Caution - whining ahead (Merged dupe threads)

[NMRoadRunner]

The bigger the box the more you pack into them. Same goes for tank bags. I've found I can get by with a lot less crap than I thought. The "submariner" above set up some good rules for packing. Do you really need it, or just have room for it?

 

[ionbeam]

"Stuff" always expands to fill the available space. Enough space is as common as unicorns.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Go to REI and attend one of their camping gear seminar things. They'll go over packing solutions. If you're needing more than the side cases and a tail bag, you're packing too much and packing it incorrectly.

I'm usually pretty good. For the 10 day trip we just made to EOM, I packed my side cases and a large tank bag that I put.on the rear seat. I had room left, but I still had WAY too much shit. It had been a while since I made a trip like that, so being out of practice meant too much stuff.

FWIW, I don't like stuffing my jacket and pants into any size cases. I'd rather cable them to the bike. Different strokes though...

 

[Top_Speed1]

It's interesting to note that the much bigger BMW K1600 has side cases that are almost the same size and shape as the FJR. In fact the FJR bag liners perfectly fit in the BMW side cases. Small as the side cases are, I know 2 people that just spent 2 weeks traveling over 2.5k miles carrying clothes and riding gear to accommodate 30º to 100º as well as rain. We did cheat and put a small Givi top case on the BMW. My pillion did leave her hair dryer at home and I didn't bring my tool box

Well I hate to say your off on this Alan, but the K16's have substantially bigger S/B's. And, to the fact that I can put my Schuberth C3-Pro XL helmet easily in one side and still smoosh in a jacket liner, gloves etc.

I could never stow my C3-Pro (by itself!) in one of my FJR's side bags. Not even close!. Yamaha vs BMW (OEM) top case included on this statement.

 

[ionbeam]

It's interesting to note that the much bigger BMW K1600 has side cases that are almost the same size and shape as the FJR. In fact the FJR bag liners perfectly fit in the BMW side cases. Small as the side cases are, I know 2 people that just spent 2 weeks traveling over 2.5k miles carrying clothes and riding gear to accommodate 30º to 100º as well as rain. We did cheat and put a small Givi top case on the BMW. My pillion did leave her hair dryer at home and I didn't bring my tool box

Well I hate to say your off on this Alan, but the K16's have substantially bigger S/B's. And, to the fact that I can put my Schuberth C3-Pro XL helmet easily in one side and still smoosh in a jacket liner, gloves etc.

I could never stow my C3-Pro (by itself!) in one of my FJR's side bags. Not even close!. Yamaha vs BMW (OEM) top case included on this statement.

Well, I hate to say this, but my experience with the K16 says that perhaps the bag shape may be slightly different but the capacity is basically the same. We used the same FJR bag liners on the K16 as we do on the FJR. The K16 bags could not be made to hold hardly any more than the FJR bags with or without the FJR bag liners. By the numbers the BMW bags are 1 liter larger but that didn't translate into any significantly larger load capacity. The K16 was topped by a Givi so there is no comparison to a Yamaha trunk. The Yamaha trunk is designed to offer the least possible usable space for the size of the unit.

At some point I'm also going to hold you responsible for the K16's shitty 1st gear throttle behavior when pulling away from a stop. I tried all modes and found Dynamic to be the least repugnant. There may actually be something wrong with the 55k mile K16 that caused the really bad throttle behavior.

 

[Top_Speed1]

It's interesting to note that the much bigger BMW K1600 has side cases that are almost the same size and shape as the FJR. In fact the FJR bag liners perfectly fit in the BMW side cases. Small as the side cases are, I know 2 people that just spent 2 weeks traveling over 2.5k miles carrying clothes and riding gear to accommodate 30º to 100º as well as rain. We did cheat and put a small Givi top case on the BMW. My pillion did leave her hair dryer at home and I didn't bring my tool box

Well I hate to say your off on this Alan, but the K16's have substantially bigger S/B's. And, to the fact that I can put my Schuberth C3-Pro XL helmet easily in one side and still smoosh in a jacket liner, gloves etc.

I could never stow my C3-Pro (by itself!) in one of my FJR's side bags. Not even close!. Yamaha vs BMW (OEM) top case included on this statement.

Well, I hate to say this, but my experience with the K16 says that perhaps the bag shape may be slightly different but the capacity is basically the same. We used the same FJR bag liners on the K16 as we do on the FJR. The K16 bags could not be made to hold hardly any more than the FJR bags with or without the FJR bag liners. By the numbers the BMW bags are 1 liter larger but that didn't translate into any significantly larger load capacity. The K16 was topped by a Givi so there is no comparison to a Yamaha trunk. The Yamaha trunk is designed to offer the least possible usable space for the size of the unit.

At some point I'm also going to hold you responsible for the K16's shitty 1st gear throttle behavior when pulling away from a stop. I tried all modes and found Dynamic to be the least repugnant. There may actually be something wrong with the 55k mile K16 that caused the really bad throttle behavior.

They say proof is in the pudding, and I'll be happy to show you in person.

It's not night and day, but it is easily noticeable and I think it comes in the depth/thickness of the bag(s), I can definitely get quite a bit more into them than I could w my FJR SB's.

The helmet deal was HUGE for me; being that I have a very expensive helmet. I really didn't care if I could carry 2 more pairs of jeans, 6 additional shirts etc (and you can!), but to be able to have my C3-P locked up and out of sight.... well,,,, it was just another thorn in my side that was solved for me.

 

[Bustanut joker]

No complaints here.. I always pack clothes I can throw away along the trip, and find a goodwill or salivatin' army store to buy replacements, as wherever I'm going isn't a fashion show.

I spent years packing gear this way.

Enclosed cases are the shit.

 

[wheatonFJR]

^^^^^

This explains a lot.

I agree, I love having hard cases for travel. Better n sliced bread!

 

[bigjohnsd]

I haven't had any problems, 3 weeks, 8500 miles and i carried two jackets.

I'll pare down my stuff for the next trip and see if I can do away with my top box and just use the Aussie Smuggler i hope to have painted and fitted by spring.

 

[DaJudge]

Interesting that some are having issues stowing a helmet in an FJR sidecase. My Arai (size large) fits just fine.

Of course, if I add an SMH10-B to the helmet, forget it. Not sure about the slimmer SMH10-R that I'm considering.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Mmmmmmmmmm. Pudding. I wonder how much pudding I could fit in the FJR bags compared to the K16 bags.

 

[FJRay]

And then there are those of us that tow a trailer. I never thought I would but it sure is handy and doesn't slow you down a bit.

 

[Ignacio]

Mmmmmmmmmm. Pudding. I wonder how much pudding I could fit in the FJR bags compared to the K16 bags.

Exactly

:

 

[Fred W]

All kinds of talk about packing for trips and traveling light, and the OP (who really didn't do all that much whining) was just trying to stuff his riding gear into the side cases...

I need to rant at least once about the "modest" size of the FJR side cases.  Note that I was previously spoiled with my 36L Caribou side cases on my V-Strom. The interior space of the FJR side cases is tiny by comparison. I often stow my jacket in one and overpants in the other, with waterproof liners inserted.  I can barely get them to fit, and I will bet that I am wearing out the hinges in the effort. Once I start wearing my heated liner, that will surely have to stow in the top bag. Anyone know of any larger aftermarket cases that will fit the same mounts?

To answer your question first:; No. There are no aftermarket bags made that will fit the stock mounting points of the FJR. There used to be a couple of companies that made side racks that would allow mounting Givi (or other brand) bags to an FJR, but probably due to lack of orders, they seem to no longer offer them.

Yes, the FJR bags are modestly sized in comparison the the gigantic utilitarian cases people slap on other bikes (like Vstroms). It comes with the territory of riding a sport tourer. The FJR bags are reputed to have approximately 30 liters interior volume. 30 liters is actually not all that bad compared to some other ST bikes.

So, to solve your problem, maybe we should talk about the gear that you are trying to stow in there and why you are wanting to leave it in the bike's cases. Where are you doing the stowing? If at work, can't you just wear your gear in to your workplace and then hang it there?

Or maybe a different type of riding gear would be more storage friendly? For instance, I know my Olympia AST jacket takes up a lot of space when rolled up, but my Aerostich Darien jacket can be rolled into about 1/2 of the space. So maybe your gear choice would help?

 

[RadioHowie]

--deleted--

 

[Fred W]

No. This stupid forum software does that to me every once in a while. I can't make heads or tails out of why it happens.

I'll go back and fix it if you'll delete your quoting of the mess.

 

[ionbeam]

<p>All kinds of talk about packing for trips and traveling light, and the OP (who really didn't do all that much whining)  was just trying to stuff his riding gear into the side cases... </p><p> </p>

<p> </p>

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote" data-author="no rain" data-cid="1186520" data-time="1413864280">I need to rant at least once about the "modest" size of the FJR side cases.  Note that I was previously spoiled with my 36L Caribou side cases on my V-Strom.  The interior space of the FJR side cases is tiny by comparison.  I often stow my jacket in one and overpants in the other, with waterproof liners inserted.  I can barely get them to fit, and I will bet that I am wearing out the hinges in the effort.  Once I start wearing my heated liner, that will surely have to stow in the top bag.  <strong>Anyone know of any larger aftermarket cases that will fit the same mounts?</strong></blockquote>

<p> </p>....

No. This stupid forum software does that to me every once in a while. I can't make heads or tails out of why it happens.
I'll go back and fix it if you'll delete your quoting of the mess.

That is just so HTML of you Fred. You need to see why your post is in HTML (web page programming) instead of rich text or plain text.

 

[RadioHowie]

No. This stupid forum software does that to me every once in a while. I can't make heads or tails out of why it happens.
I'll go back and fix it if you'll delete your quoting of the mess.

Done!

 

[Fred W]

I regularly switch back and forth in the editing window between wysiwyg and unformatted. But it always looks correct in wysiwyg before I hit the post button. I have no idea why it sometimes decides to switch to posting in html as we never see that even in the unformatted mode.

 

[Queensland Ken]