What touring accessories are available for a 1995 Speed Triple

[AIrey1507]

Hi all,
I'd really like to take my '95 S3 on some long distance journeys this summer (stock seat and all most likely ). Just wondering what kind of touring accessories are out there for the t309 bikes.

1. Any good looking/functional flyscreens?
2. Is it possible to run generic soft saddle bags or will the pipes likely burn them? I have the 3-2 black/carbon exhaust (stock I believe). If hard bags are needed, who makes them/how much/any custom fabrication work needed for brackets?
3. Does the tank accept a generic magnetic tank bag? Any recommendations?

Also, has anyone actually toured on a t3 Speed Triple? I have heli bars so the riding position is fairly comfortable, but I've never done a trip over 100 miles so it's all uncharted territory for me anyways.

thanks

[matt.speedtriple]

Hi,

I`ve got a 96 S3 and done some touring across europe on it so hopefully i`ll be able to help.

First off is you really need to either get another seat or at least a gel pad as you`ll get really bad cramp in your legs with standard seat after about 300 miles. I searched ebay and found a corbin one and haven`t had any cramp problems since.

As far as soft luggage goes then it should be fine as that`s what i used before going across the givi hard stuff. I`ve no idea where you are but in the UK then the Oxford sports lifetime panniers as they`re made to suit sports bikes with higher exhausts and each one will expand to take 52ltrs of gear which is about the most it`s safe to carry.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Oxford-Throwov...1%7C240%3A1318

Magnetic tank bag the again Oxford sports lifetime as it holds nice and steady and again expands if needs be.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OXFORD-SPORTS-...1%7C240%3A1318

If you want info about hard luggage then give me a should and i`ll explain what i`m using.

Cheers, Matt

[villageidiot]

ive got a flyscreen on my s3 with twin lights, it has taken away most of the buffeting at speed but my head still gets blown about a bit.
with the standard seat ive done 450 miles in a day but i was glad to get off.
i use oxford sports soft throwovers with another soft bag bungeed on top, and a small magnetic tank bag, about 100 litres of space.
justin

[Roden]

There is a Ventura rack available which will accept a gearsack and if you are solo you can put the gearsack on the pillion seat (with all the heavy gear in it) and strap a heap of other stuff to the rack eg, tent, sleeping bag etc.

There is also a tank cover available to which a bag is connected. I think its called a "Bagster?"

I find that my naked Sprint with clip-ons is comfortable up to about 140kph. (about 85mph) Over that and I really have to get down and dirty with the tank as the wind blast becomes more severe. I have a flyscreen off a T509 that is really for looks, it does nothing for streamlining.

I would also suggest earplugs if you have a particularly noisy helmet. That can get real annoying after only a short time and it can't be good for your ears!

Good luck and cheers,

Roden

[AIrey1507]

Thanks for the tips so far. Those Oxford accessories look pretty nice and would fit my needs great, however it appears they are only available in the UK (I'm from Minnesota, USA). I'll search around for similar products available here (I'm sure there's lots), but if anyone has any personal experience with any light sport touring accessories, it's always great to hear recommendations/reviews, etc.

[KitNYC]

I managed to scrounge up the long-discontinued Givi Wingrack kit for my Trident. Hard bags really are the way to go. If you can't or don't want to go with the Givi stuff, TourMaster/Cortech & Chase Harper make sport-oriented soft bags.

Cheers,
-Kit

[lewisjohn]

Before i bought my 1200 GSA,I did all my touring on my Speed Triple,did the NW200 Portstewart Northern Ireland 3 years in a row,about 950 miles round trip,over 3 to 4 days.I used an Oxford lifetime luggage magnetic tankbag,and a tailbag on the pillion seat.Seat was no problem for me and i have heard good things about the Corbin.

John

[gfiandy]

Hi,

By all means change the seat if you find it a problem. But in the late 90s I rode a Daytona 900 from John O Groats to Lands End (875miles+) (Thats top to bottom of the UK for those of you who don't live here) on the summer solstice. I didn't suffer from problems with the seat, although my legs did get a bit cramped. We left at sun rise to planning to arrive just before sun set, due to a miscalculation on our average speed :-) we arrived about 2 hours early.

The T3 has the same seat and peg position as far as I know. I used standard soft Oxford products paniers on it. The sports one would have been better as the pipes did come very close the paniers but I already had them. (The pipes didn't seem to get hot enough to cause any damage to the paniers but I guess it would depend on the exact paniers and your bike)

I would recomend some kind of screen to keep the wind off especially if you expect to do many motorway miles. I didn't have raised bars at the time but I am older now and I do on my current Daytona 900 and thoroughly recomend them (but you already have that sorted).

Another adaption I made for touring was to wire an in line car cigarette lighter socket to the battery (after a fuse) so I could use it for charging. At the time I used it for the camcorder I had with us but now it is also be usefull for Phones, cameras etc. In the UK you can get them from Maplin, I would imagine Tandy would do them in the US if they are still going, or a good car spares place may have them.

Just remembered, I had a magnetic tank bag as well, but this scratched the tank, not through the paint but enough that it wouldn't polish out. So I would recomend covering the tank in somthing. I used a large leather to protect the bike from the paniers but these days you can get big non slip mats that would be very good you could use these for both the tank and the plastic at the back.

Hope you have a good time.
Andy.

[AIrey1507]

Thanks a lot for the help so far guys. There appears to only be one Oxford product distributor in the US, and they're located in Wisconsin. However I found no mention of Oxford products on their site I'm going to keep my eyes peeled on eBay/craigslist for at least a set of soft panniers and magnetic tank bag. I figure that should be enough for a small trip and if I do anything larger (involving tents say), it would be easier to strap that to the pillion. So I probably won't bother looking for a tailbag.

I think I recall a member here that was using a Buell Cyclone flyscreen on their T3. Can anyone testify to the functionality of these?

For reference, the two bikes I've owned thus far have been nakeds. I rode a semi-faired bike (Yamaha Seca II) once for about 15 minutes, but it was only around town. So I'm not terribly bothered with the wind on a naked, but then again I don't have any experience with fairings/flyscreens (so I don't know what's missing), and I've yet to go on a really long ride (so I don't know just how bad no frontal protection can get).

[villageidiot]

something like this.