Did a four hour dress rehearsal ride this afternoon to test my current load out for mult-day/weeks touring. In the yellow Sea To Summit Big River 65L Dry Bag is all my camping gear: two man tent, ground sheet, sleeping bag, self-inflating pad, a chair, a canister stove, a tarp- poncho and clothes. There is room to spare. Notice the latch points on the bag which makes strapping it down (with ROK Straps of course) to the bikes rail a breeze. The bag material is thicker than it looks and not thin like other dry bags. The bag on top is an Oxford 18L Tail Bag that is actually water proof and has an outside pocket that is the perfect size for my iPad. The inside fits a 4L box of wine. The rig performed well today. I have an Oem luggage rack yet to install but as you can see, a naked CB1100 can carry a lot of stuff even without the rack. The only down side is that I will not be able to take on a damsel-in-distress passenger. Just as well - trying to down size and simplify my life anyway.
simple but functional. I like it.
I am pondering the touring load situation myself.
I have those same TourMaster Soft bags. The strap will go under the seat if you choose to set it up like that.
Do you need to move the indicators to use the soft bags? Do they need frames for support?
The Tourmaster soft bags are just slung over the pillion and the signals have not been moved. The bags are mounted high over the seat and the front part of the bags rest on the rear shock spring (There is a pad on the inside exterior of each bag and there seems no danger of being pinched in the spring). The rear of the bags are touching the signals but they do not get in the way of accessing the bags contents. Because they are high, there is no need for supports to prevent the bags from working there way inward toward the wheel. They are functional, fairly inexpensive and fit a stock CB1100 without relocating the rear signals is what I like.
Just wait til I install my oem rear luggage rack and my CB becomes a serious tourer...
Thanks Mandrau. That’s helpful.
Installed the Honda OEM Luggage rack today.
Turns out that the Tourmaster soft saddle bags do not fit properly anymore without relocating the rear signals. Tried anther set of saddle bags I had lying around and same deal. I like to see those sexy retro rear shock/springs anyway. If I had one complaint about this bike (and it is a minor one) it would be the position of those rear signals that get in the way of everything. Love the rack though. Looks like my next mod may be signal relocation.
How did the rack prevent you from using the soft bags?
The luggage rack’s side rails are further out and their sloping angle toward the front prevent the saddle bags seating properly on the the pinion. Would be ok if I could move them back a little but then the signals are in the way. I slept on it and I’m figuring that in addition to ‘embracing the wind’ i’m going to ‘show the springs’ and carry my gear up top for now.