11-23-2021, 03:31 AM
VLJ I'm just trying to picture touring with a bike with no top case, and 1 of the only two places to store stuff left vacant so it will hold a helmet. You must travel with very little gear if you can fit everything you need in one 30 liter saddlebag.
Heck, I can pack pretty minimally having toured for 46 years? (since 1977), but when I rode out to Cali on my ST 1300 I had both bags, the top case, a small bag bungied to the lid of the top case, a dry bag with gear strapped on the back seat and a tank bag. Had to have some regular clothes, enough riding gear to deal with the torrential rain we encountered in Wyoming, the cold in Colorado (32 degrees), the heat in California (105 degrees), plus tools to deal with whatever came up during 11 days on the road. No way could I have packed all that in one 30L saddlebag. That doesn't count the dozens of trips my wife went with me to the South East, North East, Mid West, West, Northwest, and South West in the US, up into Canada and to Europe where we had to pack her gear as well.
and in all those years, all those trips, I have never had a helmet stolen or damaged when left outside on a bike. Locking a helmet in a saddlebag, or top case, has just never been a priority, nor will it be in the future, no matter where I ride or what bike I am riding.
Heck, I can pack pretty minimally having toured for 46 years? (since 1977), but when I rode out to Cali on my ST 1300 I had both bags, the top case, a small bag bungied to the lid of the top case, a dry bag with gear strapped on the back seat and a tank bag. Had to have some regular clothes, enough riding gear to deal with the torrential rain we encountered in Wyoming, the cold in Colorado (32 degrees), the heat in California (105 degrees), plus tools to deal with whatever came up during 11 days on the road. No way could I have packed all that in one 30L saddlebag. That doesn't count the dozens of trips my wife went with me to the South East, North East, Mid West, West, Northwest, and South West in the US, up into Canada and to Europe where we had to pack her gear as well.
and in all those years, all those trips, I have never had a helmet stolen or damaged when left outside on a bike. Locking a helmet in a saddlebag, or top case, has just never been a priority, nor will it be in the future, no matter where I ride or what bike I am riding.