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Tour Master 8261-1505-40 Black Elite Saddlebag

indyDean

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POSTING MY AMAZON REVIEW HERE in case others find it useful - plus amazon has not added it to the product page. I liked the look of these bags but wasn't sure if i could use them without side support. Biggest win with this budget setup is that I can fuel without moving my bags/straps!!


I had some serious sticker shock when looking at hard bags form my 2015 NC700X. Found these Tourmaster 8261-1505-40 Black Elite soft bags and decided, for the price, they were worth a try. I do have GIVI 1111FZ arms attached for a top box but otherwise I have no side supports under these bags. On this bike they are nowhere near the rear wheel or exhaust. 5" clearance to tire and 4" to exhaust (roughly). Attached are six pics:

1. Right side view to show exhaust clearance
2. Rear view - the bags tuck in but I am okay with that
3. Seat view (closed) - the NCX bikes have gas tanks under the rear seat - only rear strap is on top
4. Seat view (open) - I can pop the seat and fuel the bike without moving anything
5. Rear right - sits right in front of rear blinker - can kind of see tire clearance
6. Zipper pulls - they can slide into small pockets so that they don't flap in the breeze

Overall very happy with the choice. Even with adding the GIVI 1111FZ (~$100) that I wanted, so I could actually use bungee straps, my luggage cost is well under $250. I can pop the bags off (or back on) in just a couple of minutes without having to adjust any straps. My only gripes are poor documentation on putting in the rigid inserts to help the bags keep their shape and I could rather have double zippers on these so you could use luggage locks to deter "curious" people from looking at what may be inside (there is just one back-to-front zipper for each pouch).


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Those look bigger than my Blaze saddlebags, but going by the model number I'm guessing those are 40 liter (20 each)? If so, then they're apparently a tad smaller than the blaze. The problem I have with the blaze is that the zipper doesn't open really enough to get larger things in/out. So I could probably carry larger/more things, but I simply can't get them into the small zipper opening. It seems like this zipper allows you to hinge it completely open, right?
 
Those look bigger than my Blaze saddlebags, but going by the model number I'm guessing those are 40 liter (20 each)? If so, then they're apparently a tad smaller than the blaze. The problem I have with the blaze is that the zipper doesn't open really enough to get larger things in/out. So I could probably carry larger/more things, but I simply can't get them into the small zipper opening. It seems like this zipper allows you to hinge it completely open, right?

Yep - 20 liters per side. The zipper starts and ends on the bottom panel and there are accordion flaps that allow maybe 75 degrees of opening. This is good so your stuff is not flopping out when you unzip them fully
 
I put a set of these on a couple months ago and really like them. They look good and work very well. I have a very simple support behind them to keep them out of the back wheel.
 
Three questions:
1) Do you need the GIVI 1111FZ for these to fit well on an NC700X, or would the rear attachment points be the same without it?
2) How do they perform in the rain? Do you find the rear tire throws up a lot of spray and soaks the contents?
3) You said you can take them off/on in a couple minutes without adjusting straps--is that sequence just Velcro and locking clips, or something else?
I have a 2012 NC700X and can't bring myself to spend $500 on mounting hardware and another $500-$900 on hard bags.
 
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