Various decent bag options out there.

Only thing I wonder about... If you plan to make multiple stops on a trip between lodging/destinations, how secure are luggage rack bags going to be? When you leave the bike unattended at a particular stop - how easy is it going to be to swipe that bag off the bike? This question swirls around when I consider luggage rack bags vs. tour packs/trunks. Tour pack/trunk is at least fairly well secured to the bike.

 

Any textile bag that I use on my tour pack I line the inside with a plastic garbage just in case.
Nothing worse than having wet clothes on a trip.

I usually put things like my sneakers, dirty clothes or rain gear on top of the luggage rack and my clothes in the tour pack and saddlebags.

I just bought a new H-D bag w/rain cover for the tour pack rack and that is probably what I'll be using this season.

I also have the huge Saddleman bag that is made for the rear seat area of an Ultra or a Tri-Glide but I've yet to use it.
The problem with it of course is that you can't have a passenger but it can easily carry enough clothes for a two-week road trip without doing laundry!
https://www.denniskirk.com/saddlemen...81638745970457
We removed the bungees from the center and had matching leather cover pads with back-side Velcro that fills the center of the bad as serves as a rider backrest if needed.

 

I use this saddleman bag, put it on the seat behind me, gives me a bit of a back rest.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Saddlemen...66&athena=true

 

First, you can easily fit 3-4 days of clothes into your saddlebags. Second, you really don't need a dedicated luggage bag unless you want one. You will save yourself a lot of money by just getting dufflebags from Army surplus and waterproof covers. IMO dedicated luggage takes up too much empty space that can be used for gear. They also are much heavier and the dimensions and thickness of these bags wastes a lot of space IMO. You will be surprised how much you can jam into a duffelbag. That's why they exist. They are lightweight, thin, and can be folded up.
You can also use a small luggage bag and stack stuff on it, which I do a lot when touring. I stack stuff. On the Road King, I keep clothes in the saddlebags. Tent and small bags go on the seat behind me. I stack small duffel on the luggage rack and I keep stuff I need to access quickly on the road. Plastic grocery bags and stuff keeps everything dry and waterproof covers from Walmart are cheap. You dont need to spend lots of cash.

Also, one advantage of this method is potential theft. I dont worry about it much at all but in the event someone decides to ****** something, if you have everything in one large bag, its all gone if someone has sticky fingers. Using multiple smaller bags and one large duffel in the center, a thief has no idea whats in it. The bag they pull of could be your dirty underwear and clothes for all they know. Also, it just takes a small pocket knife to quickly cut off any large luggage bag from a bike. A single large bag holding all your stuff looks attractive. They can also cut away at the network of bungee and netting holding all my bags but its going to be a choir getting to the big one in the center and it will all be a tangled mess.

 

I never had a helmet, bag, or anything stolen from off my bike and I only had somebody mess with my bike once. I went to leave the strip (an area in my city where one bar flows into the next with more people outside than in the bars) and someone was sitting on my bike sideways acting cool like it was his bike. Sparing the long story, he may have pissed in his pants in front of everyone and fled in embarrassment and fear. That was back in 1999 when I had an awesome Sportster that I had put a lot of time into.

 

Saddleman are top notch imho.

 

It's obvious that a textile bag strapped to the bike isn't secure at all. It would be relatively easy for someone to unhook it and go. That said, if anyone did that to me all they'd get is a bunch of clothes in various states of dirtyness, and some personal care items. The really valuable stuff gets locked in the tourpack and saddlebags. Actually the bag itself is probably worth more to a thief than the contents.
My bag has a fitted rain cover, and putting that on would hopefully give pause to a prospective thief- they'd have to deal with the cover and all of the straps.

When you leave for a two week trip with a passenger, extra luggage is a must- for us anyway. We can't fit everything we need in just the tourpack and saddlebags. And even then we have to be very creative in knowing what to lug with us. And we stop to do laundry at least once in that 2 weeks.

That said, we have not had anyone steal our luggage in the many places we have stopped. But I do try to keep the bike within sight when I can. To me, the luggage bag is a must have for any trip of more than a few days.

 

I have been traveling by motorcycle since 2003. I have mostly used bags attached to my luggage rack. I have also had 3 bikes with quick detach tour packs.

I have parked my bike in many a restaurant lot to get something to eat, or a bar for lunch or rest area and so on. Never once had an issue. I have parked at scenic areas, and taken hikes to what I wanted to see, no issue.

Unless the tour pack is bolted to the bike, its no harder to steal than a bag on a rack.

That said, I do not leave my credit cards, check book, cash, passport or gun in my bag. So they will get clothes, toiletries, and medicines. Valuables are in my saddle bag or on me. If it looks suspicious I do not park there.

 

I went ahead and ordered the saddleman bag which just arrived this morning. I mounted it on my luggage rack and it fits the bike really nice (I was worried that some bags may be too bulky). The quality of the bag is good and there's plenty of room to store clothes and other item for a multiple day trip. This bag won't get used much and I needed it mainly for overnight trips with my wife so she can have a little extra storage space. It should serve its purpose well and was less expensive than buying a tour pack that would probably just sit on a shelve most of the time. I think if I travel solo I'll mount it to a solo luggage rack and utilize the back rest pad that came with it.

Here's a quick photo of the bag mounted to the bike. I'l post some more pictures when it stops raining.

 

I just ordered one of these.
I have several bags but with this I'm considering using a suitcase once I determine the proper dimensions for my Airwing tour pack luggage rack.

Some are looking at this from a security point of view but I see it as a quick, simple, bungee cord/net free means of attaching and removing extra storage to/from top of my tour pack when traveling.