Well... It's My Turn Now...

[RadicalR1150R]

I've always wondered & laughed, not meaning any harm, how the heck can they do that? Lose their pannier? I've even seen the post at one time on drilling the mount & pinning..
Well I'm in that club as of today... I'm riding in to work after loading my lunch, my blue tooth speaker, even threw in a flashlight this morning, took the towel off the Sargent seat the cats lay on & thought, I locked the bag...
60 mph 5 miles down the road, & I feel a bump.... What was that..? feels a little squirrely, icy like, back end falling off? flat tire? Spline Failure?,
I get to work, up on the center stand, take out the coffee cup, throw my gloves in close it, walk around to the other side for my lunch & stuff &..... There is no other side any more... OHHH NOOOO... That's what that bump was...
Well don't want the wife out on the side of the road early morning, I'll text my son & ask him to keep an eye open for it on his way in..
Well luck was with me, he FOUND it.. It had skidded on the inside half grinding down the tabs that hold it on..
I'll pick it up tomorrow & see if I'll be able to use it again.. Don't know if it was hanging for awhile by one tab against the tire? giving that slippery feel or what. SOOOOO...
Double Check It Brothers & Sisters.
Ride Safe....

[skylarmav1]

Forrest Gump says, "%!÷it Happens" I triple check my stuff because I know it will happen one day. Murphy's Law.

[Hottech]

I drilled a small 1/4 inch hole in the lower tabs through the metal posts that the cases rest on and put spring pins through the holes to hold the cases on. No more worry and easy to take the pins out to remove the cases when I ride naked. Can't remember where I found the fix but you can probably google it.

[riceburner]

When I had one fall off it overtook me (as they are wont to do).

the locking tab had broken.

(I still have the box - just not sure what to do with it!)

[sstein]

Two comments:

I need to use the key to lock the bags onto my 02R so hopefully won't be an issue for me. But I could see myself leaving the key in the bag and forgetting to take it out.


You mentioned a Bluetooth speaker. Do you use that to listen to on the bike? If so, what is your set up?
Don't mean to hijack this thread, but always looking for a better way to listen to music on the bike.

[Tundra Dweller]

So...can they come off when locked?
I had a 2008 Kawi Concours 1400 and a sizable bump can knock the bags off.
I drilled the lower tabs and installed ball lock pins through them.

[RadicalR1150R]

Inspection of the bag today revealed the "grasping" clamp, or lever that moves when the luggage handles are closed or opened had broken,(pot metal?) I have no idea how or why this would happen. They've always required a strong closing effort, thus assuring they were indeed locked. It's a shame too because there was absolutely no damage to the outside of the bag what so ever, cracks etc.. The two mounting tabs on the top were ground down some & one other small spot. They must have dropped & skidded on those tabs..never even rolling or tumbling. These were city lids that were sprayed with a truck bed liner material that I purchased on this forum a while back..These lids are(were) bullet proof & looked tough..
So I made a call to my insurance.. We'll see were this goes.

The bluetooth speaker is for my work area at work..Kinivo BTX 350..hard to come by now lately, Don't know how you'd mount to the bike but it'd be great sound..

Yes.. there is a post on this forum somewhere that explains the drill/pin procedure. It's printed off in with my manual stuff, I'll look it up.

I don't think a bump moves these bags or would move them if not faulted or not closed correctly.

[sstein]

Thinking about it some more, I guess I was not totally accurate. In order for the bags to be mounted on the bike, the handles need to be in the "up" position. There is an orange tab that disallows clamping down the handles until the key is used. The key slides the orange tab out of the way, then the handles can be clamped down thus securing the bags. THEN, the key needs to be turned the OTHER direction, sliding the orange tab BACK to a position where the handles CANNOT be unclamped. ONLY THEN can the key be removed.

Since my bag key and my ignition key are on the same key ring, I cannot start the bike without first going through this whole procedure.

This is the only bike I have had, so I don't know if this is a universal system.

Hope this made sense...

[peels]

haha welcome to this illustrious club. My favorite thing was, the first time it happened, I parked, got off my bike, I walked into a restaurant, got my food, and didnt notice until I came out of it.

happened to me 3 times. Found it myself once, 2nd i saw it in my rearview it popped off over a railroad crossing, then the 3rd, someone brought it to my house later. Best part is, I ran into this kid at the auto parts store the other day. He's from my town, and recognized my bike.... good people are out there.

I got lucky, almost learning the hard way. double check that right bag every time. AND, I adjust my mirrors so that i can JUST see the top of my bags.

My left, I rarely open it, I leave all my emergency gear in that one.

[Maxjett]

you just to make sure the lower bag mount in slipped into the mount at the rear foot pegs. If you happen to miss this mount then the bags will pop off easily. But maybe a pin like was mentioned above can't hurt. On my 05 GS I drilled and had clips in the mount so they wouldn't pop open going off road.

[Tundra Dweller]

I learn from others that have "gone there" before me. I will pin my saddle bags, added to the list of winter projects.
Thank you for the heads up!

[Buckster]

I have my name and phone number taped to the backside of the case just in case it goes.
.......and you are right about getting that bottom foot in place to help keep it in place. I found that I had been riding for a while with that out of place....very easy to miss and the case still felt secure when locked.

[Sunbeemer]

I have my name and phone number taped to the backside of the case just in case it goes.

That's a good idea...I'm going to do that now even though I've pinned mine through the passenger footrest mounting bracket.
Chances are much better for getting them back if their finder knows who to call

Maybe I'll even engrave them!

[peels]

OK. this thread must have been an OMEN! right after I spout off about my experiences, and how to avoid them ... I did it again!

Last night, MEGA windy, fully geared, im ducking behind the screen... Ride into our small town, its trick or treat night.... I was watching for people, not really my bags. I get home, its GONE!


I drove back and forth between home and work twice. NOTHING ran into the police chief walking with his kids, hes a friend, he put his ears out for me. Then, my mom, an ex police dispatcher of 25 yrs calls the office. Well. the on-duty officer had actually watched it fall off my bike as I rounded a corner, and had it at the station!!!! LOL apparently the people I had tried to avoid on the way home, flagged him down to tell him I lost it. at the same time The officer just thought I was swerving to miss a bag in the road. Its funny I remember seeing the cruiser... annoying that it happened 4 blocks from my house, but I drove all over creation looking for it.

double check those bags folks!

[Buckster]

That's crazy!
Was the lock still intact or did it just come off?

[peels]

That's crazy!
Was the lock still intact or did it just come off?

It still works... but if you dont have the top catches in perfect place, the handle will still "latch" but be off. the LOCK mechanism no longer works though. the little tab is broken.

I think at the end of the day, when I opened it to put something in, I must have pulled up too hard to shut the case, and pulled it out of the bracket a bit. OR.... left the handle up partially.....but that's part of what I check regularly.

translated answer: complacency..basically, I should listen to my own hypocritical advice. LOL