SISSY BAR/LUGGAGE RACK
Motorcycles are all about style. Sleek looks, smooth lines, detailed
design and raw power. The moment a bike becomes simply "two wheels"
to get you back and forth from work each day, you may as well have
yourself a scooter - no offense scooter owners!
Cycles are not what most people would consider utility vehicles.
They aren't designed for hauling large amounts of stuff, but any bike can
be fitted with different accessories that will allow you to carry pretty
much anything reasonable that you need.
Motorcycles tend to hold form and function equally when it comes to
performance and styling, but there sometimes is a call for a bit more
function, say to pick up something small from the store, or to hold some
extra equipment or snacks, etc. This is when storage is a good thing.
Saddlebags is one option on a cruiser, but that's just not for me. I
like the look of the spoked wheels and would hate to cover them up
with some thick leather bags. Plus, this bike isn't designed for long
trips, so having that kind of capacity is just not necessary. If this
was a VTX or some other large cruiser, that would be a different story.
Tank bags are another option, but cover up that beautiful paint job?
No way.
I went with another option. Now Tara really wanted a backrest (sissy bar)
and I don't blame her. It adds so much comfort to the passenger. I had
first installed the backrest and it looked good. Getting an idea from
my brother in law in Delaware, I decided to install a leather back
pack directly to the backrest. I simply wrapped each of the straps
tightly around the frame of the sissy bar and it held securely. The only
problem was that it sagged down and almost covered the tail light.
The solution was to install the matching luggage rack to give the support
for the bag. It works great and can easily fit a gallon of milk and
more. If you choose to do this, make sure the bag is truly leather all
around with no rustable clasps or fasteners. All surfaces of
the leather must also be annually treated with conditioning lotion and
waterproof spray (available at Wilson's leather store and a billion
other places too).
Both the backrest and luggage rack are made by
Cobra - great quality
at a price more reasonable than Honda OEM accessories.
Here you can see the mounting bracket attached to the rear fender support.
The bracket is designed to mount both the backrest and the luggage rack.
Below is a shot of the luggage rack with the backpack moved aside.
You can also see a bit more of the backpack strap wrapped around
the backrest.