I've been searching and searching but finding very little that is designed to mate with my bike.

The tank-bags that mount to your gas cap only list support for '99 Bandits and later. Same for the side-bag mounting rails. The only hard-mount solution I've seen is for a Givi top case.

So it looks like soft-mount luggage is all that's available to me (unless I make my own.)

I have an Icon Urban Tank Bag, but it's a bit on the large side for a tank bag.

I'm looking for other options. Some of the ones I'm considering include:

Does anyone have any experience with these bags, or recommendations for other tank bags I should look at?

In place of hard side-bags, I'm looking at soft-bag options like these:

I've also thought about just using webbing straps or rope to tie down regular REI dry bags. Any other opinions or experience on luggage options for bikes like mine?

You are welcome to borrow the Kriega set I reviewed for Revzilla to see if you want to invest in a set.

Ok, this is the tank bag I'm planning to get.

It's a convertible backpack with support for a hydration reservoir and it comes with a rain cover. Based on the dimensions it's about half the width of the Icon Urban Tank Bag.

This is very similar to one I use on the K100RS.

Ben,

Check out:

I hadn't seen those, but the racks they have are for the 600 K' models, which are model year 2001 and later. There's a chance I'd get lucky and they will fit on the older '97 model...

I think I'll see what I can do with soft luggage for now. I'll try out the Kreiga set for the upcoming trip and decide from there. 

I was happy with soft luggage for many years on my 2000 GSF600S, so I don't begrudge the decision to go with fabric bags. However, if I were to rig another set I would put in the effort and extra $$ for hard cases.

I still like Corbin Beetle bags, and they are available for the years we are talking about. http://www.corbin.com/suzuki/bandit_bag.shtml

I always thought they would have gone nicely with the PB Bottom Fairing I had installed.

Hmm... the Beetle Bags are more expensive that I was anticipating. It says they're for a 1200, but they might fit on my 600. I'll have to think about that. 

I also just found this option, has anyone tried/heard of these?

I have had a set of bags with the rollpack tail bag and a tank bag from MotoPak since 2007 and it performs wonderfully and it has held up to some hard riding and many miles.  Strong zippers and a great tie down system for the bags and the roll-pack.  And all for a reasonable price.  

 

How do you strap that tail bag onto your bike? Could you share a photo?

Ulywood to share photos click the INSERT button from the reply window (it's next to Quote and Reply). Form there click the Add Photos tab.

I emailed Corbin about their Beetle Bags for the GSF1200 and they responded same day! That's fantastic service.

Unfortunately they informed me that they won't fit my GSF600.

Still, I love the Corbin saddle on my bike.

No photo..the tail bag clips to the MotoPak bags.  The straps with clips on the ends comes with the tail bag.  If you're using another set of bags the tail bag is easily bunged to the bike.  I love that tail bag, it holds my sleeping bag and a pillow as well as a host of smaller items.  It comes with a nice rain cover too.

 

On the recent weekend trip I used the Coretech 12L magnetic tank bag, and I borrowed the main tail bag from Yermo's Kriega set.

I was initially quite skeptical of the Coretech, because before I even got it on the bike the snap button on the map pocket broke. That did not instill me with confidence as to the quality or durability of the bag. In fact, I was tempted to just send it back. However, I didn't send it back and once I stuck it on my tank it was a perfect fit. The size was just right to not get in my way. After taking it on the weekend trip I'm completely sold on the Coretech tank bag.

The Kreiga system was a little bit of the reverse. It looks like a fantastic system, and the quality of the materials immediately stands out. These are durable bags that will last. However, much like Yermo's review, I found the straps to be a bit of a nightmare. Once you have the bag strapped to the bike, everything is secure and it's fine, but strapping it on or off is a bit of a hassle. For one thing, there are four straps too many. You have four straps which attach to hard points on the bike, four straps which are sewn to the bag and connect the bag to the bike, and then you have four intermediate straps which connect between the bag's straps and the ones on the bike. Why these intermediate straps exist is beyond me, they seem completely superfluous. I found it easy enough to get into the main compartment while the bag was strapped to the bike, and getting the bags on and off wasn't a problem, but it seemed like the solution has been just a bit over-engineered for the simplicity of the problem. Still, it got the job done and had more than enough space for an overnight trip. 

I've ordered a GCAG Bag Snake kit, and based on my impressions of it I might give their full soft-rack kit a try.

About time to update this thread. So I had started with just a bag snake kit from Green Chile Adventure Gear and that seemed to work out well for me, so I eventually upgraded to the full soft-rack with side-bag straps.


What I like about this system is that it's very versatile. I can strap almost anything onto the bike and it holds securely. It's also pretty easy to reconfigure the straps for different types of loads. It does work particularly well with dry bags, which are handy to have anyways. 

Most recently, I switched from using a bag snake kit on the top of the rack to using their new Mondo UL kit, which has side-release buckles.


I'm not generally a fan of plastic hardware, but in this case they seem pretty solid and the convenience is welcome. As my car has been in the shop for the past month I've been riding the bike everywhere and these straps allow me to easily secure my laptop when commuting to/from work.

This past weekend I really loaded the bike down for a camping trip up in PA. 


The system worked perfectly and kept all my gear solid and secure for the 4.5 hour trip. Nothing came loose or shifted around, even when I may have been traveling above the posted speed limit.

To manage the slack, I had picked up a bunch of Web Dominators.
These things are great. They slip onto 1" webbing straps and have a shock cord that snaps across and holds your excess straps in place. I was initially skeptical that they would hold, but they didn't budge even once. Quick, simple, and secure. 

In the last picture, you can see the my machete strapped to the bike. I used ADV Sushi to secure that. It's basically like velcro cable ties on steroids. Just like the soft rack, they have lots loops that allow them to be threaded together or with other 1" straps to increase their versatility. 



The issue I have with the whole system is that you have to half-way remove the rack to get the seat off. Normally that's not a problem, but this weekend I discovered that my battery is dying and I had to get the seat of to jump the bike. Luckily I was carrying a portable jump pack with me, which worked like a charm.


Not long (enough) after I jumped the bike and got on the road, I made the mistake of stopping and turning off the engine. Needless to say the bike again wouldn't start. I could have removed the seat to jump it again, but the rack system being a little tedious to remove I instead tried to push-start the bike in a parking lot. (This wasn't an option because I was at the camp site with nothing but grass and dirt roads.) My first attempt to push-start the bike failed, but luckily there was another biker who came over and gave me a hand. Most bikers I've met are awesome people.

After riding for a few hours the battery was charged enough to start the bike, but then after sitting for about a day I had to jump it again... twice actually. So I've jumped it now three times from the same battery pack without recharging the jumper and it still reads as fully-charged. Supposedly these Lithium batteries can jump a full-sized car over a dozen times before needing to be recharged. Very impressive.

One last piece of gear I'll review in this post is the hydration pack I used. I picked up a High Sierra 10L hydration pack on Woot for about $25. At that price, it would have been worth it just for the 2L hydration reservoir. As it turns out, it's pretty good bag as well. It fit well over top of my riding jacket and I was able to fit the hose up under my helmet when I got thirsty. The water in the tube would tend to get warm from baking in the sun, but the water still in the reservoir stayed refreshingly cool the whole ride. Worked out very well. 

After years of searching, this changes everything.

It just had a chance to look at this. This looks awesome.