Best bag for rear seat?

[number1barber]

If anyone intends to use the bag as a backrest i would not recommend a roll top type bag. Instead go with a storm flap holdall like the lomo or the eurohike transit. Roll top bags are air tight and the seams are not designed to withstand the pressure caused by a human leaning on them which will eventually cause them to fail. if you use a storm flap type you will be leaning on the contents not on a balloon

 

[MidLife]

If anyone intends to use the bag as a backrest i would not recommend a roll top type bag. Instead go with a storm flap holdall like the lomo or the eurohike transit. Roll top bags are air tight and the seams are not designed to withstand the pressure caused by a human leaning on them which will eventually cause them to fail. if you use a storm flap type you will be leaning on the contents not on a balloon

Many of these now come with the very useful purge valve, makes it much easier to roll down and also allows for quick safety purges when riding from lower levels up to fourteeners, preventing having a big overinflated ballon behind your back.

 

[KDON]

Does anyone have a report if the ATV bags turned backwards worked or not?

That is interesting....

 

[Sadlsor]

Not me.
I never put things on backwards, except for a rear tire mounted the wrong way in the front, on a Double Dark setup.
Oh, and sometimes my skivvies if I'm on a multi-day long ride.

(Nah, I don't do that. But some have told me THEY do.)

 

[jfheath]

I am looking for a somewhat rigid bag that can sit on the rear seat, provide a lot of space, not fall off the bike, and maybe even serve as a back rest for me. I really like this bag by Saddlemen, but the dimensions don't quite fit the ST1300.

A comment on the bags that sit across the rear seat - for which I have to refer to a photo of my ST1300A6 almost fully loaded before setting off from a campsite.



We tour as rider and pillion. There is a stiff bag strapped on top of each pannier - using the grab bars to keep them secure. They also prevent most of the weight from being transferred to the pannier. They gently rest, rather than sit on top. There is a similar, but slightly smaller one on the right hand side. I once started to fashion a wider platform under the top box to support the stuff bags, but the experiments showed that they wouldn't work.

The problem is that even in the position shown in the photo - they restrict the rear view from the mirrors. I'm tall, so I get a slightly better angle. I can see what is coming behind from a long way back, and I can see if anything is close on my offside or near side. What I cannot see is anything immediately behind me. That is always a problem with (say) another motorcycle. But you have to make allowances for it. So I'd be using my mirrors more frequnetly for the distant view, and occasionaly wander in my lane so that I could check near rear left and near rear right. Anything much taller would or wider would give a serious blind spot.

 

[Willsmotorcycle]

A comment on the bags that sit across the rear seat - for which I have to refer to a photo of my ST1300A6 almost fully loaded before setting off from a campsite.



We tour as rider and pillion. There is a stiff bag strapped on top of each pannier - using the grab bars to keep them secure. They also prevent most of the weight from being transferred to the pannier. They gently rest, rather than sit on top. There is a similar, but slightly smaller one on the right hand side. I once started to fashion a wider platform under the top box to support the stuff bags, but the experiments showed that they wouldn't work.

The problem is that even in the position shown in the photo - they restrict the rear view from the mirrors. I'm tall, so I get a slightly better angle. I can see what is coming behind from a long way back, and I can see if anything is close on my offside or near side. What I cannot see is anything immediately behind me. That is always a problem with (say) another motorcycle. But you have to make allowances for it. So I'd be using my mirrors more frequnetly for the distant view, and occasionaly wander in my lane so that I could check near rear left and near rear right. Anything much taller would or wider would give a serious blind spot.

I had a similar situation, I put on a 60L across the seat and couldn't see for 12k miles. I learned if I could keep the gear from protruding the handle of the pannier(cover no paint), I could see back there well enough. For you, maybe a longer thinner bag.

 

[jfheath]

For you, maybe a longer thinner bag.

Maybe for someone else. We solved the problem a different way. Once we had reached our alloted 'days of our years' we still did not know to what it referred. It turns out that it was camping. So after spending the majority of our holidays for 70 years under canvas, we now use hotels. No more tank bag. No more stuff bags. It looks like we are just out for the day !

But taller and thinner bags over the grey bits may well have done the trick.

 

[drbuzzard]

i've been using this wolfman small dry bag since '16