How to Attach a seat bag?

bobframe

bobframe

Joined
Feb 1, 2011
Messages
514
Location
Toccoa, GA
Bike
1200RT, 1200GS
I am planning to add a large waterproof bag to my passenger seat...Ortlieb's Dry Duffel, Cabela's Boundary Waters duffel or the Wolfman Dry Expedition duffel are the kind of bags I'm considering.

My question is this: How do I attach it to the ST1300 securely?

Anyone have a bag like this and a quick/easy/favorite way to secure it to the motorcycle?

Thanks,

Bob
 
I've used both conventional and Rok straps and still do.

Attach one end to passenger grab rail.

Put bag on pass seat, then run straps over and through the handles of the bag but not necessary.

Attach to pass grab rail again more forward and cinch down. You don't have to go through the handles.
 
I like to take a standard key ring (about and inch and a quarter) and use it to gather 3 bungees. Fold the bungee in half, insert through the ring, and pass the free ends of the bungee through the loop formed, capturing the ring in the cord loop. Lather, rinse, repeat for the other cords. It makes a stout, universal, and really flexible tiedown. I'd probably pass through the handles with one cord going forward, and two going back. Bigger rings can accomodate 4 cords.
 
I used bungee cords at first on the ST to strap down my tailbag and camping drybag but switched to Rok Straps. They are a nice piece of kit. For tie down points I tied a loop of light rope around the frame under the seat to make soft loop attachment points on each side and replaced the rear two screws in the luggage rack with eye bolts with 1/4 x 20 threads.

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Rok straps are great. I am also looking at a dry bag for the rear seat. The one by Twisted Throttle is pretty nice too and it includes attachment straps and has an inner piece that holds the form of the bag even when empty. I do have the Pan topbox but am doing a cross country trip this year and think I might need a little more capacity for a 4 to 6 week ride.
 
TRICKYRIC5474 said:
Rok straps are great. I am also looking at a dry bag for the rear seat. The one by Twisted Throttle is pretty nice too and it includes attachment straps and has an inner piece that holds the form of the bag even when empty. I do have the Pan topbox but am doing a cross country trip this year and think I might need a little more capacity for a 4 to 6 week ride.
Click to expand...

Any outdoor outfitter, like RIT or Moosejaw, will have dry bags. Canoers and kayakers use 'em. They usually have some sort of tie down loops for attaching.
 
dduelin said:
For tie down points I tied a loop of light rope around the frame under the seat to make soft loop attachment points on each side
Click to expand...

Any issue with putting pressure on these and deforming the seat? Or wearing a hole in the edge of the seat where this loop passes by?
 
The eye bolts I found at West Marine. I think the SKU is 599225 with the threaded shank cut down to length. I first saw them on CrazyK's ST1300.

You can see the loops of soft line, 1/4" dacron, has not abraded, scuffed, or otherwise deformed the seat or frame. I use them for several trips a year now 6th year. I tuck them out of sight when not needed. The seat is a Sargent - the red and white tube under the seat is a first aid/survival kit.

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Having WAY too much time on my hands, I have studied this and I have a little different approach to securing a duffel bag to the passenger seat..

First, the suggestion on ROK Straps was a great one-they are pure genius. No hooks to scratch things- the loop connection is one of those "elegant solutions"...simple, leaves no marks and uses the stretchy material to apply tension to the load instead of just pulling a strap ever harder. I am banishing all bungee cords from my shop and plan to give all my family members ROK straps for Christmas.

Second, Joe's suggestion on using the hand rails as a tie down point works great...secure, smooth, easy to access. But using them does seem to position the straps behind the bag. Not a bad thing, but I wanted a forward position to secure the other two straps.

What I stumbled on was using the helmet locking point (a heavy "bent wire" located under both sides of the passenger seat) as a place to anchor the two forward mounted ROK straps. You simply remove the passenger seat, slip the loop end of the ROK straps over the open end of the helmet locks and drape the strap over the edge of the bike and reattach the seat. The forward ROK straps are now firmly locked into place...easy on, easy off.

I then connect the ROK straps in a criss-cross pattern over the bags and tighten the straps. Voila!

Key to Pics:

First, shows the way the ROK straps connect to form a cross pattern. And yes, I agree that it is disturbingly reminiscent of a certain scene from Pulp Fiction. The blue ring at the center is a carabiner style key ring I bought at Walmart for a couple bucks. The carabiner makes it easy to slip the loops onto the ring and lets them form a cross pattern. It also helps, when they're not being used, to keep all of the ROK straps in one place.

Second, with the passenger seat removed, shows the ROK strap looped around the helmet locking point. I am a bit concerned about how this will wear on the seat edge, but I used the soft, stretchy part of the ROK strap and I will take care not to overly tighten the straps. We'll see, but I do think there's a chance of chewing up the seat edge.

Third shows my mop bucket tied down to the seat. The point was to show how a bag would be tied down in a cross pattern. Running the straps through a bag's D rings would help secure the bag in place. Note that I have bucket oriented in its waterproof setting.
 

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Mop bucket? I thought that was the new Shoei helmet with color matched chinstrap. ;-)

Good ideas Bob. I always found my bygdawg tipover bars helpful tie down points too
 
I just noticed you have a top box. I don't have a top box so when I go camping I have two bags on the seat. The Tourmaster tail bag fits on the pillion seat with the rope loops and hand rail as tie down points. That bag has its own bungee-type tiedown hooks. The dry bag fits behind that and is held down with Rok Straps crossed from the luggage rack rings to the strap loops around the hand rail. Your method will work just fine for one bag on the seat.
 
I use a 6 hooked bungie net. The handles to the rack are hollow underneith and the hooks fit in there perfectly!
 
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