Good tank bag for 82 R100

[jmerlino]

Anybody have any suggestions for a good tank bag for the 82 R100? It doesn't have to be huge, and I'd like something that looks appropriately "old school", if possible.

[pmdave]

I've owned a number of tank bags over the years, but the one I use is a Chase Harper Compac. "Older style" means roundish shaped, so you might consider the TIZip Waterproof, although it's a bit on the large size at 12" x 16".

Outside pockets look sexy, but in my experience they aren't of much practical use. Likewise, some bags use a zipper to attach the bag to the base, but it's a real pain to unzip and rezip the bag just to fuel up, and easy to screw up the zipper.

One big consideration with a tank bag for the airhead is handlbar switch interference. If you have low or narrow bars, when you turn sharply the tank bag automatically beeps the horn or signals a turn. So, you probably don't want a bag wider than 8.5 in. Note the Wolfman Explorer is 8 x 10 in. and the Chase Harper Compac 750 is 8 x 10 in.

With the K75 narrow bars on my R100, the solution was to move the tank bag aft until it is almost on top of the seat. For the K bike, it fits in the normal forward position.

I've struggled with various bag mounting systems, and have finally settled on having a bag base attached to the bike, and the bag attaching to the base with 1" buckles. The base needs a hole cut for the fuel filler, so to fuel up you simply unbuckle the fronts, tip the bag back onto the seat, and there's the filler cap accessible through the base. Much easier than having to unstrap the whole bag to fill up, and less risk of dropping the bag on the ground, or picking up grit on the bag and scratching the tank.

If the bag design includes a separate base (like the Case Harper), it's relatively easy to cut a hole over the fuel cap, and sew it up to protect the fabric edges. However, I've sewn up bag bases myself, from heavy Cordura, reinforced with 1" web strap, and covered on the bottom side with some thick soft fabric such as artificial fleece. I bought an antique Singer sewing machine just for such projects, to avoid bending the wife's exotic but fragile sewing machine.

The Chase Harper bag base has a buckle riveted via a strap at each corner. The straps can be rotated to the side or front. On my R100, I have attached buckles at the front corners of the base to match the quick release buckles on the bag. Then the buckles at the rear corners attach to straps that (on the R100) go back along the sides of the seat to the seat frame. I haven't found anything more reliable than 1" straps and buckles. But I do sew some fuzzy fabric to the bottom side of all straps to protect the paint.

When you're dinking around with the bag mounting system, be aware that there are about 6 different 1" quick release buckle designs. If you can't find a matching buckle at your local sporting goods store, you might have to change all the buckles to whatever style is available locally.

Yes, you can use a bag with magnetic side panels on an airhead, since the gas tank is steel. But those big powerful magnets are heavy, and it's very easy to pull the bag off and sit it down on a dirty surface where it will pick up nasty abrasive stuff--which the magnets will then press into the paint.

Aerostich has various tank bags, and good pictures in the catalog so you can really see what they look like. If you don't have an Aerostich catalog, get one at 800 222-1994 or www.aerostich.com. I'm a little apologetic about that suggestion, since there is a huge selection of other motorcycling goodies in the catalog that could tempt you.

pmdave

[kbasa]

I've had good luck with an Eclipse Sport Pack. Tight turns in the parking lot will cause the usual horn honking, but otherwise, it holds a ton of stuff and doesn't look half bad.

I think mine is almost 20 years old now :eek but it just keeps on ticking. I think I've replaced the rubber pad a couple times and the map pocket closure kind of sucks, but the rain cover works really well.

[BubbaZanetti]

i had the small marsee 8L bag (i believe) and it never got in the way, held 2 water bottles, map, phone, wallet, pack of smokes and all the other daily essentials without sticking up more than 4 inches or so off the tank

[lkchris]

"Old school" would be a Harro bag.

The best bag is the Multvario from BMW.

Some pics here
http://jeff.dean.home.att.net/tankbag.htm

[budkohn]

marsee 15l magnetic!
quick on/off for security and fueling, looks classy in black with reflective bits for security and really well made...

jmo

i love mine, goes on my "gs" too!