Drew Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 In thinking about my on-again, off-again relationship with tank bags, I wonder about the long-term effects of the stresses that the Big Mak (or any other fuel ring-mounted) tank bag puts on the filler neck and the hardware in the fuel tank itself. It appears that there would be issues with the setup if enough weight was put in the bag to pull on the retaining bolts under the bag? Am I being paranoid? has anyone had any problems like this? I just sold a Big Mak that came with my bike, but am thinking that I made a mistake... Link to comment
Davis Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 I haven't had any trouble, but I generally don't keep a lot of heavy things in it. Mostly stuff I want to get to at a stop: wallet, hat, leatherman, flashlight, bottle of water perhaps. While the bag isn't centered over the mount, it doesn't have a very long lever arm, most of the mass is fairly close to being over the bolts. The bolts are plenty strong, the weak link would be pulling the nuts out of the plastic tank. As many people as have put a bunch of miles on these bags with a fair weight of electronics in them, if it was a problem it would have been reported. If you decide to get another bag, you might look at SW-Motech or Marsee Corona as an alternative to the Big Mak. They don't leave such an obtrusive mount when the bag is removed. Link to comment
Fugu Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 Am I being paranoid? A little. I think you'd have to grossly overload the bag to make this any sort of issue, as previously stated. Keep the gold bricks in your saddlebags. Link to comment
waylap Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 I've always wanted one and never seen a Big Mak. Anybody got some pics of one mounted, not too big just medium to small? Does it mount / snap onto somthing that mounts in the fuel filler bolts? Link to comment
Davis Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 A hinged platen is mounted using bolts which replace four of the bolts around the fuel filler. The bags slide onto the platen. I don't think I have a picture of just the platen, but the bags are available from cyclegadgets where I borrowed this picture. Link to comment
DavidEBSmith Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 I absolutely overload my Big Mak bag and have had no issues with the mount. I put so much crap in it that the bag is sagging over the edges of the platen, and I've done a ton of miles with it overloaded and with a Camelbak full of water attached to it, and the mount has not been an issue. Link to comment
Ken H. Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 No issues. I've had ours on two different bikes over a number of years. Pretty loaded up to the max at times too. Link to comment
MarkEngland Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 No issues here either. I like the bag not touching the paint, but I do not carry four days of supplies and 5 gallons of gas in my tank bag. Like most tank bags the Big Mak does not have any dividers inside, so I made my own. PICs at: http://www.kc6tew.com/modifications/rtmods/bigmak/bigmak.html Link to comment
waylap Posted June 9, 2007 Share Posted June 9, 2007 Mark, you've got a great web page there, thanks for the link. Link to comment
MarkEngland Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 Mark, you've got a great web page there, thanks for the link. Thanks for the kind words. I did add an update today to the site. I found I had to modify my 'dividers' and add a cloth to the bottom to keep stuff from sliding around. The test ride on Saturday confirmed things are working much better (just in time for the Utah 1088). Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.