Bags Away!

[Truerider]

Wow, I hate to hear this happening to folks.

Almost 33,000 miles and my '10 bags haven't taken flight (yet).  I'm not too concerned about it though. Its about time for something to happen.

I too,was never concerned about this.......but reading these posts has got me thinking....

[gflint]

Just consider the pins a new farkel.

[Barry]

  I was hoping to avoid having to address it.  I guess pinning them isn't a huge big deal, since I rarely take them off.  But the thought of drilling into stuff on a brand new bike is..... disturbing.  Maybe some of those kewl looking metal retainer things in that other thread, then...

A stock bike is a sad thing.  No-brainer mods make a nice bike what the factory *should* have made it.  You are making it better.  Drill that puppy and stop sweating it !

Barry

[Rhino]

  I was hoping to avoid having to address it.  I guess pinning them isn't a huge big deal, since I rarely take them off.  But the thought of drilling into stuff on a brand new bike is..... disturbing.  Maybe some of those kewl looking metal retainer things in that other thread, then...

No need to drill, just get these: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Concours-14-GTR-1400-Saddlebag-Retaining-Brackets-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem3f0aac5bacQQitemZ270762007468QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

[Zman]

So is there any down side to the brackets, by the time I buy to extra long drill bits and pins, the cost probably washes...............

[maxtog]

A stock bike is a sad thing.  No-brainer mods make a nice bike what the factory *should* have made it.  You are making it better.  Drill that puppy and stop sweating it !

My new bike is far from stock.  Already thousands of dollars of addons.  But nothing, so far, has been a "permanent"/damaging mod.

[maxtog]

No need to drill, just get these: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Concours-14-GTR-1400-Saddlebag-Retaining-Brackets-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem3f0aac5bacQQitemZ270762007468QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

Done

[Conrad]

Done

Zteve is the guy selling these on ebay, you could have saved yourself a lil dough by getting them from him on this board.

http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=473.0

[gflint]

You do not need an extra long bit and the pins are like a buck at your favorite hardware store.  I do not have the fancy "push on the end button to release the little locking balls" type pins, just the cheap ring in the end, spring loaded balls on the other.  They work great, took a whopping 15 minutes to do the modification.  I drilled twice, once small and then bigger to get a fit I liked.  The pins do not come out easy but I do not lose a finger pulling them out.

[Rawman]

OK, I guess I will be the first A$$ in this thread.  Every time I see the thread I want so bad to type something but I have resisted.  But now that it is on its way to 3 pages....

I am not doubting anyone's bags have come off and slid down the highway.  I am doubting, however, that this is a mechanical failure of any kind (post-'08 latch recall).  I will always say operator error.  My bags ('09) are by no means tight fitting and move around considerably if I grab hold and lift or try to move them.  It is VERY EASY to not put them back on correctly.  You might miss putting the bag into the front bracket or one of the 2 slots.  Heck, you might put the bag on the wrong side of the bike (yes, they WILL fit on the opposite side!).  I am so paranoid about putting them on wrong, I ALWAYS grab and lift to make sure I put them on solidly.  I sometimes have forgotten to double check before I depart, I will get off at the neighborhood stop sign and check it again.

Back in October of last year, the bike had roughly 20,000 miles, I had a run-in with a minivan who decided at the last minute he wanted to be in the turn lane I was about to occupy.  Trying to avoid him, down I went on the left side at about 15-20 mph.  The bike slid over 125' and had major damage to the mirror (basically broke it off at the frame mounts), bag (bent the mounting bracket behind the plastic) and foot controls (snapped the shifter off).  However, the bag stayed on the bike, did not open and took the brunt of the impact saving a lot of plastic on the rest of the bike. (BTW, I GOT A TICKET FOR FAILURE TO CONTROL A VEHICLE!!!!) Funny thing is, I bought the bag brackets from ZSteve last summer, but never put them on.

[comet]

OK, I guess I will be the first A$$ in this thread.  Every time I see the thread I want so bad to type something but I have resisted.  But now that it is on its way to 3 pages....

Let me A$$ure you-- the bag WAS not put on improperly. 

I felt exactly as you prior to this happening, and my arrogance towards those who suffered a lost bag was the reason I chose not to take any preventative steps. There are videos on YouTube which show how easily the latch mechanism can be defeated by twisting and lifting the bag off it's mounts, so don't believe for a second that latch mechanism is infallible. The road I was on is fairly irregular surfaced, and it is altogether possible the speed I was travelling, coupled with the weight of the unloaded bag could have set up an oscillation-- I don't know. I didn't post of my misfortune looking for sympathy- I just wanted to share my experience in the hopes others did not suffer a similar loss.

It is interesting you would report how strong the bag attachment was when your Concours was involved in a crash. My prior bike, a Valkyrie- had Leatherlyke aftermarket bags which where also known to jettison due to attachment failures--- and oddly enough, when that bike was rearended and demolished by a speeding truck-- the Leatherlykes stayed on! Different situations do not always yield the same results...

Rawman, I appreciate your view on this, and I sincerely hope your "cautious approach to mounting the bags" works  well enough for you that you NEVER experience a jettisoned sidecase. I disagree that it is "easy to put them on wrong" for any sighted individual showing a normal degree of care.

Bottom line: I love this bike. It's a great ride.

[VirginiaJim]

I really think this is not a 'user error' in mounting.  Some latches have more slop than others.  It would be interesting to get a bunch of C14s together and check this out.  Mine, for instance, had very little if any slop in the latching surfaces.  I used the z-bar approach for my piece of mind, though.

[Conrad]

It's a simple thing to test for yourself on your own bike.

Make sure that your bags are installed properly first. Then stand behind the bike and grab hold of one of the bags at the bottom. Lift gently while you watch the rear most hanger. You can plainly see that with a little more force you could lift that thing right out of the hanger.

[maxtog]

Zteve is the guy selling these on ebay, you could have saved yourself a lil dough by getting them from him on this board.

http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=473.0

I ordered them on Ebay.  There was no mention of a price on the board posting.  I assumed it would be the same.

[maxtog]

I really think this is not a 'user error' in mounting.  Some latches have more slop than others.  It would be interesting to get a bunch of C14s together and check this out.  Mine, for instance, had very little if any slop in the latching surfaces.  I used the z-bar approach for my piece of mind, though.

Indeed.  I checked my clearance/slop on my bike and it has pretty much NONE.  I had assumed they made changes in the later model years and wasn't worrying about the stories.  And like others, I also assumed that most of the stories that were not due to pre-recall units were from user error.  Yes, it really is possible to not latch it correctly, etc.

But like you, I said "screw it", and ordered the zbars just so there is one less thing I have to think about.

[Zteve]

I ordered them on Ebay.  There was no mention of a price on the board posting.  I assumed it would be the same.

Here on the forum the saddlebag brackets are $16 shipped in the US. 
I'll update the post.  http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=473.0

[lt1]

<snip>

There have been cases of operator error, but the bags can come off w/o operator errror.  Of of my C14's bags came off over a sharp bump.  Fortunately I recovered it.  No operator error in the installation of the bag.  One of the reasons I will not likely replace the C14 with another one is Kawasaki's (Mark's) attitude upon trying to get them to address the issue.  BTW, is your name Mark, and do you work for Kawasaki "customer service"?

[VirginiaJim]

Kind of a low blow there, Clyde.... 

[lt1]

Kind of a low blow there, Clyde.... 

Sorry, Jim. 

After being called a liar and an idiot on the old forum  when the bag fell off, another "operator error" remark here brought back a bit of the old touchiness.

[Bob]

Wow, who would have thought it. Clyde with a sense of humor! 
At least I think it was a sense of humor. But maybe he was serious. But that gets the same response!!