klr the backroad to kitt peak

[Tarheel Dave]

A friend of mine with a KLR took me camping about a week ago with our KLRs. I quickly found out that a set of saddlebags were in order. After we got back, I checked with my local dealer regarding them. He would let me have them for $246.00 cdn. plus tax. OUCH! For off road camping? I went to the local Army surplus and found two backpacks that work great as saddlebags and I can use their straps to strap them together and to the KLR. Now, for the million dollar question. Does anyone have any suggestions for do-it-yourself braces to keep the right bag off the muffler and the left one out of the rear wheel? I am sure that I can come up with something, but I was hoping someone has traveled this road before me. Tarheel Dave EH14

[Guest]

I want to get saddlebags for my KLR and have been looking at Aerostitch, Chase Harper, and Tour Master, as well as the ones sold by Kawasaki. Anybody out there got any recommendations? (I don't mind paying a bit more for good quality). Thanks, Mark

[tomklr]

Looks like you want softbags, so if you want them to be really waterproof then I think, Ortliebs are the only choice. Aerostitch carries them, and they have a U.S. website that I think displays more than Aerostitch has - also might be able to source them from http://www.riderhaus.com/index.shtml in Germany. They are a good, honest supplier. Tom A15

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "mbbarron" wrote: > I want to get saddlebags for my KLR and have been looking at > Aerostitch, Chase Harper, and Tour Master, as well as the ones sold > by Kawasaki. Anybody out there got any recommendations? (I don't > mind paying a bit more for good quality). > > Thanks, > > Mark

[Tim Nielsen]

OK, I'm not also in the market for a pair of saddlebags. I've kind of narrowed it down to the Ortlieb Dry bags, the Give T405 panniers, the Nelson-Rigg SB-900, or the Wolfman Summit series. Anyone have experiences, good or bad, to share about any of these? Or are there some others that are great that I'm missing? Looking for about 20 liters each, and able to securely fasten. I like the that Dry Bags are water proof without a cover, but if they're a pain to open and close, it's probably not worth it. Tim

[Tim Nielsen]

Whoops, meant to say, I'm 'now' in the market. Tim

[squasher_1]

--- In DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com, Tim Nielsen wrote:

> OK, I'm not also in the market for a pair of saddlebags. I've kind

of

> narrowed it down to the Ortlieb Dry bags, the Give T405 panniers,

the

> Nelson-Rigg SB-900, or the Wolfman Summit series. > > Anyone have experiences, good or bad, to share about any of these?

Or

> are there some others that are great that I'm missing? > > Looking for about 20 liters each, and able to securely fasten. > > I like the that Dry Bags are water proof without a cover, but if > they're a pain to open and close, it's probably not worth it. > > Tim

I have the Ortlieb dry bags from AeroStich. I use them on my ZR, not the KLR650. I have hard bags on the KLR. the drybags are easy to open and close, but there are a few things I dont like about them. 1) they came with cadium plated screws and not stainless screws to hold the plastic side wall in place. I had to spent another $2 for screws 2) the plastic clip that holds the rear strap rubs against my rear fairing and takes off the paint. 3) the extra strap that is left after tightening the side strapes could get caught in the chain or tire. it needs to be tied off each time or cut I dont need a bunch of side pockets like other saddle bags have and I need something thats waterproof because I drive in the rain. If hard bags and racks were available for under $200. I would have got those instead. unfortunatley the hard bags for the ZR cost $600+

[game_warden2]

Has anyone used or seen (Sportsman's Dry Boxes by MTM cases)for saddlebags? They look like they would work great and only cost about 25 bucks each. They also claim to be 100 % waterproof. I posted their site if anyone wants to look. I am thinking about trying these but would like some input. http://www.mtmcase-gard.com/products/camping/dry_boxes.html

[Todd Larson]

Looks interesting, do you think they'd be sturdy enough? --- game_warden2 wrote:

> Has anyone used or seen (Sportsman's Dry Boxes by > MTM cases)for > saddlebags? They look like they would work great > and only cost about > 25 bucks each. They also claim to be 100 % > waterproof. I posted their > site if anyone wants to look. I am thinking about > trying these but > would like some input. > >

http://www.mtmcase-gard.com/products/camping/dry_boxes.html

> > > > > > > > > > > > > Archive Quicksearch at: >

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[scott quillen]

I bought my dry boxes at Bass Pro for about $15 each (the large ones) and $10 for the half-size one. They're solid white so they match my A1 perfectly! I'm mounting the full size ones as side boxes and the half-size one as my top box. Gonna go to our local steel retailer and pick up some square tubing for the racks. So I shouldn't have even $100 in the whole system when finished. Scott --- game_warden2 wrote:

> Has anyone used or seen (Sportsman's Dry Boxes by > MTM cases)for > saddlebags? They look like they would work great > and only cost about > 25 bucks each. They also claim to be 100 % > waterproof. I posted their > site if anyone wants to look. I am thinking about > trying these but > would like some input. > >

http://www.mtmcase-gard.com/products/camping/dry_boxes.html

> > > > > > > > > > > > > Archive Quicksearch at: >

http://www.angelfire.com/ut/moab/klr650_data_search.html

> List sponsored by Dual Sport News at: > www.dualsportnews.com > List FAQ courtesy of Chris Krok at: > www.bigcee.com/klr650faq.html > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > DSN_KLR650-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com > > > > >

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[Wishart, John]

>Has anyone used or seen (Sportsman's Dry Boxes by MTM cases)for >saddlebags? They look like they would work great and only cost about >25 bucks each. They also claim to be 100 % waterproof. I posted their >site if anyone wants to look. I am thinking about trying these but >would like some input. >http://www.mtmcase-gard.com/products/camping/dry_boxes.html

I have been using the SPUD-2 variety for three years on my KLR. They work fine. I have them attached to a rack from MAC-D, but it's no longer made. However I think one of the Happy Trails SU or NW racks would also work fine. www.happy-trail.com I have been using 1/4 turn fasteners into Tinnerman-type clips for attachment for two years with no problems, but 1/4" bolts with nylok hex nuts work fine too. They've survived a trip to Copper Canyon, two trips to Moab, and a trip to Big Bend NP, plus a couple of tipovers without any damage, other than scratches. Regards, John Wishart, A14 KLR650 Monument, CO [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]