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Got a pair of Triumph-badged/branded soft bags when I bought the '01 Sprint ST. Previous owner bought them. I was already 100% sure I would not have (not gonna spend extra money just for a brand name, and anyway I already had soft bags) but took 'em and have used them.
Frankly, these bags could NOT have been designed for this bike. Much more likely Triumph simply contracted with the maker to stitch Triumph badges onto bags from stock. Here's why:
They don't FIT. Bags have a quick-release snap-buckle right at the upper inner seam, by where the bags meet the seat. Problem is, this buckle COMPLETLY interfers with the seat to seat-fairing interface, to the point that the seat will almost not latch down when the bags are in place. A much better design would have been for the strap to extend inward to about the middle of the bike and there be ONE snap-buckle there- this would put the SB under the seat, where interference would be minimal. Also, the smaller straps that are designed to hold the bag from flapping in the breeze have no clear means of attaching to the bike- I have to pull them forward, wrap them around the passenger pegs, and hook the loop-end around the passenger peg foot guard or the peg. Finally, the depth of the bag is such that without VERY careful placement and adjustment, the RH bag can contact the pipe, causing the nylon to melt.
And you can't carry much in them. Oh, sure, they have a nifty zipper all around them that expands them (big enough to get a full face in each) but a tag inside them says, and I am not making this up, "MAXIMUM SPEED 80 MPH, MAXIMUM LOAD SIX POUNDS." Six pounds???
They did come with rain covers, and have an outer pouch on each- both nice features. And they are made of pretty heavy ballistic nylon. But those nearly-useless anti-sail straps, and those TOTALLY useless snap-buckles really spoil the whole thing.
I have been putting up with these serious design flaws for months, but today, it got worse. Took forever to latch the seat, in spite of the bags being as adjusted as good as possible. Because of the frustration and time, I forgot to hook the smaller anti-sail straps, and when I backed the bike up, the LH one got caught (in the chain, I presume) and pulled off. Now, I have a hole in the bag.
I think I will remove the snap-buckles, completly, and have the cross-straps sewn on directly. I will leave some means of a little bit of adjustment, but those damn buckles are going in the freakin' trash. Having the ability to snap the two bags apart from each other is a totally useless feature- You can't really put just one of them on the bike, it needs the other to counter-balance it. And with the stupidly low weight limits (SIX POUNDS???) coupled with the bag's tendency to droop UNDER the seat a bit, means they are more a source of worry than a means to carry anything.
Triumph's website http://www.triumph.co.uk/usa/Accessories.aspx shows them as going OVER the seat- well, okay, but I don't feel very confident they will stay there. I may try that, before I re-do the cross straps, but I have had much better results with other soft bags- both premium (Nelson Riggs) and budget (Eclipse.)
Oh, and this is rich- listed price for these nearly-crap bags? $259.99! Highway robbery!
NOT recommended.
Frankly, these bags could NOT have been designed for this bike. Much more likely Triumph simply contracted with the maker to stitch Triumph badges onto bags from stock. Here's why:
They don't FIT. Bags have a quick-release snap-buckle right at the upper inner seam, by where the bags meet the seat. Problem is, this buckle COMPLETLY interfers with the seat to seat-fairing interface, to the point that the seat will almost not latch down when the bags are in place. A much better design would have been for the strap to extend inward to about the middle of the bike and there be ONE snap-buckle there- this would put the SB under the seat, where interference would be minimal. Also, the smaller straps that are designed to hold the bag from flapping in the breeze have no clear means of attaching to the bike- I have to pull them forward, wrap them around the passenger pegs, and hook the loop-end around the passenger peg foot guard or the peg. Finally, the depth of the bag is such that without VERY careful placement and adjustment, the RH bag can contact the pipe, causing the nylon to melt.
And you can't carry much in them. Oh, sure, they have a nifty zipper all around them that expands them (big enough to get a full face in each) but a tag inside them says, and I am not making this up, "MAXIMUM SPEED 80 MPH, MAXIMUM LOAD SIX POUNDS." Six pounds???
They did come with rain covers, and have an outer pouch on each- both nice features. And they are made of pretty heavy ballistic nylon. But those nearly-useless anti-sail straps, and those TOTALLY useless snap-buckles really spoil the whole thing.
I have been putting up with these serious design flaws for months, but today, it got worse. Took forever to latch the seat, in spite of the bags being as adjusted as good as possible. Because of the frustration and time, I forgot to hook the smaller anti-sail straps, and when I backed the bike up, the LH one got caught (in the chain, I presume) and pulled off. Now, I have a hole in the bag.
I think I will remove the snap-buckles, completly, and have the cross-straps sewn on directly. I will leave some means of a little bit of adjustment, but those damn buckles are going in the freakin' trash. Having the ability to snap the two bags apart from each other is a totally useless feature- You can't really put just one of them on the bike, it needs the other to counter-balance it. And with the stupidly low weight limits (SIX POUNDS???) coupled with the bag's tendency to droop UNDER the seat a bit, means they are more a source of worry than a means to carry anything.
Triumph's website http://www.triumph.co.uk/usa/Accessories.aspx shows them as going OVER the seat- well, okay, but I don't feel very confident they will stay there. I may try that, before I re-do the cross straps, but I have had much better results with other soft bags- both premium (Nelson Riggs) and budget (Eclipse.)
Oh, and this is rich- listed price for these nearly-crap bags? $259.99! Highway robbery!
NOT recommended.
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