Greetings from Western Ma!

Welcome to the forums!

Hiya and welcome. I am from Agawam, so waiting for late March also.

Hi BigMike;

I'm just North of Boston, with a place in FL (bike is there for the Winter). I also have an '09 V1700 Classic. I really enjoy mine as well. I see you have US Saddlebags and a sissy bar (quick release?). Looks good. I'm in the market for new bags. The OEMs are really small. I have the KQR windshield as well as the Kawa engine/crash bar. That's about it for farkles on my bike.

Hopefully I will see you in the Spring when the weather warms up and my bike comes back to NE for the riding season.

Happy New Year!
WEG

WEG said:

Hi BigMike;

I'm just North of Boston, with a place in FL (bike is there for the Winter). I also have an '09 V1700 Classic. I really enjoy mine as well. I see you have US Saddlebags and a sissy bar (quick release?). Looks good. I'm in the market for new bags. The OEMs are really small. I have the KQR windshield as well as the Kawa engine/crash bar. That's about it for farkles on my bike.

Hopefully I will see you in the Spring when the weather warms up and my bike comes back to NE for the riding season.

Happy New Year!
WEG

Click to expand...

WEG, sissy bar is bolted on. Thats cool though, that they make a QR one. Im in the market for either a luggage rack or a Hard case trunk.

I am heading back to college in a few weeks to finish up my degree, so ill be taking the bike in the mornings, then heading off to work from there. (I work at a college, my schedule is weird 12:30 -9:00pm M-F but it works for now) Im concerned about leaving things in my saddlebags, so I would like to have a hard trunk (if its possible to get one that's not crazily priced). Plus I wear a backpack with my laptop & other crap, so a luggage rack or trunk is needed. Im open to suggestions & will be searching the forums as well.

Im also going to be needing to store rain-gear, in case some weather comes out of nowhere. Im finding that having a bike is like kids, there's no end to where you can put money!

Hi BigMike;

If those are US Saddlebags they can be locked with the zipper pulls locked to the d ring with a couple of small padlocks for each bag. Google USSaddlebags and see what I'm talking about. You can find same key small locks at Home Depot. Keeps the honest people honest. As for a cheap tail case, Google JC Penny hard cases. They have something for less than $50. Again will keep honest people honest. Might meet your needs for a while,
Good luck at school. What school are you at?

WEG

Hi BogMike;

I made a mistake. It's JC Whitney, not Penny... Brain cramp. Here is the item from their website. There are others there as

GARAGE PRO UNIVERSAL MOTORCYCLE TRAVEL TRUNKS

WEG

WEG said:

Hi BogMike;

I made a mistake. It's JC Whitney, not Penny... Brain cramp. Here is the item from their website. There are others there as

GARAGE PRO UNIVERSAL MOTORCYCLE TRAVEL TRUNKS

WEG

Click to expand...

Thanks WEG. A guy at work turned me on to using a trailer. At first I was thinking "wtf"? But now after researching it, im pretty interested. He showed me one from Harbor Freight. With an online coupon its $322 complete! Now im not sure what to do as, id have to buy a hitch for my bike at another $300+ registration & that puts me into the $750 price range, which is a bit higher than I wanted to spend to fix this problem.

However, im thinking of all the possibility's that would come with having a small trailer. Swap meets, weekend trips, tag sales with the wife, trips to the beach with all our crap.....

I still have another 4-6 weeks to figure it all out.

Hi BigMike

Two different things with a trailer vrs tail case. Trailer would be great for those long weekends away or a couple of weeks on the road, but for day to day I think it would be a bit overkill. Great price for the trailer but you are right, it then requires a hitch, registration and another set of tires and bearings to maintain. Lots of folks here use them for their traveling and if you are planning two wheel vacations it may be the way to go. All depends on your need for stuff on the road. As you know many folks do very well with a large sissy bar bag and their saddlebags.
Stay warm,
WEG

So in my quest to find something that works for me, for the next year or so - I came across . Is this really what it seems? Am I misreading it? It just seems "too good to be true" & you know how that always ends up!

And if they are what they say, i'd probably order THIS one.

Hi BigMike

Couldn't open your "choice" but if these things are even close to what they say including reviews, you can always give it to someone with a scooter on campus for a Christmas present! . $18?? I think I have spent more on a fancy beer.

WEG

WEG said:

Hi BigMike

Couldn't open your "choice" but if these things are even close to what they say including reviews, you can always give it to someone with a scooter on campus for a Christmas present! . $18?? I think I have spent more on a fancy beer.

WEG

Click to expand...

Sorry, I dont know why I struggle with inserting links...

Hi BigMike;

I saw the item you might order (I think it was the right one...) and if it is the one with the "back rest" built in, it probably won't fit with your sissy bar if you are mounting it on the rack behind the sissy bar... you don't want a back rest behind the sissy bar. I figured I would send this to you "just in case"... You probably knew this already.

WEG

welcome big mike

WEG said:

Hi BigMike;

I saw the item you might order (I think it was the right one...) and if it is the one with the "back rest" built in, it probably won't fit with your sissy bar if you are mounting it on the rack behind the sissy bar... you don't want a back rest behind the sissy bar. I figured I would send this to you "just in case"... You probably knew this already.

WEG

Click to expand...

WEG, yes that's the one. My sissy bar is made by Cobra, so the backrest part is bolted on. After researching it, ill have to buy a luggage rack & probably modify the mounting bracket that comes with it.

I was originally leaning towards the one with brake lights - for visibility reasons, but the cost is about the same & this one is a little bigger. Ill post pics when its installed. It will be a few weeks though as, my free time is now reduced considerably with the 4 classes im taking along with holding down a job.

Ive been searching for a "Free Shipping" code for Amazon....so far no luck. Im not sure if the Amazon Prime service will cover that as free shipping anyways, its about $26.