Re: [ST] luggage

[Paul Fox <pgf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 > I've been looking at some soft luggage.  I know
 > Triumph makes some soft luggage, but I've seen Joe
 > Rocket soft luggage as well.  
 > 
 > I was wondering what kind of experiences people have
 > had with side luggage.  Is the hard luggage worth the
 > extra money when I'd only use them a few times per
 > year?  Are the soft luggage alternatives worth it? 
 > How much paint will I have left at the end of the day
 > with the soft luggage?

i've used a lot of soft luggage.  if you're _verry_ careful, and use
soft padding between the luggage and the bike, and are obsessive about
cleaning grit off your bike and off the padding each and every day,
and don't ride in places where you'll get a lot of dirt and grit in
the first place, you'll be fine.  :-)

alternatively, just don't use the luggage very much, and you'll be
fine that way too.  :-)

what i'm saying is that i've never managed to avoid damaging the
paint on a bike with soft bags.

except on the RS:  the best feature of the triumph soft luggage (and
major kudos to triumph for doing this) is that it comes with plastic
panel protectors that are form fitted to the rear body panels, and
which go on and off with quick-release fasteners.  there's a bit of
additional hardware that goes behind the body panels for anchoring the
protectors, and which acts as attachement points for the soft bags. 
with just a bit of care (i.e., make sure the body and the protectors
are clean when you install them), your paint will stay pristine.

the protectors are available separate from the bags, so i'd get those
even if you get different luggage (i have chase-harper et-3000 bags,
myself).  (i've also heard that the triumph bags are very good, but
i've never seen them.)

paul
=---------------------
 paul fox, pgf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (arlington, ma, where it's 61.0 degrees)
 'oh-oh Sprint RS, '91 VX800, DoD #1462, AMA #545601

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