How aggressive can I get with saddlebags?

[Wind]

Just bought a FJR and it is my first bike with saddlebags. Does anyone know when I lean will the saddlebags touch the ground first, or will my footpegs touch the ground first? Also if I do scrape the saddlebag (assuming that is possible) will it cause me to crash or will it just scratch my shinny finish? Any advise would be much appreciated.

 

[fjrob1300]

Wind ol pal, I've dragged a peg or 2 on the FJR but, I think if I got low enough to drag the bags I might be in the ditch. I don't think it can be done without loosing traction. If it can be done some will be along shortly to tell ya about it.

Rob

ps Welcome to the forum

 

[FantasticJohnR]

You can drive very aggressively- just be mindful of the weight and balance the weight between the two bags- but you will never hit the bags leaning on a corner unless you low side the bike!

Where the bags get bashed up is hitting them on stuff when you don't realize how wide your bike is- like the garage wall!

 

[RadioHowie]

Where the bags get bashed up is hitting them on stuff when you don't realize how wide your bike is- like the garage wall!

Voice of Experience????

Have you ALREADY scuffed up the bags on your BRAND NEW BIKE!! Crikey!

 

[5lbtrout]

I've scraped pegs and didn't come near scratching the saddle bags.

 

[mattster31]

Pegs..................pipes.......................bags

in that order

don't ask how I know :blink: :dribble:

 

[madmike2]

Pegs..................pipes.......................bags
in that order

don't ask how I know :blink: :dribble:

Yep...and it happens quickly....er, uhm...so I've heard.

 

[Silver Penguin]

If your riding style on the street is such that you're worried about scraping the bags, how about removing the bags and taking the bike to the track? Get your hooligan fix then put the bags back on, and chill out a bit on the roads with other drivers.

 

[HaulinAshe]

Focus on keeping the bike vertical and put yourself into the corners. As your experience and skills develop, you SHOULD be using less and less lean angle, NOT more and more. The whole chicken strips thing is BS. Don't try to use lean angle, try your best NOT to use lean angle.

If you are heavily loaded or rider weight in excess of 200 lbs., you may find that you scrape the center stand feet in dipping corners, much earlier than pegs. But as posted above, the normal order is pegs, pipes, bags, ditch, ambulance.

 

[Barabus]

If your riding style on the street is such that you're worried about scraping the bags, how about removing the bags and taking the bike to the track? Get your hooligan fix then put the bags back on, and chill out a bit on the roads with other drivers.

Okay, mommy Penguin. Now who wants to go roar up Palomar?

 

[RenoJohn]

Focus on keeping the bike vertical and put yourself into the corners. As your experience and skills develop, you SHOULD be using less and less lean angle, NOT more and more. The whole chicken strips thing is BS. Don't try to use lean angle, try your best NOT to use lean angle.
If you are heavily loaded or rider weight in excess of 200 lbs., you may find that you scrape the center stand feet in dipping corners, much earlier than pegs. But as posted above, the normal order is pegs, pipes, bags, ditch, ambulance.

Yep on all the above, a good rider will not have the lean angle of the less experienced. Lee Parks and others have done some great writing on the topic.

***HOWEVER***, I've been known to scrape the bags well before pegs or even exhaust. Spank Rally 2007.....

.and I don't need to Tell Mr. Ashe, ...dirt bikes, you never have anything wider than the handlebars, ...uhh, well I went with that principal on the FJR and that is what landed me in this predicament:

BTW, You really don't need to go to a track to scrape the bags.

 

[Ignacio]

Pegs..................pipes.......................bags
in that order

don't ask how I know :blink: :dribble:

I've found it's bags...........pegs.........then presumably bags. However, I had left my bag unlocked and dangling for it to happen.

don't ask how I know :blink: :dribble:

 

[Meltdown]

the normal order is pegs, pipes, bags, ditch, ambulance.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Gunny what everyone else just said. If you are scraping your bags, you have bigger problems than a little paint damage. They won't touch unless like some dorks, you leave one open, or you are crashing.

I say we avoid both these scenarios and just beat the shit out of the pegs!

 

[Wind]

the normal order is pegs, pipes, bags, ditch, ambulance.

I already figured I should keep the bags closed. Thanks for all the advise guys. I was just wondering if I need to worry about the bags as I was blasting through some twisties. General agreement is that the bags wont get in the way so lean as I normally would. The pegs are still my early warning signal.

 

[Wind]

Focus on keeping the bike vertical and put yourself into the corners. As your experience and skills develop, you SHOULD be using less and less lean angle, NOT more and more. The whole chicken strips thing is BS. Don't try to use lean angle, try your best NOT to use lean angle.
If you are heavily loaded or rider weight in excess of 200 lbs., you may find that you scrape the center stand feet in dipping corners, much earlier than pegs. But as posted above, the normal order is pegs, pipes, bags, ditch, ambulance.

I don't understand. I thought too often riders understeer, insufficient lean angel causes riders to go wide on turns. Am I wrong? Isn't it the faster you go through a given turn, the greater your lean angel needs to be?

 

[phroenips]

Focus on keeping the bike vertical and put yourself into the corners. As your experience and skills develop, you SHOULD be using less and less lean angle, NOT more and more. The whole chicken strips thing is BS. Don't try to use lean angle, try your best NOT to use lean angle.
If you are heavily loaded or rider weight in excess of 200 lbs., you may find that you scrape the center stand feet in dipping corners, much earlier than pegs. But as posted above, the normal order is pegs, pipes, bags, ditch, ambulance.

I don't understand. I thought too often riders understeer, insufficient lean angel causes riders to go wide on turns. Am I wrong? Isn't it the faster you go through a given turn, the greater your lean angel needs to be?

I'll try to explain...hopefully someone else can come along with a better explanation:

If you keep the motorcycle perpendicular to the road, and lean yourself to one side, the weight is shifted, and you will start to turn in that direction. Likewise, if you lean to one side and wish to keep going in a straight line, you have to lean the bike to the opposite side.

Now, let's take an example of a right turning corner. If you keep yourself directly over the top of the bike, you will have to lean the motorcycle to the right enough to maintain a proper cornering radius. If you lean yourself to the right, the bike doesn't have to lean as far to maintain that same radius. Subsequently, the tires aren't leaning as much either. The advantage, of course, is with the bike more upright, you wind up with more effective clearance, but more importantly, you maintain better traction on the tires as they aren't combating two opposing forces as much (lateral and normal force).

EDIT: Was able to dig up this link which has diagrams/pictures: https://soundrider.com/archive/safety-skill...ing_unglued.htm

 

[RadioHowie]

The whole chicken strips thing is BS.

Thank you, Jeff, for confirming what I always thought. Best quote EVER on the forum. Second best???

the normal order is pegs, pipes, bags, ditch, ambulance.

 

[beemerdons]

Focus on keeping the bike vertical and put yourself into the corners. As your experience and skills develop, you SHOULD be using less and less lean angle, NOT more and more. The whole chicken strips thing is BS. Don't try to use lean angle, try your best NOT to use lean angle.
If you are heavily loaded or rider weight in excess of 200 lbs., you may find that you scrape the center stand feet in dipping corners, much earlier than pegs. But as posted above, the normal order is pegs, pipes, bags, ditch, ambulance.

I don't understand. I thought too often riders understeer, insufficient lean angel causes riders to go wide on turns. Am I wrong? Isn't it the faster you go through a given turn, the greater your lean angel needs to be?

I'll try to explain...hopefully someone else can come along with a better explanation:

If you keep the motorcycle perpendicular to the road, and lean yourself to one side, the weight is shifted, and you will start to turn in that direction. Likewise, if you lean to one side and wish to keep going in a straight line, you have to lean the bike to the opposite side.

Now, let's take an example of a right turning corner. If you keep yourself directly over the top of the bike, you will have to lean the motorcycle to the right enough to maintain a proper cornering radius. If you lean yourself to the right, the bike doesn't have to lean as far to maintain that same radius. Subsequently, the tires aren't leaning as much either. The advantage, of course, is with the bike more upright, you wind up with more effective clearance, but more importantly, you maintain better traction on the tires as they aren't combating two opposing forces as much (lateral and normal force).

EDIT: Was able to dig up this link which has diagrams/pictures: https://soundrider.com/archive/safety-skill...ing_unglued.htm

HaulinAshe: Jeff, I have always been impressed by your riding skills and your assessments of proper motorcycle riding procedures; and your comment on lean angle is truly your best analysis yet. I am in full agreement with my Florida Manatee Loving Friend RadioHowie in this quote being the BEST QUOTE EVER on our FJR Forum.

I had the greatest pleasure of riding the Pyrenees Mountains of Spain, Andorra and France for ten days with Fellow FJR Forum Member Stefano Sarao - teerex51. Stef is a living, breathing example of your statement on lean angle exemplified! teerex51 is just faster than stink on turns, with very little lean angle; great riding style.

phroenips: You did a great job of fleshing out HaulinAshe's defining opinion, you should be developing less lean angle, as you become a more proficient motorcyclist!