Givi Or Kappa Tanklock Bag?

[MadFrog]

Bought a Givi XS307. Revzilla has them in stock right now, so I pulled the trigger. Revzilla was great, shipped superfast.

Based on the information I could find online, the XS307 seemed to have the biggest footprint of the tanklog bags, and the exterior dimensions made it look like it just might be big enough for my work laptop - which was the goal.

Unfortunately, the shape of the bag made it so that it just doesn't quite fit my laptop. Oh well. At least, it seems to be a well made bag. It took only a few minutes to install on my 4th gen. I moved the bag all the way forward, and the fit is near perfect. I can see the gauges, it doesn't interfere with turning and is generally out of the way.

Since I can't use if for my laptop, I use it for my lunch box, cell phone, wallet, etc. and it does a fine job of that. I also have a tail bag and soft saddle bags (Tourmaster set) where I can shove my laptop, gym bag, rain suit, jacket/pant liners, etc. I was hoping to be fit the laptop in the tank bag so I could easily take with me. As it is, I have to shove the laptop first in the tail bag, then the gym bag on top. When I get to work, I have to open the tail bag, remove the gym bag, fish the laptop out, and put the gym bag back in. Not a big deal, but I wanted to streamline operations a bit.

Now with the tank bag, I feel I have enough luggage room to do some light touring, and it will come in very handy when I go for rides with my wife, when I can't take the tail bag.

Anyway, a couple of pics below:

And a couple pics on the bike:

[AnikMankar]

You need a smaller laptop :)

[MadFrog]

yeah, I do. Unfortunately, that's a company laptop, and I don't get to pick. :)

[Belfry]

Update:

I said earlier in the thread that I would check in again once I put some miles on the bag. I just returned last weekend from an 1,840-mile round trip ride to Lake Tahoe using the Kappa RA308 tanklock.

Pros:

• No contact with the tank! (Seems obvious, but I read somewhere about a concern that the expansion zipper tab might touch and scratch the tank--mine doesn't.)
• Easy, one-click mounting and dismounting. I'm still using the safety strap, but even so it's the easiest to secure/remove bag I've used--particularly helpful at fuel stops.
• Very secure. No sign of movement during hard cornering, acceleration, rapid stops, etc. Solid as a rock.
• Waterproof with rain cover in place. *Not* waterproof without it (Lake Tahoe thunder shower test ...)--but it dries out quickly over a forced air heating duct ...
• Good zippers. It's still new of course, but the zippers are all sturdy and run freely without binding.
• Good, strong carry handle and strap.
• Doesn't block access to/view of controls, dash or interfere with riding position (can lean forward on to bag in high wind without issues).

Cons (All minor):

• Sticks up fairly high for its capacity. This is to be expected, I guess, given the mounting system. Strap or magnetic bags conform to the tank and thus sit lower. The only time I noticed this was on long straights. With my old bag I would take a hand off the bars and rest it on top of the tank bag. The Kappa sits a little too high for this to be comfortable, so I now rest the hand in my lap instead.
• Lack of internal pockets. The main compartment is just one large space (see photos earlier in thread). My previous bags had zippered internal pockets and/or mesh pouches to help organize the contents. You can get nearly the same effect by using the contents as partitions, but it's not as easy or neat and things tend to shift around.
• Map pocket. It's long with a zipper down one side, but it doesn't fit standard North American-sized road maps very well.

Overall, I'm very happy with the bag. The tanklock mechanism is great and despite the minor issues noted above I would not go back to a strap or magnetic mounting system.

[VFRRelic]

Nobody seems to have a tank ring for the 2014 VFR. The GIVI BF03 for all Hondas does not fit . They moved to a 5 bolt pattern. Any body find anything else that might fit?

[aadvanboven]

You need the BF20 ring. Fits perfectly on the new VFR.