Fieldsheer question

[EMC]

Im looking for luggage and dont feel like spending 700 bucks on hard cases, so I have opted to go with soft bags for now. I have 02 FZ1 and was wondering if anyone else has purchased the Fieldsheer expandable saddle bags? and when there installed is there still room for the wifey to ride on the back and her legs not cramped into the bags?


Thanks

 

[dodger06]

I looked at the Fieldsheer Expander bags, but decided to go with the Fieldsheer Compact Bags on my 2003 FZ1. The best price I found was at Newenough.com

Fieldsheer Compact Motorcycle SaddleBags :: New Enough

I measured from the beginning of the passenger part of the seat to the blinkers, and it looked like the Expanders were going to be too long. the Compact bags are a little shorter, and work great. They are much bigger than I expected. For a rough example I would say I could fit two 1 gallon containers of milk in each main compartment. (BTW, the Compact bags are bigger than the Contour bags, and smaller than the Expanders)

I only ran into one problem. With the rear fender eliminator kit, I had to put the bags fairly far forward to not hit the blinkers. That bothered my brother when he rode, as the bags would just barely rub the back of his leg near his ankle. I fixed this problem by moving the blinkers back about another 2" by mounting them to the bottom of the license plate rather than the top. If you have a stock fender this probably won't be a problem.

 

[dodger06]

Oh, I forgot to mention one thing. They come with plastic buckles installed on the front and back of each bag for attaching a tailbag. I was able to find clips to fit into these at a fabric store and made some tie down straps for about $10. I figured this could work with a duffle bag or something if needed. Here's some pics to demonstrate it.

 

[theWolfTamer]

I have the full set, tail and saddle bags. It works great as a whole unit because the buckles clip into the tail bag keeping them in place. When I use it with my seat mounted top case, I put the straps across the mounting plate and the saddle bags don't move. Here's a pic with the hard case (I accidentally deleted my camping setup where I use the tail bag so I don't have a pic of all of the fieldsheer luggage mounted).

I love my bags. They hold a lot of stuff. I just had to shorten my rear turn signals so they didn't get smushed. I mount my bags on top of the seat. I'm not sure if they can be mounted under so the passenger doesn't have to sit on the straps.