Soft Saddle Bags

[Marsh White]

As far as the saddle and tail bags, my wife found me a set on flea-bay for Christmas this year. The soft saddlebags are branded as "Yamaha" and have a nice reflective stripe,

I use those Yamaha side bags too:

[rktmanfj]

As far as the saddle and tail bags, my wife found me a set on flea-bay for Christmas this year. The soft saddlebags are branded as "Yamaha" and have a nice reflective stripe, but the tail bag (soft trunk?) says "Eclipse" right on it. I already have a Givi trunk so I doubt I'll use the Eclipse bag, but I have a buddy who seems interested in that for his VFR.

Sorry; I didn't really mean to hijack this thread.

It's my understanding (from a dealer friend of mine) that the Yamaha branded Chase Harper bags were identical to and also carried the same generous warranty that CH offers on their own stuff.

The Yamaha branded seat bags from Eclipse were identical to their own, except that the Yamaha bag was made from a heavier material for some reason.  The heavier material was still no match for a rear wheel moving at 130, though it made for an interesting show...   

Randy T
Indy

[mrbreeze]

I was thinking about soft bags like race-tech or the like but i think i'm going try some hard bags. found a new set on flebay for 140 just about right size they open on the side kind of different but yet appealing in a strange way just have to see still a long winter to go

[Dan Filetti]

FWIW, I have a set of Nelson Riggs soft bags that have worked great on the FJ, the CBR1K, and now the Gixxer.  I have seen posts here of folks that had to fabricate brackets to keep their soft bags from drooping, and these bags do not droop at all.  The strap that connects the two drapes across the seat and is adjustable in width via a boat load of velcro on each strap.  if adjusted propery, -only have to do this once for a given bike, and it's easy, then the bags can hold a lot of weight and not droop one bit.  They came with rain covers, and they were not that expensive, I think I paid $85 a few years back, they are $104 now.

The capacity is not huge but I can do 5 days on the road, with the sleeping bag in one and a few other items stuffed in there as well and the other with clothes and toiletries, and a bottle of mescal with no problem. If I strap the tent to the seat, and put a meal ot two's worth of food in my smallish tank bag, I'm fairly self sufficient. For me, that's are all I need.  I really like them.


Here's what I have:
http://www.newenough.com/parts/luggage/saddlebags_/nelson_rigg/cl950_deluxe_motorcycle_saddlebags.html

Dan

[Dan Filetti]

FWIW, I have a set of Nelson Riggs soft bags that have worked great on the FJ, the CBR1K, and now the Gixxer.  I have seen posts here of folks that had to fabricate brackets to keep their soft bags from drooping, and these bags do not droop at all.  The strap that connects the two drapes across the seat and is adjustable in width via a boat load of velcro on each strap.  if adjusted propery, -only have to do this once for a given bike, and it's easy, then the bags can hold a lot of weight and not droop one bit.  They came with rain covers, and they were not that expensive, I think I paid $85 a few years back, they are $104 now.

The capacity is not huge but I can do 5 days on the road, with the sleeping bag in one and a few other items stuffed in there as well and the other with clothes and toiletries, and a bottle of mescal with no problem. If I strap the tent to the seat, and put a meal ot two's worth of food in my smallish tank bag, I'm fairly self sufficient. For me, that's are all I need.  I really like them.


Here's what I have:
http://www.newenough.com/parts/luggage/saddlebags_/nelson_rigg/cl950_deluxe_motorcycle_saddlebags.html

Dan

You know, posting this got me thinking.  One of the zippers had pulled away -maybe 1" on one of the bags.  I did take a needle and thread to it to keep it from getting worse, and had thought little of it until just now.  So, just for giggles, having been reminded of them by the above, I called them to see what the warrentee was. It was lifetime.  They immediately gave me a a ruturn authorization number told me to send them back, and they will send me a new set.  No questions asked.

I think I like their customer service as well.  I'll report back.

Dan

[rktmanfj]

You know, posting this got me thinking.  One of the zippers had pulled away -maybe 1" on one of the bags.  I did take a needle and thread to it to keep it from getting worse, and had thought little of it until just now.  So, just for giggles, having been reminded of them by the above, I called them to see what the warrentee was. It was lifetime.  They immediately gave me a a ruturn authorization number told me to send them back, and they will send me a new set.  No questions asked.

I think I like their customer service as well.  I'll report back.

Dan

That's awesome, Dan!

Sounds like Rex Marsee could take a customer service lesson from Nelson-Rigg...

At Rex's request, I sent a set of Marsee saddlebags to him for estimate of repair cost (of damage that was not a factory defect), he decided that they did not want to attempt a repair and without contacting me first, THREW THEM AWAY!     

Randy T
Indy

[Travis398]

At Rex's request, I sent a set of Marsee saddlebags to him for estimate of repair cost (of damage that was not a factory defect), he decided that they did not want to attempt a repair and without contacting me first, THREW THEM AWAY!     

Randy T
Indy

I hope you gave him a piece of your mind.

[rktmanfj]

At Rex's request, I sent a set of Marsee saddlebags to him for estimate of repair cost (of damage that was not a factory defect), he decided that they did not want to attempt a repair and without contacting me first, THREW THEM AWAY!     

Randy T
Indy

I hope you gave him a piece of your mind.

I was very explicit as to what I thought of his handling of the matter, and he couldn't have cared less.  No offer to make it right in any way, not even an apology of any kind whatsoever.

The only reason I have a Marsee tank bag right now is because New Enough was practically giving them away.

Turns out they are now right down the road from the ECFR in Madisonville, TN.

Randy T
Indy

[mikeholzer]

As far as the saddle and tail bags, my wife found me a set on flea-bay for Christmas this year. The soft saddlebags are branded as "Yamaha" and have a nice reflective stripe,

I use those Yamaha side bags too:

Marsh, the stripe on my bags are identical to yours, but I swear that the set I have is smaller. They are offset to the rear and have the cross over and carrying strap on one end, not in the middle. However, they also have a good sized "bag" built into the cross over strap which, when filled, makes for a small backrest. I haven't been able to check them out on the bike yet, but now I'm feeling a little bag envy.

[mikeholzer]

Okay, so curiousity got the better of me, and it's cold out, and I already shoveled the three inches of snow we got today, so I had to go look closer at my saddlebags. Marsh, yours are definitely bigger.





And, it appears that the other Eclipse bag is of some other variety completely. It doesn't match the Yamaha bags at all.





Whatever. The two bags set my wife back $52.00, plus shipping and I figure it was money well spent. I'm now thinking that the saddlebags go on the other way, though. Trial and error will answer that one. I have a trip planned to The Henry Ford Museum for the early part of the summer, and these should hold a few days worth of underwear.

[rktmanfj]

Mike, the ones Marsh has were marketed for use with the FJ.

The ones you have were pictured with the FZR, with the Yamaha branded Corbin seat for the FZR.

All nice equipment, IMO...

Randy T
Indy

[mikeholzer]

Randy, that's good to know. I doubt that there will be any serious fitment issues, but I'm sure I'll have to be clever to make them do as I'd like. Time will tell.

[Marsh White]

so I had to go look closer at my saddlebags. Marsh, yours are definitely bigger.

Mike, I get that a lot...      

[mikeholzer]

Frankly Marsh, I'm surprised I had to wait 20 hours for that. I figured somebody else would bring up dick size long before now.

My saddlebags may be smaller, but I've got the biggest...

[Marsh White]

Frankly Marsh, I'm surprised I had to wait 20 hours for that.

Sorry; I was biting my tongue for as long as I could on the matter...I'll work on being more responsive in the future!