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Sidecases: Is Your Bike Too Fat? (Video)

6K views 31 replies 25 participants last post by  greywolf 
#1 ·
I gave up using sidecases back in 2009. I did not like the extra width they added to my Strom.

I don't think this fellow likes the extra width his sidecases added to his FJR!

Video Link Is Here: FJR Crash Off Of A Dock
 
#2 ·
i just saw this on another mc site. it is very painful to watch, over and over...

i've bumped my sidecases twice, already, getting to a parking spot. black sharpie to the rescue, lol. adventure bike. i can see the extra width could/is be a problem for me.
 
#4 ·
The only time sidecases posed a width problem for me was trying to squeeze through a gate into a motel courtyard in Baja. Since they are so easy to pop off this isn't a serious problem. But I DO NOT lane share with bags on.
 
#5 ·
I took mine off because, I was "nipping" the bottom forward corners of them, when taking tight turns. The cases were as high up, and as far back as they could go. More then once, my heart jumped into my throat as a carved a deep, sharp turn, only to feel the back end of the bike, skip-jump to the side; as if I had hit some sand, gravel, or wet white/yellow painted line.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Boats and Ho's!!!!

OMG! I did that trying to squeeze by my wife's RAV4, but luckily I was going 1mph, and toppled over onto my lawn!!!! WOW!!! Poor fellah! You could tell he was totally surprised.

I've got pelican side cases on a Givi rack. Don't know which models, but they will just close when carrying a case of beer in each sidecase. They're not that wide - my handlebars are much much wider than the cases.

But, after seeing some other setups, I'm on the narrow side of things for sure.
 
#8 ·
I have always resisted hard side bags since I knew a guy who broke his ankle badly getting it caught between the bag and a curb. Also I have a riding buddy with a DL1000 with mermite side bags and the bags get lots of bugs on them while travelling, and he gets a highspeed wobble with them on, it rides straight as a string with them off. Proof there are aerodynamic problems.
So I decided to go with a large top box, and no side bags. People ridicule the looks of my loaded bike, but I carry as much stuff as everyone else but Goldwings, and my bike is stable at over 100mph--and I can lane-split without trouble. I also got my best fuel economy on a trip where I was loaded heavy; 50 and-a-fraction mpg, my personal best--and that was at my usual semi-fast speeds, and with non-ethanol fuel.
 
#12 ·
with a DL1000 with mermite side bags and the bags get lots of bugs on them while travelling, and he gets a highspeed wobble with them on, it rides straight as a string with them off. Proof there are aerodynamic problems.
I have to disagree with this. When i put my Givi side bags on, my bike rides more stable. 80mph is no problem with side bags on. The difference is slight, but i can definately feel the bike firm up.

I didn't get many bugs on mine in July on my 10 State tour. Windshield took the brunt of that.

I clipped my side bag leaving a gas station pump once. not enough to knock me over, but i definately think about that now when exiting. Live and learn.

I suspect the guy in this video was shying away from the edge, and that caused him to hit and go over what he was trying to avoid. I bet he has nightmares about it now. haha.
 
#10 ·
Grocery shopping.

Left Case Contents:


Right Case Contents:


Top Case Contents:


Stuck in a campground in Québec with a flat tire. Sidecases used as a cooler.


You can't beat it. But, I STILL prefer a thinner bike, and packing the weight along the centerline. Until you try it, you can't appreciate the performance gain you get by packing this way. I no longer have concerns about "nipping corners", or catching sidecases on something. It is one less thing for me to think about as a concern, and allows me to free up some "empty space" in my head to more creative types of riding.

 
#13 ·
I know this can happen with any saddlebag , but not all bikes are created equal. I put a Givi rack and some E-21's on my sons FZ-6. What a difference from the Strom. Strom rack is 21" outside to outside. The FZ-6 is 15 1/2". 5 1/2"s narrower and with the E-21's they hardly stick out beyond your knee.

 
#14 ·
Also I have a riding buddy with a DL1000 with mermite side bags and the bags get lots of bugs on them while travelling, and he gets a highspeed wobble with them on, it rides straight as a string with them off. Proof there are aerodynamic problems.
Highly unlikely the problem is aerodynamic in nature. Weight distribution might be the problem, though, if one of the bags is loaded more than the other, but it's more likely your friend's bike has underlying frame geometry problems. I had my GSX1100G over an indicated 120mph with a full set of three large GIVI bags and felt no effect whatsoever.
 
#15 ·
Ouch!!! Poor fella, 1st time seeing this video just now and had to show the wife and child. I hope for his sake the bike didn't lan don top of him after he came off. What a bad way to go for the bike and the rider.

I have Givi side bags of some sort that do stick out a good ways but have only been an issue once. That once was the very first day I put them on the bike and went to pass through my gate- a scratch on one bag later ;( and I always remember they are protruding out now. I had an R1100RT with factory bags that fit through the gate just fine. Much to my surprise the Vee did not fit- thankfully I was just barly moving when I found this out and was able to correct myself before dragging the gate all the way down my one bag.
 
#16 ·
On my first V-Strom (07) I put on a set of Givi Keyless, great bags and nice looking to. Well I must have bumped and ran into everything around me, at 45" wide it's a problem, or was for me. Plus the offset look of the bike just turned me off, I sold the racks and bags at a loss and never looked back. Now I just purchased a 2011 V-Strom and my biggest decision on buying the bike, or not, was side bags and if I could carry all the stuff I needed to carry with just a top box and a bag behind me on the seat. Well it's working so far and don't have to deal with the offset look or the wide stance of the bike. Why didn't they just put duel exhaust on the 650.
 
#18 ·
instead of "Sidecases:Is your bike to fat?" the title should be "Why not to ride past a barricade intended to stop vehicles from entering a pedestrian way"
Exactly. Even with the widest bags the bike is a hell of a lot thinner than a jeep, which is the mount of choice for really serious "adventure" touring. And as for dragging the bags while cornering, maybe a fully packed 'Strom is the wrong choice for this use. They do make crotch rockets, you know.

To paraphrase what Charles De Gaulle once observed about Brazil, this is not a serious discussion.
 
#19 ·
"Why not to ride past a barricade intended to stop vehicles from entering a pedestrian way"

Oh, so you graduated from the school of the obvious!:green_lol:
I watched it a couple times The bike doesn't go into the drink but seems to land on a dock and the rider does a face plant into a boat. He should pay docking fees for being silly.
I took off a saddle bag on my friends driveway gate one night because I had to much. Turned around back up his driveway and spent the night on the floor.
Rubbing saddle bags while touring has happened before too. Guys forget how fat their butt is when the bag isn't attached all the time.
 
#21 ·
I have Givi Keyless and my God, they are WIDE. I have caught then a couple of times on stuff but am much more aware of how wide they are now. I normally ride without them and just use my top box and my huge Wolfman Expedition dry bag for traveling. The Givi's spend 90% of their time sitting on my shop floor (I keep them packed with most of my riding gear). They do come out for some trips though.
 
#22 ·
An FJR is not wide at all. Now, my Wee with E36s...that's wide. I worried about them while "filtering" in CA, especially since some folks just didn't like the idea of my getting around them. But get through I did. I scrubbed one side once when I stopped on a bridge to take a picture. For sporty riding, I prefer to leave them off. But for stowing gear, they are great. You do have to remember that you are wide in the behind.
 
#26 ·
I remember reading about Journalist mishaps in some american motomags. Seems these scribes have less talent for riding than they can write up.
I hope their bosses have some choice words for the antics of motorcycle retrieval when they get the bill.
"You parked the bike where?" :yikes:
 
#28 ·
The convenience of having the hard side cases more than make up for the width penalty, in my view. Obviously YMMV. But I don't find myself in places where I need a bike quite that narrow very often. And I will drag all kinds of other hard parts well before I drag my cases when riding.

But then I'm talking about E21's.

Seriously though, I will probably never own another (primary) bike without side cases. Just too convenient.
 
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