tank bag

FALCONSEYE

Member
Joined
May 16, 2013
Messages
53
Location
Colorado
I am looking for a low profile water proof tank bag. Something that I can run USB cords to charge my devices would be nice.

What are you using?
 

Cycledude

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2016
Messages
3,998
Location
Rib lake wi
Been Using a Givi equipped with tank ring mount for about 60,000 miles, not sure specifically what model it is but probably not considered low profile, it has a clear plastic top for viewing map but any time it rains a little water seems to get in there but I don’t use it for maps so that doesn’t matter much, nothing inside the tankbag has ever got wet and I have ridden in lots of rain, actually rode to Prudehoe Bay Alaska and back home, it rained EVERY day and nothing inside the tankbag ever got wet.
Love the tankring Mount, no straps to mess with, the tankbag never touches the paint.
When time to fill with gas just press one simple button and the bag lifts right off very easily.

It has a spot on the front designed to be able to cut a hole for electric cord and not leak but I never tried that.
Put my cellphone inside the tankbag and run the cord through the zipper area and plug it into the Yamaha power outlet on the dash, hard to believe but it never comes unplugged and it also has a built in volt meter, bought the charger for about $9 on eBay a few years ago, it has 2 USB ports .
If it’s raining I unplug the charger and slip it back inside the tankbag.
Other than the leaky map view area I have been extremely well satisfied with the tankbag.
 

EricV

Riding, farkling, riding...
2011 Site Supporter
2012 Site Supporter
2013 Site Supporter
2014 Site Supporter
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
8,227
Location
Tupelo, MS
I'm not sure there are many true waterproof tank bags. Many come with a rain cover. My review of the SWMotech Quick Lock Evo 'City' tank bag would be just about identical to Cycledude's Givi review. Except to say that the City bag comes with a rain cover with dual draw strings that nicely keep it in place. I've been using it for 140k miles or so, including a 30 day Alaska trip where it rained every other day or so and a lot of trips. If I see it's going to be a wet day, the rain cover goes on. If I get caught in the rain, oh well. Same bit of water in the map case, which is a separate attachment on the City bag, not built in. Same built in pass thru ports. I don't normally use them. I started out with this bag electrified with a powered tank bag ring. That got so bad after a while with intermittent connection failure that I got a warranty replacement, then after that repeated the same issue, they just sent me both mounts for a non-powered new style set because they couldn't say if the new version was any better in the powered form. (I still have those un-used new mounts for bike and bag that I never used).

edit - I have just added a waterproof pass thru power port to other bags. It's pretty simple to do and you can buy the USB style fittings already made up to install in a bulkhead or tank bag.

It might help if you defined "low profile" in terms of liters in size.

Oh, and please take a moment to add your location to your profile. It gives context to your posts and makes it easier for others to give more accurate or useful answers.
 

dannyv

Active Member
Joined
May 4, 2018
Messages
294
Location
Indianapolis, IN
DW bought me a Nelson-Rigg for Christmas. It is okay, not too tall, never in the way. Easy enough to tip up for fill ups. Rain cover worked okay. I may get ambitious and re-make the straps to fit just my bike. Maybe. There is room for improvement. Only trouble so far, the inside velcro was not stitched correctly, it is coming loose. I could return it, but I can sew it back on in less time then it takes me to run to the dealer.
 

STenitus

Active Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2015
Messages
448
Location
Alabama
Twisted Throttle ran a sale on their ION series, tank-lock style tank bags a few month back. I wanted something similar to what you described. The ION series was priced really well so I grabbed an ION One. At 5-9 L capacity, the One was/is the smallest of the One, Two, Three series. This very basic bag meets my needs, is well made, the price was right and I'm super thankful it came with an effective rain cover! That pesky Capt. Hindsight that perpetually flies around in my brain tells me I should've bought the ION Three, but from memory, that bag was sold out at the time. Twisted Throttle still shows the Three out of stock but indicates new stock should've arrived yesterday (8/23). At $83, I may try to grab one. Doubt I'd pay the current asking price on the One but here's a link - CLICKY.
 

Cycledude

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2016
Messages
3,998
Location
Rib lake wi
Lots of very nice tank bags out there but notice some of them do not have any outside pockets, my Givi bag does have 2 outside pockets one on each side and they are very handy and make it very easy to locate a small item like a flashlight, tire gauge or garage door opener.
I personally would not recommend buying a tank bag without the very handy side pockets.
 

ArkieTenere

Member
Joined
May 3, 2013
Messages
121
Location
Arkansas
Twisted Throttle ran a sale on their ION series, tank-lock style tank bags a few month back. I wanted something similar to what you described. The ION series was priced really well so I grabbed an ION One. At 5-9 L capacity, the One was/is the smallest of the One, Two, Three series. This very basic bag meets my needs, is well made, the price was right and I'm super thankful it came with an effective rain cover! That pesky Capt. Hindsight that perpetually flies around in my brain tells me I should've bought the ION Three, but from memory, that bag was sold out at the time. Twisted Throttle still shows the Three out of stock but indicates new stock should've arrived yesterday (8/23). At $83, I may try to grab one. Doubt I'd pay the current asking price on the One but here's a link - CLICKY.
I have the Ion one and like it a lot. Snagged the TT deal on the Ion 3 when I bought the ring for the soon to be mine 15 Tenere. Bag arrives Wed...bike sometime before the 23rd. :)
 

STenitus

Active Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2015
Messages
448
Location
Alabama
Awesome. Yea, some 3s popped up the other day for 70 and I grabbed one. Looking forward to the extra capacity.
 

Lux

Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2018
Messages
64
Location
St. Petersburg, Florida
I use the old backpacking trick of lining the tank bag with a small trash can liner or zip lock. Using multiple zip locks are nice as you can keep your stuff divvied up.
 

arjayes

Active Member
2013 Site Supporter
2014 Site Supporter
Joined
Dec 13, 2013
Messages
460
Location
San Diego
Giant Loop is worth a look. I used the Fandango bag on my KLR and was very happy with it, but the strap system scuffed the KLR tank quite a bit so I did not use it on the Tenere. I went with the SW-Motech City EVO bag and it's been great. I tried the electrified version first and that did not work as advertised so I returned it for the non-electrified version.
 
Top