I
got the BMW Multivario tank bag because it could be financed
with the bike, and because I thought I had no other options.
Not so. Many manufactuers make bags for the RT, and each
has its positive and negative points.
Jerry
Cook <jcook@capcity.com>
says about the BMW Tank Bag – " I had one for
a brief period of time. Let me explain the BAD NEWS first.
Unless BMW has re-designed the front of the R11RT bag it
is just a question of time before it will scratch the plastic
and grind into the paint. If that is not a problem for you
Press On! I got pissed and ordered a Bagster for my RT.
They even came color coordinated for the Green or Red or
Blue RT.
While
I was waiting for the bagster to arrive I pulled the BMW
bag out of the woodpile and looked at it. there was foam
to protect the plastic bodywork on the sides and on the
rear but not on the front. when you load the bag the front
lowers and will eventually contact the plastic. the hard
rubber on the front edge of the bag will rub back and forth
and grind into the paint. I found a piece of foam and glued
it to the front of the BMW bag and this seemed to keep the
bag off of the plastic.
I
found that removing the bag for gas was easiest if I unzipped
the zipper that is in the rear of the bag. when you do this
it is sort of natural for the bag to slide forward and backward.
this means more grinding. I started using the two hooks
(harder) and lifter the bag directly up.
Anyway,
the front of the bag is the real problem.
The
sides seem to be something like cardboard. I did not use
the BMW bag in heavy rain. I thought i remembered a post
about that.
Good
NEWS?? The BMW bag has stiff sides. this is important to
some riders to help keep the bag and its contents from shifting
when cornering. The reversible map case is a great idea,
when expanded it holds a lot of stuff. It has a BMW LOGO
on it, It costs $300
My
Bagster was $300 for both pieces. Bra thingy and bag. the
sides are soft and the bag can shift contents(not a problem
for me- I don’t do corners (:-)....) there are about
20 different bags that will attach to the same Bagster mount
(bra) there is one "bag" that is a map case. just
a plastic pouch that hooks to the same Mount(bra) there
is even an animal carrier (small animals)
I’m
happy with it, I clean the BRA Mount about every 2 weeks
or more if dirt and dust are bad. after one year I have
not noticed any damage to the body.
Your
dealer can order Bagster products from the importer or you
can call BMW of new york (yuk) and they will sell to you"
Bill
Pollack <bill@billanddot.com>
strongly recommends RevPack. He says "I recently returned
from an Edelweiss tour o’ Europe, and all the bikes—RTs,
GSs, K12s, Rs, and RSs—were equipped with RevPack’s
"Jr. Tank Pack" ($74.95 + shp.). I thought so
highly of it that after I got back, I bought one. The Jr.
is large enough to be useful without being overwhelming,
IMHO. I’ve carried an 8 ½ x 14" atlas (flat),
a pair of sneakers, and a hat at the same time in there,
plus a see-through map holder—that sort of size. The
straps are thick and flexible, and the plastic buckle thingees
are large enough (as opposed to, say, a Sargent tank-strap-system
thingee I had, with real tiny plastic buckles—one of
which I broke—and a silly screw-through-strap-based
mounting system at one end). Anyway, the RevPack worked
flawlessly at (legal) triple-digit speeds, in a full day
of moderate rain, and so forth (and hence I would not recommend
the optional rain cover). If you want to go bigger, they
have the non-Jr. model for $89.95; see http://revpack.com/,
or (800)766-2461."
Jim
Wilson <jimwilson@iname.com>
agrees about the RevPack: " I’ve also had good
luck, in my case with the larger model. The one minor thing
is that when turning the handlebars significantly (eg in
a parking lot) the bag hits the windshield switch. This
usually happens when I’m backing up—the first
time it occurred I wondered when I had put the windshield
down. I also agree with the comment about the rain cover—not
needed. The larger tank bag also has a larger map holder,
which holds two folds of a regulation size map. RevPack
told me the smaller one didn’t quite"
Karl
R. <krrace@tir.com>
says "Save yourself a lot of money $200 or more and
buy a RKA they are really good bags and they only cost $120
to $160 or something like that and have a rain cover that
you can put the map pocket on top of. They make several
different sizes. I like mine very much and it seem to be
holding up really well."
Steve
Burford <burf@iquest.net
>Likes his BMW Bag: :The BMW tank bag is generally a
well constructed and thought out piece of soft luggage for
their motorcycles. The new design of this tank bag is better
than the K bike bag we had, and uses a unique attachment
system to hold the tank bag onto the top of the motorcycle.
While it is expensive ($325) compared to the standard Eclipse
($120) units I have used for years, the ease of attachment
makes it almost worth it."
"The
only complaint I have ever had with the Eclipse was that
it tends to rub the surface of the panels or gas tanks where
it is attached to. There is an easy solution for this by
laying some cloth between the attachment straps of the tank
bag and the painted portion of the tank. Irmi got out the
sewing machine and made some slip on covers that included
a gather. This gather would keep the straps together when
the tank bag was removed from the bike. The straps would
just hang by themselves around the front post or the frame
tube in the back when not in use."
"The
new bag uses two steel clips that are attached to the front
section of the gas tank to hold the front unit in place.
These clips have a corresponding elastic banded clip coming
off the base for the tank bag from each side that simply
fits over the steel clips. The rear uses a self-stick pad
of velcro that fits into a depressed section of the gas
tank cover panel that the attachment panel for the tank
bag attaches to. There is a nicely designed soft inner panel
that contacts the surface of the gas tank cover. "
"The
new tank bag is easy to expand also. Just add more "stuff".
There are no smaller sections that are zippered together
to expand the storage section of the bag like all the other
BMW tank bags we have ever had. The top of the bag is held
in check by an elastic strap that is adjustable and goes
between the map holder and the top of the bag itself. The
downside to this design is that there is no pocket that
is easily accessible to hold the small stuff that you always
wind up putting in a tank bag. Include any small stuff to
the packed material and it winds up in the bottom of the
bag. A small pocket held on to the riders end of the bag
by snaps or whatever would be ideal."
Bruce
<BAnder6125@aol.com>
offers a suggestion for protecting your RT from the BMW
bag: "something you can use that works is that rubberized
non slip shelf material between the tankbag and the bike
- no scratching and NO slipping.
Jeff
Dean <jeff.dean@worldnet.att.net>
uses the BMW tank bag on his R1100RTs, and writes "If
you don’t do something under the front of the tank
bag," he says, "it will scratch and damage the
paint on the top of the tank. I went to J. C. Penney’s
and bought cotton hand towels that match the paint
of the bike pretty well. Then I folded them in thirds and
placed them between the tank bag and the tank. That eliminated
scratching. Plus, it makes sure you have a towel with you
on trips! A friend added additional foam under the front
of the tank bag because he didn’t like the towel idea.
Do what you want, but do something or your paint will be
scratched in time"
"Other
than this, I am very happy with the BMW bag. To gas up,
simply pull forward on the front straps to release them
and flip the tank bag backward onto the driver’s seat.
That exposes the gas cap". "I have not tried other
tank bags, so cannot comment on them. BMW’s surely
are expensive, as others have noted herein. But they work
well"
Hillary
M. Russak <hrussak@SLAC.Stanford.EDU>
says "I’ve got a small Marsee tank-bag and it
looks like the webbing straps that hold it down will eventually
rub into the paint……"
There
is a new bag on the market called the BMA AirBag from Big
Mak Accesories <http://www.bigmakaccess.com>.
G. McCurdy <g.mccurdy@worldnet.att.net>
is pretty happy with his: "I installed the newest version
(Cordura) of the AirBag on my RT. The bag's mounting rack
is painted to match the gas cap. The top of it is a textured
ABS plastic to match the dash. To mount it you remove the
front four Torx screws, install BMA's nylon spacers, AirBag
mount, and the four allen head button screws supplied by
BMA. The bag is very nice - better than any I have seen
or owned. It may seem small, but it is well padded (won't
look limp), and is insulated (it kept my water bottle cool
for quite a while).
It
also has nice large pull-strap Nylon zippers around the
perimeter. Putting it on the mount is fast; faster than
it takes to read this sentence! Velcro flap secures it from
the front. You can remove it just as quick and carry it
via the handle at the front or use the long strap that comes
with it. Internal compartments have elastic for holding
rolls of film or batteries, a compartment on both sides
(internal), and under the top cover (for a cell phone).
I also got the rain cover (an additional $20 or so). It
has a clear top for reading a map beneath. I planned on
using it to hold a GPS unit (a Garmin eMap). The plastic,
although thick, is still pliable enough to work the eMap's
control buttons. However, and better yet, BMA enclosed a
Map Case which is clear plastic and has a snap hook at the
front and a bungee cord to attach it at the back of the
bag. Inside this I could place a folded map, the GPS, and
a Nokia 6162 cell phone. The e-Map buttons were operational
through the clear plastic as well. At a fill up is where
the unit really shines. Just tilt it forward and open the
tank's cap - nothing to unsnap or unbuckle. And best of
all, it is raised and won't scratch that expensive BMW plastic.
Suggested carrying weight is up to 10 pounds. For the $220
(including the rain cover), it was one of the better investments
I have made - - - next to the Russell Day-Long seat! And
their accessories to it is growing.
Dirk
Jesinghaus <Jesinghaus@t-online.de
> of Germany prefers to not use a tank bag, but likes
to have a map on the tank. He offers a solution: "Now
there is a special map holder on the market which uses the
same mounting points as the original BMW tank bag. So it
really fits. (Wunderlich, part No 2350041, http://www.Wunderlich.de
)
