FARKLE as saddle bags

[SWMGMC]

Hi!
I guess you could fit me in the category of a new rider since I've only been riding for a year now.

My first bike after my MSF course was an '05 Ducati 748 with GP shifting and according to my MSF coach (who is now my hubby) was probably waaay too hard as a beginner bike.(read a few crashes here) My second bike for a few months was a '78 Honda CB550K we found on Craig'slist and I enjoyed that old girl for a few months before my husband decided that the squeaky brakes and unreliable engine were just too much trouble for my daily commute. So, in August '08 he bought me my brand-spanking new FZ6 and I love it!

He has a Honda ST 1300 that we enjoy for long trips and I am envious of what he calls "farkle" that he accumulates to his moto, so, to be fair, besides installing underbody LED lights to my FZ6 in order to make my inner squid happy, he generously offered to look into installing more practical additions to my ride..

I am tired of strapping on my backpack while riding to work and I am interested in getting some luggage mounts. Side bags are what I'm particularly interested in but I am trying to find the pros and cons of soft bags versus hard bags.

Since I consider myself to be a novice rider despite riding to work and to the gym at least three days a week in Austin traffic, I'm worried about hard bags getting damaged should I succumb to gravity. My husband has greater faith in my ability to ride and rates me pretty good and thinks Givi saddle bags are in order, but I wonder if there are soft bags that are really waterproof out there?

Has anyone had luck with good, waterproof soft bags that survive being close to the exhaust pipes?

 

[D-Mac]

Soft bags are pretty good, but there's no substitute for hard bags IMO. Especially if you're doing a lot of touring or regular commuting.

Why not get a topcase? They're pretty cheap (relative to side cases anyway) and they hold a LOT. If you drop the bike it likely won't damage a topcase. I don't find any issues with wind either.

Hard side cases are pretty expensive and you could damage them in a drop (usually you'll just scratch them apparently). On the plus side - it's probably just as cheap to replace the plastic cases in a drop as it is to fix the bike.

I run Givi PLX side cases on mine with their E40 (?) topcase. I love it. As much as I like the look of the side cases better, the topcase is actually more useful. A lot of folks prefer the E52 topcase. That thing is HUGE.

 

[blchandl2]

FWIW, I have been 'getting by' with some soft luggage (not waterproof) and plan to get the Givi bags with SW Motech mounts. My Tiger 1050 has the factory hard luggage and makes for tough decisions when I feel like riding the FZ but may need the waterproof storage.

The added capacity and weather protection are a major plus. The downside is the cost.