Hi all, Newbie to the site and I have recently purchased my first blade after riding the CBR 600 rr for a couple of years. I would love to hear from you guys regarding luggage ideas for the blade whilst carrying a pillion. I have a weekend touring the Welsh mountains in early 2017 planned with the wife and the option at the minute is a backpack which I'm sure will be too uncomfortable after a few miles. I'm thinking some paniers however I'm not sure if these will work with a pillion? And also should I choose a hard type or the material type? I have fitted a rentec Grabrail already. Cheers in advance Craig
Hi craig welcome. Regards to luggage for your blade I use venture Hi craig welcome regards to luggage I use ventura luggage with a 51ltr bag that fits on to a ventura rack .also I use a givi tank bag which sits off the tank so it won't scratch it .I use these as my wife comes with me when we go out or away like the iom tt assen etc hope it helps
Hi Tony Is the Ventura a box on the back rather than two bags either side of the pillion passenger type paniers? I've never carried luggage before so I'm unsure what is the best and most cost efficient way to do it, will normal paniers fit onto my rentec rail? Cheers Craig
The ventura is a bag which slides over the rack it's very secure when your riding .I bought the whole thing from ventura ie L bars which bolt to the underside of the bike.then the rack and the bag I paid about £300 for the lot .but that was new if you look on ebay or put a post on the forum you could get a good second hand set much cheaper. My friend tried soft panniers on his blade wasn't good idea as they had a tendency to flap about
Thanks for your advice, I will look into it, and yeah that's what imagined would happen with the soft paniers.
Hi & welcome Craig I've got these Motech Blaze (soft) panniers on mine & they rock solid at all speeds
Hi Lozzy, That's the sort of thing I had in mind, do pillions travel fine with those on? The repsol looks sweet by the way
I've been checking these out on eBay and they come with two detachable bars for the bags to slide onto, the whole kit is £200 - £250
Yes you fix an attachment to pillion pegs. Then slide a bar into it. Panniers then slide onto bar & click in. When you get where you're going simply take panniers & bars off. It's v solid & stable however they make each kit specific to the bike so mine will only fit 08 to 11 so if you change your bikes often it's probably not best of kit to buy
Thanks I've not had a pillion on with them on...not sure....I'll dig out pillion seat & put it together & check if its suitable/comfy
I used Ventura luggage for years on about half a dozen different bikes but got heartily sick of paying about £150 each time I changed bike for new L brackets and rack. Last year instead of getting the brackets etc for my Tuono I bought Kriega gear (I already had backpacks and a us bag ) and I'm really pleased with it. If you've already got a renntec rack I'd go for the Kriega.
Hi Craig welcome to the forum, you could always leave the Mrs at home and let her get the train, so you can ride down solo with big backpack on. Looks as though you have been given some good advice, I'm sure you will get it sorted. PS only joking about leaving her at home;-)
Hey Brad you could be halfway right there....pop a massive backpack on the missus Craig tell her it's needed as ballast......
After going down the Panniers route and getting wet gear I switched to the Ventura system, which was ok however, I just didn't get on with it so sold it and went for a full set of Kriega, so I could mix and match. This has been ok but to be honest I wanted a system that was simple to get on and off keeps my stuff dry, decided to convert my renntec rack to be able to fit a Givi monokey top box. I had to cut the grab rail part off and weld some extra strengthening bits on, while I was about that I got hold of an old seat so as I can convert that to take the Givi plate for solo trips keeping the weight forward. I don't care what it looks like, I love the fact now when I get where I'm going it's just turn key push button and off it comes.
@craig stoneman ....I can't find my pillion seat but I've looked at the panniers on & because the large velcro straps attach at the centre point of the seat I'm not sure if it's going to be uncomfortable or a problem to sit on! I see you're in Notts which isn't far from me so I'm more than happy when it fines up to meet you & see how your missus finds it. Other than that I see someone else has mentioned Kriega & I can vouch for their stuff too. Many of my big touring buddy's use Kriega
Hi Lozzy Thanks for your help, I think I'm going to take a ride to a few local shops and see the different options available before I decide
Thanks for all the advice from you lot on here, seem like a good bunch of guys and gals!! Can't wait for the weather to pick up now and hopefully I can put a few faces to your names. Cheers Craig