Tie down and saddle latch

[hondaaddict]

(1) There's no place to tie a bag or two! I do a lot of motorcycle camping, and I need to strap gears onto the back. Help!

(2) I have a comment about the saddle bag latch. I think I know the problem: ham fisted mechanics. When the bike was new, the latches was very finicky. When the dealer was prepping the bike, one of the "mechanic" was using violent force to slam it shut! I walked up to him to see what the hell was going on. He failed a few times of slamming it. Then he try to put his weight on it; it shut partially. It obviously didn't shut completely, seeing the uneven gap. He took off for a test drive, and right away, the lid popped open. He jumped off the bike and slammed it, and again it was only partially shut. But it didn't fly open this time. I took drove it home and learned to gently coax the latch shut, and I continued to be gentle with it. Now, it latches very smoothly and easily. I would cringe if I have to bring my bike to a dealer for anything. Those guys don't care about your bike. It's not their bike, and they probably don't get paid enough to care.

 

[RedLdr1]

(1) There's no place to tie a bag or two! I do a lot of motorcycle camping, and I need to strap gears onto the back. Help!

See Here for possible solutions....

 

[karl]

Seems there may be a lot of Honda dealers, Not everyone is happy with them all.

 

[hondaaddict]

Yeah. I guess we forget the good service we get. But we always remember the bad ones.

The platform on the bike looks plasticky. Is there solid metal underneath it? If I bolt a solid metal rack on the platform, I want to make sure the base is solid also.

 

[elizilla]

hondaaddict, the grab rails extend back under that plastic platform on the tail, and that's what the metal racks bolt to. Unfortunately, that grab rail is also plastic, though it is very stout plastic.

 

[Chuck 500]

I have had some luck strapping stuff to the back seat with bungee cords or a cargo net. Since I don't have a top case (yet) when i took my long trip in May, I moved my rain gear and such from the right saddlebag to a small duffel and strapped it down with bungee cords. Worked pretty well, not fancy but serviceable. The bungees hooked to small spaces under the grab rail. Today I had to carry a box of file folders to work. They wouldn't fit in the saddlebags so i stropped it down with a cargo net. Rode like a champ.

 

[hondaaddict]

I'm going to be carry tents, sleeping bags, stoves, etc, over great distances. I need a very robust strap setup.

 

[elizilla]

Rok Straps.

 

[bicyclist]

Rok Straps.

+1 They have an elastic section to take up slack and loops on the ends instead of metal hooks that scratch up the bike and they're adjustable for length.

 

[Bear]

I found the MoTech AluRack quite satisfactory. Obviously you cannot carry a ton of stuff on it--no rack to my knowledge can. With the panniers and rack you should be able to do some pretty extensive touring. Another alternative would be a trailer.

 

[Phil Tarman]

+ 2 (or 3) on RokStraps. They'll work great and hold anything you want to carry.

 

[Phil Tarman]

John, one reason Rick and I like the ROK straps is that they don't need hook attachment points. I'm surprised you haven't tried 'em.