday and did not even notice them on the bike. I run the rear velcro strap under the rear seat so I can "lock" the bags on the bike. You can run both straps under the rear seat, but it puts alot of stress on the locking mechanism. I run the front velcro strap over the front seat next to where the two seats meet (make sense?). They have been on the bike for 6 months now, and guessing about 1,000 miles. I love them. On Sunday, I ran into the guy I purchased them from and he wants to sell the tailbag to go with it. Looks like I'll be getting that soon also. I still want hard bags like what Roadawg has so I lock the freakin' things. It would be nice to leave my laptop secured so I can run into a store and get some milk... I mean beer.

Here's a pic with the bags installed and how I place the straps under the seat.

Yamaha FZ6R Forums - International FZ6R / XJ6 Motorcycle Community Forum - gearhead's Album: 2009 FZ6R - Picture

 

[AndresFR]

reagrds the paintwork protection

I really like the sport-touring look on the FZ6R and have gone for that image myself, except I have the Cortech soft bags on mine (see pic). If your cardboard mock-up is accurate, I think it looks really good and would put those on mine. If you go this route, I can't wait to see some pictures.

Im thinking about Cortech or Motocentric saddelbags, Do the Cortech damage the paintwork?

 

[sammy56]

I have Cortech saddlebags on my bike and they do not damage the paint. The bags have a soft rubber side that is paint friendly. One thing that I did (prior to putting a rack on the tail of my bike), was that I ran a short bungy cord through and around the steel license plate backing. I then secured the rear fasterner to the straps that I secured to the bungy cord. That steel plate was the strongest item I could identify on the outside of the bike.

 

[gearhead]

After continuously running the Cortech bags for almost a year, I have found they do rub through the paint at the angle point of the plastic piece just below the rear seat. The spot is roughly a 1/8" round with another 1/3" radius of paint surrounding the spot that shows rubbing. However, my bags are loaded to the max daily with my work gear. Not an issue if you never take off the bags (like me.) Just giving you an FYI.

 

[DrPete]

I love what you did!!! brand new member and brand new owner "hopefully pick up tomorrow". My quest was to find bags and a back rest.. create a sport tourer and i love what you did can i get some help from you.??.. i am also interested in a third bag so that when my son rides with me, which he loves to do, he will have a more secure kind of cubby if you will... have you come across any configuration in your searches...?? any help would be greatly appreciated and if you can make those brackets easily enough i will buy them from you as well..

 

[Nastybutler]

Welcome to the forum DrPete. There are some other threads on here where other members, like Marthy, created a rack to help support soft bags that could easily be modified to work with hard cases. I'm sure you can find them if you search for it. You might also send Roaddawg a PM in case he doesn't see your posting.

I now have Heineken's luggage set up since he has since sold his FZ6R, and as you can see by the pic below and my signature pic, it works well as a backrest, and was one of the main reasons I bought it, so the wife would feel more secure and not have to worry about falling off the back. Of course now she's riding on her own, so that feature is now going to waste.

 

[Roaddawg]

I love what you did!!! brand new member and brand new owner "hopefully pick up tomorrow". My quest was to find bags and a back rest.. create a sport tourer and i love what you did can i get some help from you.??.. i am also interested in a third bag so that when my son rides with me, which he loves to do, he will have a more secure kind of cubby if you will... have you come across any configuration in your searches...?? any help would be greatly appreciated and if you can make those brackets easily enough i will buy them from you as well..

Thanks. Been real busy packing up old house to move into new house. Sent you a PM.

 

[DrPete]

tried to send you a message from our conversation but it said your inbox was full so i am trying it this way...
i definitely will grab them from you just email me and we can converse that way...

 

[Roaddawg]

tried to send you a message from our conversation but it said your inbox was full so i am trying it this way...
i definitely will grab them from you just email me and we can converse that way...

On their way.

 

[rhnatyk]

Roaddawg ... I'm also interested in buying the mounts from you if you're interested in making another set. Just let me know.

BTW ... I sent you a PM yesterday ... but no response.

-Richard

 

[Roaddawg]

Roaddawg ... I'm also interested in buying the mounts from you if you're interested in making another set. Just let me know.

BTW ... I sent you a PM yesterday ... but no response.

-Richard

PM'd. Sorry, but I just sent my setup to Dr Pete. I'm not interested in manufacturing brackets. Marthy might be the one to contact about making brackets for you.