Mid-Life Rider

I seem to be on an equipment review roll. If you’ve found this via a search, the context for that remark is that I’ve just recently gotten back from a big ride and have filled pages in the blogosphere with my ramblings and musings about life on the road. I also took some new gear along to test, so that’s what this is about. For those of you interested in the metaphysics of midlife, definitely move along. Probably not much in this post that will light you up.

When I first got my FJR, those lovely factory-spec side cases along with a tank bag seemed like more than enough space to accommodate whatever I might want to take with me on a ride. Coming from a Ducati Multistrada, they looked cavernous.

As the miles rolled by, my tank bag became overstuffed with all manner of flotsam to the point that I decided to add a small Givi trunk. There, surely that should do it. Tank bag for the little stuff I would need during the day (including a water sack with sippy tube). Side cases for clothing. Top case for stashing pant and jacket liners. Maps went either front or back, just sort of depending. Tools invariably went in the trunk (dumb place). Life was, once again, well ordered and nicely arranged.

But like Boyle’s law, stuff expands to fill all available space. The tipping point was my planned epic ride. I’m a notoriously light packer so two weeks on the road shouldn’t make that much of a difference, but the specter of spending time with clients along the way, perfectly nice people who wouldn’t appreciate the smells of the road and further expected me to show up with computer and such, once again rang the “more storage please” bell. So off I went to Seattle Cycle Center in search of something I could perch on the pillion.

Actually, my first stop was the local BMW dealer, there to spy a very spiffy looking waterproof item that looked positively regal, including the logo-induced princely purchase price. Then I went over to SCC where for less than half the pesos, I picked up what seemed like a made-to-order Deluxe Tail Bag by Tourmaster.

No question the BWM item was nicer, but for my pinched pennies, here’s what I got.

The bag attaches with two stout, crossed bungie cords outfitted with right-sized plastic hooks. On the FJR, I hook the back pair to the Givi rack and the front to the passenger foot peg stanchions. On my Aprlia, it’s the same idea up front. In back, I hook the bungees together under the tail section.

One thing I discovered during a rainy portion of the ride is that the wind will find everything. In this case, I didn’t notice at first that there was a synch cord on the rain cover. This oversight was made apparent to me upon glancing in my mirrors to see this wild flapping thing where my tail bag should have been.

I’m off to the track tomorrow, so I’ll find out if the bag does anything weird or wonderful on my Aprilia. I doubt it will.

So to summarize, it’s a stout, usefully-sized and shaped, high-quality piece that’s nicely priced. Although it says tail bag, I found it just dandy as a low profile, non-talking, non-eating, gear swallowing pillion.

Here’s what Tourmaster has to say about their bag . . .

• Built-in bungee cord mounting hooks that hide away when not in use
• E-Z access top-loading two-way zippered main compartment
• Angle-mounted shoulder strap for carrying comfort
• Heavy-duty nylon construction
• Reinforced carry handle
• Four exterior pockets
• Tricot interior lining
• Mesh front pocket
• Reflective Tour Master logos and Jaquard webbing
• TPR zipper pulls
• 21″L x 12″W x 10″H

Tags: DeluxeTail Bag, Tourmaster, FJR 1300, Yamaha, Ducati Multistrada, BWM, GIvi, Motorrad, Seattle Cycle Center