Triumphrat

greatescape

I've been trying to find a saddlebag that won't cost me a lot of dough, and after looking around a lot that seemed somewhat impossible if I wanted anything of decent quality.

So until I can afford my ideal saddlebags, I grabbed an old army surplus backpack I had lying around, and looped the straps under my seat. I kept my cargo net on there for when I pack pretty full since it's not totally closed on top.

Perhaps not the most elegant or aesthetically pleasing solution, but it holds my crap, and that's what I need right now. I think I paid around $15 for the bag from a local surplus store a couple of years ago.

Just thought I'd share in case anybody else is looking for a cheap way to hold their stuff until they can afford something better.

P.S. No that's not a giant oil spill under my bonnie, just water to clean up a little spillage during my last oil change.

deluxe

I am looking for a decent tail bag myself. Don't mind spending the money as long as it is waterproof, durable and can hold 20-30 L of stuff.

I don't like tankbags for some reason. They just don't appeal to me.

ggfh

Doesn't it get eaten by your spokes?

greatescape

Nope. Nothing hangs low enough to come even close to the spokes. I loop and tuck any extra strappage so that it's not dangling.

The more I look at this config, the less I like it though. It's long on function and short on form. I'm gonna keep experimenting, but I may be SOL until I can afford proper luggage mounts and real saddlebags. I'm with Deluxe - I don't like the look of tank bags either.

Slinky

I used to have a pair of army surplus packs, strapped together to make a set of throw-over bags. Cheap and effective, until one caught fire on the mufflers

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98 Thunderbird, 03 Speed Master

ivar

How about one of those waterproof bags, strapped to the seat?

I agree a tankbag looks kinda bulky, but for me function is more important, my Bagster tank bag takes a lot of stuff.

Here a huge Ortlieb bag on a renntec rack:

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02 Bonneville - 904 wiseco/813 cams/FCR carbs/Dominator touring, ARK,AI,.Pieman igniter. Thruxton seat, superbars raised 1". Intiminators/Öhlins PL36 shocks, renntec rack.. Tourance tires , D9 bracketry

killian101

I used 40mm (long) ammo cans... Not the cheepes route...since it cost me 65 bucks off ebay.

greatescape

I like how ammo cans look, but I'm sure you need to install some mounting brackets too right?

The only ones I've found that are sold separately are the New Bonneville MC Resources ones http://www.newbonneville.com/html/luggage_brackets.html

That's another $90, but probably what I'll need to end up getting regardless of what I throw on there.

killian101

The MC Resources mounting brackets and the quick release ones are pretty slick...and yeah thats what i did.