Soft saddle bags

Hey,

I am heading down to the Honda Hoot on Tuesday and just received the soft saddle bags from Nelson Rigg.  They seem to be real nice and stable but they touch the exhausts.  Do you think this is going to cause a problem?  The bags can be put on by themselves, and or with some foam pad in between the bags and the bike.  I would appreciate any help, I don't want to be a fireball rolling down I79.

thanks!

Don't know about Nelson Riggs, but I got Cortech Sport bags on my '02. They have a neoprene pad between the bags and exhaust shields also. I've ridden about 4K with them strapped down tight to the shields with zero problems. No damage to the bags or materal transfer to the shields.

Great!

The bags come with the foam pad and I was not sure if they would melt to it.  If the bike runs around 215  I was not sure how hot those pipes got.

What type of exhaust do you have? If its a factory exhaust I would think you would be ok. The shields dont get that hot

Awesome....
I have the same Nelson Riggs Saddles, just got the matching tail bag. I am pretty sure we'll be ok......we are sure to find out soon

If your concerned about the heat, check out Chase Harper.  They sell small heat shields that attach to the bags between the cans and the bags.  They were recommended to me for any soft bag application that would touch the exhaust.

I have the Cortech Tri bags, and have a bit of bad news.  I did a 700 mile trip this past weekend, which was about 50% aggressive mountain twisties, 25% 25-30 mph mountain traffic low rpm, and 25% 80 mph slabbing.  Ambient temps high 70s to low 90s in N GA, NC, and Tenn.

Ending the first day I found some slight discoloration in the exhaust that coincided with the bag placement.  We had ridden through some light rain, and on the right side neoprene shield, there was a thin line of grit running along, again where the bag would make contact with the stock exhaust heat shield.  I cleaned both heat shield and neoprene carefully in the hotel that night with a damp towel.

At the end of the second day, while unpacking and inspecting my bike, there was a small chunk of neoprene stuck to the right side heat shield.  I was able to clean that off, but not some light discoloration on both sides from the neoprene.  Also, there was some light buffing of the right heat shield that probably resulted from the grit on day one.

One more thing, if you use these bags, you might want to remove the pillion pegs as the bags rub against these, which resulted in some tiny rub holes on the lower front inside corner of the bags.  This was after moving the bags around and carefully adjusting the mounting straps.  It seems like due to the angle of the seat and cowling, the bags want to shift that way.

I bought these after reading the good reviews on http://sport-touring.net, but my experience was otherwise after two 8 hour days in the saddle.

On the other side, the bags are well made, look good, and my riding buddies tell me have good reflectivity as seen from the rear.

Hope your experience is different than mine.

moved to luggage forum

I have a set of wolfman soft bags that came with my bike with a high exhaust, the person who had the bike before me made a nice rack system to keep the bags rigid and away from the exhaust, they did a nice job I just powdercoated the frames. the frame work mounts where the grab bars are and where the cowl mounts on my 94 I could email some pics later if needed.

Hey 2Nova2

Would love to see some pics of your frame, with and without the bags installed. I've got a Hi mount Staintune and am shopping for the right soft luggage....watching various threads recently. I've thought about doing something similar if I need to.

rmcobb, I will do this afternoon when I get off work and email you the pics. The only drawback is the grab bars have to be off because the frame bolts in its spot. no prob if you are riding solo, my gf uses the bars but will have to do something else when we have the luggage on. It really is a slick setup for soft bags. Hey I grew up in SLO pretty close to you but moved up here in 1976 after high school. You can email me at
2nova2@sbcglobal.net I see your email is not on you profile.

Thanks. I'll edit my profile to include my email address..but I'll send you a quick note as well.

Yeah, grew up here on the central coast and left for awhile, but have been back since 95. My  brother lives in Santa Rosa, and we periodically ride up for visits (the wife rides too). Maybe we'll tie up one of these days.

Randy