| Author | Message | ||
     Bertotti |
Well I decided to take the top trunk off today and go for a ride. I never liked the look of this bike with it on but it is so darn convenient to have all that room. Anyway I did notice in the SD winds that the bike handles much nicer without it. A lot nicer. I wish I could have both. I guess I was just a bit shocked as they have been one since the first month I got the bike and have never removed it. | ||
| V_thunder |
Mr. Buell and team went to great lengths to put as much weight as possible down low. I see this top case standing in a defiant salute, and shake my head. WTF?! how could somebody do this? Convenient it may be, I'll just use the side bags when necessary. Certainly agree with you though, it just does'nt look right! | ||
| Froggy |
Im sorry, but topcase only is the best look for the uly!   | ||
| Ratbuell |
Topcase only may look "silly", but it's the only way I go when I'm commuting. I lose nearly 3mpg with the side cases on! | ||
| Bartimus |
I have to agree, the box just doesn't look right sitting so high. I'm looking at ways to either fabricate a new rack, or modify the existing rack to lower the box to just above the tail-light. Looking at the box, and the way it's mounted, makes you wonder what happened to the "mass centralization" theory when they designed that rack.  | ||
| Skullym1 |
Negative, all 3 look best.    I don't think these bags look bad at all. I'm not a fan of the big aluminum ammo cans that seenm to be in style. | ||
| Fubar |
"Topcase only may look "silly", but it's the only way I go when I'm commuting. I lose nearly 3mpg with the side cases on!" and it makes lane-splitting a lot less stressful. However, I do agree 3 bags on is the best overall look. | ||
| Ulynut |
I go naked. | ||
| Towjam |
I go naked. So where do you stow your clothes? | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I HATE the top case. I think all of them look like ass. They are convenient, useful, and handy but they look like absolute crap, screw up the CG of any bike, and allow the owner to pack more crap than they really need simply because they can. Don't believe me, ask Erik about how tooling around with a top case full of iced water can cause you to dump your bike. I have the side cases only, and I really don't even like them. There are no cases that increase the performance of your bike. The best hope is to minimize the damage they cause. | ||
| California |
geeez, Ft bstrd, I'm worried about you. You gay, or what? Most of us like ass! And you openly admit you hate the top box cuz it looks like ass? Hmmmmm? seriously, I didn't do a top box cuz I think the last thing the Uly needs is more weight, way up high, and way out back. That's why I went with the triple tail bag from Buell, when I need lots of stuff, it sits on the back seat. then the weight is more centralized. Plus the only things that go in the bag are soft things, like clothes. If I do go down, less likely to damage anything. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Sometimes too much is just TOO MUCH. I don't like my girl with the Badonkadonk. I've seen guys rolling around with 40lbs of tools in their top case. I ran Deal's Gap yesterday with the sidecases full of camping gear and crap. It hurt the handling. I'd rather not have them on there. Adding the top case simply makes the problem worse. And it's ugly. I also am not fond of aluminum refrigerators strapped on the side. Damn it men, it's a motorcycle not a motor home! If you simply can't leave home without it, don't leave home. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Sorry, but for those of us who use our bikes as transportation every day instead of a cage...sometimes you have to leave home, and you have to carry stuff when you go. Especially given the "meteorologists" and their distinct lack of ability to predict weather around here, my top case always holds my rain gear and heated jacket liner. Murphy's law - if I don't have it, it'll either rain, be ass-cold, or both. And I really don't have any trouble putting peg feelers down with the case on, either...it's not like I have 2 gallons of house paint in there (this time)! | ||
| Seanp |
I think there are a couple of instances when having all three cases is good. A major part of my decision to buy the Uly was the locking luggage. One - I ride my Uly to school every day. I wear a mesh riding suit over my shorts and t-shirt, and some Sidi boots. On the way to school I put my Buell messenger bag in one case and my sneakers in the other. When I get to school, I lock the suit in one sidecase, the boots in the other, and my helmet in the topcase. If I didn't have those cases on the bike, I'd have to leave my crap laying on the seat or something. Not cool. Yesterday I rode to the beach, and was able to lock all my gear in the bags, no worries. Two - when you're on a long trip by yourself and need to carry a tent, clothes, sleeping bag, etc. If I went by Ft Bstrd's idea, I'd have never ridden to March Badness. (Or I would have taken the bike up there in the back of my truck, for shame!) I had to carry a tent, sleeping bag, clothes, and some other things. And yes, I did need all that, because last year I went without a tent and it sucked. Normally, though I ride around with the bags on, but empty. Then I can store my stuff. I only pack them full of crap when I'm going on a long trip. So yeah, the bags may impact the performance of the bike, but if it weren't for the lockable bags I'd always be stressing that someone's gonna steal my stuff. And then what the hell do I do when I'm a hundred miles from home and don't have any riding gear? (Message edited by seanp on May 19, 2008) | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Never said they weren't useful. Use comes at a price. Handling and appearance. I use my cases every time I head to MB myself. I yank them off the very second I can and they don't stay on my bike when riding locally. I feel they are a necessary evil that diminishes the handling performance and appearance of my bike. If you love yours, great. | ||
| Bertotti |
It explains why my mileage seems low to others. I get between 42 and 48 once I broke 50. I will be putting it back on because I use it to go get groceries. | ||
| Dick_stilton |
Posted by Towjam on Sunday, May 18, 2008 - 09:24 pm: I go naked. So where do you stow your clothes? What clothes? I would never put any kind of bag, even the Buell ones on my ride. IMHO they just spoil the looks of the bike. The Uly is a bike that just does'nt look right with bags, now if you have a GS then you should have bags because again, IMHO the GS looks fug ugly without. My luggage motto is.... If I cant wear it, if it doesn't fit in my pockets, if it wont fit under the seat... It stays behind. Just my 2 Rappen worth.  | ||
| Bertotti |
I ride around the middle of nowhere. I like to have stuff with me. If I use it for a trip one of the shops I work at I have more to carry including a lot of tools and a computer and cloths etc.. So I love the capacity of the bags. I was just really surprised how much they affect handling in heavy winds and fuel mileage. This is the first bike I have ever had with luggage so it was all new to me. I can pack almost two weeks of groceries on this bike for a family of three. That right there is a nice bonus. With all the stuff I haul around on it I almost wish Buell would make a Uly Service car. | ||
| Bertotti |
One thing I was thinking of was that it would be nice if the top mount could also swing forward over the triple tail so that if you are solo the bag could rest over the pillion seat. | ||
| Maximum |
I much prefer the looks of side cases only. I use the top for long trips (like homecoming this summer), but my everyday configuration is side cases only.  IMO, removing the side cases only looks better when the mounts are removed too. But I like the side cases on for two main reasons: 1. The convenience of storing gear and tools for everyday riding. 2. Adding protection for my legs in event of a low side. | ||
| Froggy |
Maximum, did you make it more red so you don't get mistaken for a XT? lol. | ||
| Towjam |
I agree that the top case looks ungainly on an XB frame but I also agree that it's damn convenient. Still, I would've preferred that the side and top cases were options for the XT. I'm not that impressed with their overall quality and for the majority of my riding, the triple tail tailbag would be more than sufficient. The only reason I'm leaving the bags on now is because the mounting brackets are so fugly. But it is a sweet bike.....  | ||
| Maximum |
Hey Froggy, that was not my intent...but it has already started to happen!  I liked the Sunset Orange (which everyone called red anyway), but do you know how hard it is to match that color when purchasing apparel and accessories? And you know that I like to be color coordinated!  | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
How do you explain the dayglow Olympia then?  | ||
| Maximum |
Ahhhh.....Contrast! Ummmm....Safety First! OK.....Ya got me there FB!  | ||
| Iugradmark |
It was a shame that we couldn't get enough people signed up to have the quick release brackets built. They come off in seconds and enable lots of luggage choices. I still believe that we have folks on this board that are capable of turning these out from templates used on other bike models. | ||
| Hooper |
I've got all three bags, and I have to admit that when the topcase is on at the same time as the sidecases, the topcase looks like it's teetering off backwards. However, I think the bike looks pretty good with the sidecases on - distracts the viewer from the height, and is a reminder of what it can do. And +1 to Bertotti - I go to the grocery store with my X. Turns heads. A buddy of mine saw a picture of the Uly with just the topcase, and asked me if I bring my lunch to school in that lunchbox. He also wondered why it had such stubby little wheels. Then I let him ride it, and he shut up. Oh, and the side cases are good for when I went down after hitting a deer. The ones on the BMW R1200RT and K1200GT that I've ridden look so nice - all color-coordinated and shaped to fit the bodywork, but they're also so small. I'm all for packing light, but I'm also all for having room for extra stuff that make trips more fun.   | ||
| Bertotti |
Hooper Where is that entry at. Very classy! | ||
| Etennuly |
I run them all of the time on my Uly/truck/motorhome, usually with forty pounds of crap in them. I like the look with them on, especially if they are color matched. | ||
| Maximum |
Hey Etennuly: who did your color matching? The guy who did mine is awesome!  |
