| Author | Message | ||
     Hcgrissom |
I am a long-time lurker here on the BadWeb, but am finally ready to jump in an buy a Uly (selling my R1200RT). So my wife and I go to the M/C show here in Novi, MI today to check out the Buell display. They had a 12X with Outdoorsman bags (HB Juniors) right next to a 12XT with the standard bags (HB Journeys), both with their respective trunks. When the wife got on the back of both bikes, there was limited space between the front of the saddlebags and the back of her feet. The Buell factory guy there told me the mounting brackets were the same for both sets of luggage. Upon closer examination of both bikes, it did not appear easy to modify either setup to move the bags towards the back of the bike (never mind you would have to relocate the rear turn signals). So, my questions are: 1. For those with the Fehling racks from Twisted Throttle - which (Givi) bags do you have mounted and how much rear foot room is there? Is it possible to adjust the bag towards the rear on the bracket? 2. How much adjustability is there with forward-back mounting of the Happy Trails panniers on their SU Rack? 3. How about the Touratech mounting brackets and panniers? I need to be able to provide a little more leg room for the Mrs so that she can get the ball of her foot on the pegs, otherwise it could be a deal breaker (we do a lot of 2-up riding). Any luggage arrangements not listed above are also welcome suggestions - I am open to any/all options. Thanks! Craig | ||
| Nevrenuf |
we have the xt and i just had the wife sit on the bike to see if she can move the ball of her foot on the peg and with the standard bags, it's not going to happen. as far as her enjoying the ride on it, she does like the ride on it. it's not like being on the ultraclassic but it is a good ride for her. best advice i can give is go do a demo with her on the back and see what she says. oh yea, did i mention how well it handles even with a passenger on the back of it | ||
| Hooper |
Yeah, all I can add to this is that my passengers have said that it is the most comfortable back seat of all touring bikes tested (comparing the 2006 X with a 2008 H-D Electra Glide with contoured backrest and armrests)...the Buell XB12X's rear seat blew the H-D away. There was no mention of the pegs. It was all about the seat and the backrest. It was like the feet didn't matter once the butt and the back were happy. | ||
| Rwven |
I'm in the beginnings of the process off developing an extension for the passenger pegs that will move then 1" forward and 1" lower. I hope to have a prototype in the next month or so. I'll let you know how it works out. | ||
| Doncasto |
Here's my prototypical approach to the same SO footpeg alignment. To date it remains unproven . . .the SO degraded to Insignificant Other before any of the road testing could be done. The "floorboards" were built on a pair of Tourtech pegs I had finally decided not to use . . .and yes, I realize they are both ugly and industrial looking - and you may be relieved to hear that they reside in a box in the shop rather than as a permanent adaptation to my Uly.  (Message edited by doncasto on January 03, 2009) (Message edited by doncasto on January 03, 2009) | ||
| Ratbuell |
Just brainstorming here, I haven't testfitted or taken any measurements...but has anyone tried Lightning rider pegs with the 1" drop from the mount point? I know X/XT rider pegs have their own mount width compared to other XB's...are the passenger pegs the same way? | ||
| Torontobuell |
Hello, I rode two up from Toronto to Cape Breton in the summer with happy trails bags. The lady wife was not able to put the balls of her feet on the pegs; she was only able to hang them off the pegs with the heels of her boots or angle her boots out for another riding position. No problems. | ||
| Brag918 |
The first time my girlfriend rode on the back of the Uly, she couldn't get over how much room there was in relationship to other bikes she had been on. This was with the bags installed. My only concern with moving back the bags is the cantilever effect that would lighten up the front end. I've noticed this even by loading up the bags in the stock location. | ||
| Skinstains |
Take a look in the classifieds here on the BW. There was a guy selling some cool home made extensions that moved the rider peg forward 3" if I remember correctly. I would have bought them except I don't have my bags yet so don't know what dimensional changes I will require as I am running different bags as him as well as a different passenger. | ||
| Hooper |
Hcgrissom... Just curious, why are you selling the RT and switching bikes? | ||
| Etennuly |
I do a fair amount of two up riding and have never fielded a complaint about the pegs. I have noticed that if the passenger has long(read big, from my son) feet they can interfere with the rider putting feet on the ground and "walking" the bike. | ||
| Keith_mahoney |
Take a look in the classifieds here on the BW. There was a guy selling some cool home made extensions that moved the rider peg forward 3" if I remember correctly. I would have bought them except I don't have my bags yet so don't know what dimensional changes I will require as I am running different bags as him as well as a different passenger. I bought those and have them sitting downstairs not yet installed. Very good idea though. I am sure my wife will love them. I just hope her feet won't interfere with mine. | ||
| Hangetsu |
My .02 I have 41l Touratech Zega panniers I ride two up more often than alone. Visually the cases do seem a bit close to the rear pegs, but I have never heard a complaint from the wife. On the contrary, she feels very much at home with a lot of living space on the back of the Uly. | ||
| Hangetsu |
Oh, and the Touratech pieces add a touch of rugged beauty to the Uly in my opinion. The Outdoorsmans make you look like a lawyer on his way to the office. | ||
| Schwartzkm |
I am curious to know why you are moving from an r1200rt to a uly as well!?! I was once considering a r1200rt but the maintenance cost scared the crap out of me, not to mention the numerous FD failures on the boards I looked at while doing my research. | ||
| Glen |
my guess is that she will adapt to the pegs and not have problems. my wife is so comfortable on the back of mine she falls asleep....sad thing is,,i dont even know she's sleeping until i touch a brake and our helmets smack lol. | ||
| Fung |
my gal has nothing but good things to say about sitting on the back, She has done a couple of thousand miles on the back of my xt, fully loaded. | ||
| Hcgrissom |
Guys, Thanks for all of your feedback/suggestions. I wish it was warmer here in Michigan to take the wife out for another ride on the Uly to put all of this to bed once and for all. There is only so much you can really tell from a few minutes sitting on one at a bike show. The last short ride we took on a Uly was about 1.5 yrs ago, and it did not have any luggage. I do love my R1200RT, but I would love to be able to take it off road without constant worrying of dumping it and wrecking the plastic. The gravel-dirt roads are calling me!! And I cannot afford to have 2 bikes, so if its only going to be 1 bike - I need one that can do both. I do recognize that there will be sacrifices to our on-road comfort, but the Uly will make it up in other areas. In looking at numerous pics last night online, it seems as though the Fehling sidecase brackets are located a little bit farther to the rear of the bike (they even include rear turn signal relocation brackets). So I sent a note to Twisted Throttle to ask what the diameter of their mounting bracket tubing is. I'm thinking of mounting either the Happy Trails or Touratech metal panniers to them. Any thoughts as to which mounting brackets are more heavy duty - Fehling, Happy Trails, or Touratech? Craig | ||
| Ulywife |
I can only attest to the comfort of a Uly with the stock bags. The Uly has more than enough room between me and M2nc that if he grabs the brake hard, I'd better hold the grab bars or I'm gonna slide right into the back of him. As for the bike with and without the bags, we've not had any issues. Our bike has been without bags for a while now, but we did a weekend trip to the Outer Banks two years ago with all three bags on the Uly. It was my first time "long distance" on the bike and I did rather well. Thanks to the advise of Daves, I've been increasing my seat time and have logged as much as 360 miles in one day. On New Year's Eve we rode 240 miles in the cold. Time to start talking about heated gear for me! | ||
| Dpb |
Touratech are very heavy duty. If I remember, tomorrow I'll check for foot clearance. | ||
| Hangetsu |
They're (Touratech) very heavy duty as in tough, but they are not heavy in weight. When empty, I can carry the two together with one pinkie through one of the top tie-down loops with no discomfort. In fact, for their volume, I think they're one of the lightest cases out there. I would recommend looking into them. Of course, I'm biased, but there were reasons I was willing to pay the extra $$ for Touratech over either of the stock cases. #1 tough and light #2 top loading - a trunk, not a suitcase #3 ability to lash more stuff too them #4 they scream "adventure"! #5 they look even cooler covered in stickers | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
FYI, the racks are NOT the same between the "Journeyman" bags and the Outdoorsman. The XT bags use the original custom rack system with the anchor latches for the bags in the FRONT of the hoops. The Outdoorsman bags use the traditional H&B hoops with the anchor latches in the REAR. Most of the bags H&B produces are directional, so if you want options in bags later buy the Outdoorsman bags. One other option that might work as well that my wife does. If you need to stretch your legs as a passenger, flip the peg up with your heel and let you leg hang. | ||
| Hangetsu |
Or just get a shorter wife  | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Legs just get in the way anyway.  | ||
| Hangetsu |
Yeah, but they keep ya centered.  | ||
| Xbimmer |
FYI, the racks are NOT the same between the "Journeyman" bags and the Outdoorsman. The XT bags use the original custom rack system with the anchor latches for the bags in the FRONT of the hoops. The Outdoorsman bags use the traditional H&B hoops with the anchor latches in the REAR. ... and as a result the Outdoorsman bags are moved farther to the back. See how far back the cases are on the XP: http://www.buell.com/en_us/bikes/police/XB12XP/ IIRC the Buell Journey cases (being reversible/non-directional) will also fit the XP/Outdoorsman mounts, but positioned a tad more rearward. My wife has tiny feet and there has never been a real problem with room, but even so we still make foot contact occasionally when I bring my foot up onto the peg when needed. That said I can't imagine a satisfactory two-up solution that moves the passenger pegs even farther forward. The Outdoorsman mounts and a set of HB 40L Juniors is on my list of things to improve my Uly some day, then I could run either Journeys or 40L Juniors or Gobi's or whatever. (Message edited by xbimmer on January 03, 2009) | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
The only problem is that it doesn't appear that H&B sells the rack system separately for the XB12X/XT. So you would need to buy the Outdoorsman bags and rack, sell the bags, and buy the X/XT bags. My recommendation would be to skip the X/XT bags and buy the Outdoorsman bags and call it a day. Sounds like they will give you more passenger foot space and they are designed better. The X/XT bags are poorly designed with a PLASTIC camming latch system that is prone to breaking. It's not Buell's fault. H&B did a very poor design job. | ||
| Hcgrissom |
The rear footpeg to front of saddlebag dimensions are nearly identical for both sets of luggage - that we verified at the M/C show. I do like the Outdoorsman/Junior bags better and think they are better made. Having said that; I think I will be buying either the Fehling or Touratech racks, then mounting the Happy Trails or Touratech panniers. Both of those panniers allow some adjustability front to back. I just need to sort through the fine details like tube sizes, rack positions, and cost. Thanks again for all of your input! | ||
| Hcgrissom |
Anyone here have the Happy Trail mounts and/or panniers? Do you like them? Do you have any pics of the pannier mounts? What exactly does the mounting hardware on the inside of the pannier look like? Is it possible to add the Fehling truck rack to it like Kev187 did with the Touratech pannier brackets? Craig | ||
| Dpb |
Foot room with the Touratech panniers is about the same as the stock HB bags. Most women think the panniers are ugly. I've been told I look like I'm delivering milk. I like them because there tough, hold lots, and are top loading. Passenger just about has to get on first though. |
