[RichWalker]

Heresy, I know! 'Bags on a Bonnie? That's the equivalent of placing mailbags on Secretariat, connecting a trailer to a TVR, asking Aston to carry his Martin(i)!

I collect my late model, low mileage Bonnie SE this weekend yet the compromise with the Queen (not that Queen, my Queen!) was that we might be able to transport in a reasonable manner rain attire, namely her Barbour Peplum, a bit of dainties I've not inquired as to the content, and perhaps a bit of Scotland, particularly the 12-year-old single.

I say all of that to say I need bags on the Bonnie. What sort of bags hast thou encumbered thine Bonnie with? In short, what fits? What's your set up? What works, and how cheap was it? Do I need those U-shaped bars to prevent the launching of me single malt into next week's chat?

All help appreciated. From both the 'umble pilot and the Queen.

Cheers

Rich

 

[roadtrip]

Rich, I went through the same search. In the end decided soft panniers suited the Bonneville best. Tried the Triumph pannier stays and Oxford pannier bags. I hated the result ... couldn't find a way of keeping the bags firmly mounted. Cheap and cheerful didn't work, so went expensive : a pair of Krauser panniers. These are excellent quality and a firm fit.

 

[MileHighScottie]

It's not sacrilege at all. I commute with my Thruxton and I often need to ride with bags (laptop, work clothes, rain gear). I have a set of Pony Express bags, but more often than not I toss my Cortech saddlebags on the bike only b/c they're bigger.

I might sell my Pony Express bags though. Hmmmm. They 'look' the part, but I don't use them.

 

[plasma]

Givi is the make I have and I find them problem.

Plasma.

 

[jimballard]

I mounted a set of Tourmaster medium size "slant bags" on my T100. I'm using the MC Resources rack and bag rail setup, with my bags mounted under the saddle and strapped to the rails. I realize now that I could have used the regular "straight" bags, but at the time I was worried about clearing the shocks..........that turned out to be a non-issue as the racks hold the bags out from them. I think that the "straight" bags would have looked a little bit better, but some of my friends think that the "slants" were the way to go. The setup has worked just fine, the bags don't "flop" and are fairly rigid with the "stiffener" they are provided with.

Just the "wayward" opinion of the "village idiot": Jim

 

[RichWalker]

Lovely set of saddlebags, Roadtrip. Very nice looking ride as well. We were considering a day trip up from a London visit one year until the weather presenter said, "Blizzard conditions, winds up to 60 mph...." Me hats off in salute to ye. We don't get that type of weather much here in the Deep South of the States.

I appreciate the solutions you've presented. I'll be looking at each and every one. A quick glance, I do like the lot and see why each was chosen.

Are there problems you have encountered with yer bags? Saddle, I should say, as in saddle bags. (No offense meant to the lasses here) Catching a bit of the tire, rubbing, etc?

I'll be installing, more than likely, the tall factory back rest for the missus. She's under the impression I install more throttle than I do concern for her sliding off. With that in mind, what bags do you lads/lasses recommend?

Cheers

Richard

 

[pineconeMN]

Not exactly cheap, but I've found the Hepco Becker rails and Junior 30 bags to be the perfect setup on a Bonneville SE. Perfectly proportioned, super high quality and totally waterproof.

Also easy on, easy off and the rails don't look too terrible without the bags.

 

[roadtrip]

Rich, if I were looking for luggage AND pillion backrest like you just said, I would go for a topbox which will double as your backrest. There's a topbox rack by Fehling which offers Givi monokey fastening points, then you have the whole monokey range to choose from, and you can get a topbox backrest for most of the boxes. You can also fit a generic rack and mount a monokey universal plate to it which gets you to the same place.

re. the Krauser bags, they are very secure and there is no rubbing - quality bags! I think it's the same make as Hepko & Becker also featured in this thread.

 

[rolandrat]

how does the pillion rider find the krauser,can the pillion rider get their feet on the pegs.They do look the part though

 

[AutoXer]

River Road Momentum saddlebags in the braided style. Just the right size and look for a Bonneville if you have to have storage space (but there isn't a lot of storage space in them). Works with a Givi rear luggage rack.

 

[rkevwill]

Lovely set of saddlebags, Roadtrip. Very nice looking ride as well. We were considering a day trip up from a London visit one year until the weather presenter said, "Blizzard conditions, winds up to 60 mph...." Me hats off in salute to ye. We don't get that type of weather much here in the Deep South of the States.

I appreciate the solutions you've presented. I'll be looking at each and every one. A quick glance, I do like the lot and see why each was chosen.

Are there problems you have encountered with yer bags? Saddle, I should say, as in saddle bags. (No offense meant to the lasses here) Catching a bit of the tire, rubbing, etc?

I'll be installing, more than likely, the tall factory back rest for the missus. She's under the impression I install more throttle than I do concern for her sliding off. With that in mind, what bags do you lads/lasses recommend?

Cheers

Richard

I have the short Triumph backrest on my T100, for pretty much the same reason. Frankly, I have it there more for my own confidence level, as she is a pretty inexperienced pillion rider. IMHO, the short one looks better on the bike, but I would prefer not having anything there. In any case, thats one reason I purchased the bonnie as my "other" bike, as it has a much better pillion seat than my NineT.

 

[rkevwill]

Rich, if I were looking for luggage AND pillion backrest like you just said, I would go for a topbox which will double as your backrest. There's a topbox rack by Fehling which offers Givi monokey fastening points, then you have the whole monokey range to choose from, and you can get a topbox backrest for most of the boxes. You can also fit a generic rack and mount a monokey universal plate to it which gets you to the same place.

re. the Krauser bags, they are very secure and there is no rubbing - quality bags! I think it's the same make as Hepko & Becker also featured in this thread.

Totally different frame though. Krauser uses the Cbow.

 

[sarang]

Hello all

I am from India and we don't have a lot of options of saddle bags. I have got soft bags made by a company called Rynox. They are suitable for my requirements and are relatively inexpensive - roughly $70.

They aren't water proof but have covers which are in essence very big shower caps and hold my full face helmet comfortably along with other luggage.

Hepko and Bekker have recently been made available in India by someone I know but they are very expensive - roughly 8-10% of the bike's cost.

What Triumph owners across the world may not be familiar is an item called the saree guard. It basically prevents the pillion's loose fitting clothing from getting entangled in the chain / moving bits on the rear of the motorcycle. It kinda doubles up as a saddlebag support and I have fabricated a mirror image to fit on both sides to support the bags.

cheers

ps - sorry for putting 4 pics in one post. hope thats allowed

 

[LittleJoe]

We use this set of Gears saddle bags.
They're not overly expensive, and have held up well for me since 2009. I was also concerned about room for my wife because we bought the Bonnie to ride two-up on. You can see our set-up in the pics below. Since we'll travel up to about 700 miles a day my wife likes to lean back, so that's why we have the ugly sissy bar. It looks terrible, but it keeps her happy and riding with me. I also use these MC resources stays to keep the bags out of the rear wheel.
We were on the road for 7 days that trip, we stayed in a different hotel every night. I think we did a pretty good job of getting everything packed :smile2:
To be honest, no matter what size bags you get, you will fill them to capacity and beyond.

Here is our entire set up from a trip we took two years ago though the Dragon. You can see her foot and leg placement and the distance to the pipe when fully loaded.


They're still pretty tidy and out of the wind.


You can see the bags from the back in this shot.


Like I said, I've been happy with this set up since 2009. We've put quite a few miles and have been though every type of weather except ice. The bags do come with a rain cover, but I never rely on those things. We pack everything in those roll-up Space Saver bags. They serve two purposes, they keep everything dry and they compress clothing to save space.

Hopefully that helps some.

 

[BravoFox]

Heresy, I know! 'Bags on a Bonnie? That's the equivalent of placing mailbags on Secretariat, connecting a trailer to a TVR, asking Aston to carry his Martin(i)!

I collect my late model, low mileage Bonnie SE this weekend yet the compromise with the Queen (not that Queen, my Queen!) was that we might be able to transport in a reasonable manner rain attire, namely her Barbour Peplum, a bit of dainties I've not inquired as to the content, and perhaps a bit of Scotland, particularly the 12-year-old single.

I say all of that to say I need bags on the Bonnie. What sort of bags hast thou encumbered thine Bonnie with? In short, what fits? What's your set up? What works, and how cheap was it? Do I need those U-shaped bars to prevent the launching of me single malt into next week's chat?

All help appreciated. From both the 'umble pilot and the Queen.

Cheers

Rich

I thought the same for a while, until I got British Army canvas panniers on my BMW R100S, and jeez, wondered how I did without them...

So one day I tried the panniers on the W... Doesn't look bad at all, especially installed over the seat as saddlebags... :wink2:

 

[Oldguy]

Good posts.

I have bags on year-round and am on my third set of throwovers (Tourmaster, then Kuryakyn, then Givi) in 56k. all eventually frayed over time, at the zippers or other stress points.

The Kuryakyn bags, by far, held up the best, the Givi bags were the worst by far. HTH.

 

[RUPNOK]

I've got Happy Trails SU racks and Givi E22 cases. Built like a tank.

 

[Point37]

i have these...i like them cause i can pull the bags and supports off in a few minutes if i don't want them...

http://www.triumphrat.net/twins-talk/303649-bonneville-for-commuter-14.html#post5173609

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/bags-connection-sport-pannier-system-for-triumph-thruxton-04-13

 

[Sofiaspin]

First of all, the malt. A 12 year old is good, but not good enough, you really need to stretch to a 15 year old, such as a Glengoyne. Going beyond that is not sensible. The curves of price and pleasure meet around 15 years. As to bags. Iron and Resin, if you are a sort of Enfield, BSA M20 man. Iron and Resin pannier bags. The dogs bollocks. The wife, the mistress, whoever, will have to make do with one change of smalls. But the real deal factor outweighs that minor problem.

 

[RedHeadedOne]

I have the factory saddle bags. Not bad looking but wish they came in black instead of dark brown. They are fairly easy to remove and put back on when not needed. Latched or zippered bags might be easier to get in and out of though for quickly grabbing sunglasses or glove liners.