Reply With QuoteOK, so lets get into the mounting! Buells naturally offer good mounting locations for more "permanent" setups, so I felt a fool if I didn't take advantage of that.
They provide you with 2 straps that are connected end to end and designed to wrap around frame parts. I immediately cut these in half and burned the ends so they wouldn't unravel, folded the ends over and burned a hole through both layers (I used a propane torch to heat a screw driver and pushed it through), and got to mounting these to the bike.
The front was pretty straight forward. I figured I'd use the rear straps to control tension, so I mounted these with plenty of excess, hooked the bag into it, tightened it until the bag was in the right location, then sent the loose ends into the cinch-buckle. I then sent the end BACK through the cinch buckle again to really lock it down, and cut the remainder. A great way to cut these is to heat a knife. They slice through easy and burn the ends at the same time, leaving a nice, clean end.
The rear, for me, was a little more complicated since I didn't want the straps along the sides of the airbox cover. I spent a few hours brain-storming and trying this and that with a few different devices. In the end, the simplest solution is often the best AND the most elegant, so here's what I came up with.
They're mounted to the airbox cover screws and meet in the middle, and I used an overhand knot to join them. I then ran both ends through the same cinch-buckle and ran the buckle down close to the knot. This keeps the knot tight, and also redirects the straps in the direction I want them.
Then I ran the straps independently to the attachment buckles, and then back together into another cinch-buckle much the same way I did with the ones up front. This way, I can grab the bundle and in one motion tighten BOTH ends down.
I went digging through the miscellaneous straps and stuff I had from previous bags and found these little keepers. They slide on the straps and have a sort of "hook" on the side. I attached them pointing "out", and with these I can lock down the loose end after tensioning the bag. It's too bad these aren't included, but they shouldn't be THAT hard to find if you can identify them. Perhaps you can re-purpose them from another bag like I did.
As you can see it sits nice and neat against itself.
When tightened down the bag feels VERY secure. I haven't had it up to highway speeds yet, but I did run to the gas station and got SEVERAL beverages (2 Arizonas, 2 energy drinks, and one of those new 1893 Pepsis) and on the return trip (max 45mph) the bag didn't show any indication of moving or shifting in the wind or turns. But, that's to be expected with a strap down bag.
It's also plenty narrow as to not interfere with your arms when the bars are at full lock. U-turns and maneuvering in a parking lot are no trouble at all!
One thing I forgot to take pictures of is the rain cover. It's a typical arrangement of a solid cover with a bungee bottom. It has some elastic loops to run the buckles through for an extra secure fit, and surprisingly enough it also features a zippered expansion to match the one on the tank bag itself, so this way you can keep it tight against the bag. It feels very heavy duty and has a rubbery feel to it, I have complete confidence it'll keep any and all rain out of the bag. However, as both a blessing and a curse, it does NOT have a clear panel on top. The downside of this is you can't see through the rain cover to view your map/GPS. The upside is there's no weak point at the top of the bag to potentially compromise the waterproofing.
But, in sunny Arizona, it's not something I'll personally be using.
Though I don't have a lot of on-bike experience with this yet, overall I can say I'm very satisfied with this bag, I think I'll get years of good use out of it, and would encourage anyone in the market for a tank-bag to take a good look at Nelson Rigg.
Originally Posted by Cooter
