Bags-Connection Rearbag

Bags-Connection Rearbag

No more bungee-cord boogaloo

WHO AMONG US HASN'T BEEN SMAcked in the snout by an errant bungee cord while strapping down soft luggage to a motorcycle's rear seat? It's the wise packer who wears his helmet, faceshield down, while performing the operation.

And as Herculean as your bungee-stretching may be, aren’t you always reaching around behind while on the road, just to make sure the load hasn’t shifted?

Bags-Connection offers peace of mind in the form of a 13 x 15 x 9.5-inch-high nylon tail trunk called the Rearbag. It uses nary a strand of elastic to stay securely in place; instead, four small spring-loaded metal clasps at the lower corners of the bag put the bite on 3A-inch-wide straps that attach to hard points on the bike.

Part of an impressively extensive line of soft luggage produced in Germany and rep’d in the U.S. by Twisted Throttle, the Rearbag is a high-quality, well-thoughtout product that shows serious input by people who go places on motorcycles.

Not only is the four-point mounting system a cinch (sorry) to use, it offers a tie-down solution for the streamlined often hookless rear ends on many modem sportbikes. While the two front straps worked well on every bike we tried from classic Triumph Bonneville to BMW F800GS adventure bike to Kawasaki

Concours 14 sport-tourer, looping easily around the passenger footpeg brackets, finding attachment points for the bag’s rear straps was sometimes a challenge. That’s why, included with the $175 purchase price, there are two short web straps with D-rings on one end and a hole near the other. These secure to the license-plate mounting bolts and give the rear straps something to thread through.

Also included is a sheet of trimmable clear plastic adhesive, meant to protect the bike’s bodywork should the straps come in contact, a nice touch usually overlooked by other luggage-makers.

The Rearbag itself has several useful features. Foam side stiffeners mean the bag keeps its shape, empty or full. Shoulder straps (included) turn it into a rucksack for off-the-bike use, and the right sidepouch unzips from the main compartment to become a fannypack, thanks to the attached nylon belt.

A circumferential zipper can be undone to give the bag an additional 4 inches of headroom, enough that a fullface helmet easily fits inside.

The makers claim the Rearbag is waterproof and without need for a rain cover mainly because of its overlappinglid design and an inner, seam-sealed stuff sack-the rubber zipper sheaths on the sidepouches certainly look the part, too. Skeptical, we left bike and bag sit outside all night-10 hours-in a sometimes-driving rainstorm. In the morning, a few drops of moisture had wicked their way through to the interior walls, but otherwise all was dry.

Pretty impressive, which also sums up our take on the Rearbag. □

DETAILS

Twisted Throttle LLC 1080 Kingstown Rd., Bld. 1 Peacedale, RI 02879 Phone: 650/350-6500 www.twistedthrottle.com Price...$175

tJps A trunk for your junk Good value for money Fits wide range of bikes Downs What to do with all your old bungees? Twisted Throttle catalog highly addictive