How about an organizer for luggage?

[Just-Tim]

  I tend to leave my bags on for most trips, it’s nice to carry small stuff like bottled water, visor cleaner, tire gauge, lighter or heavier gloves, etc., they end up just rattling and flopping around in the side cases. Also, ya never know when my travels may take me to a brewery I’ve never been to and I may need to pick up some samples! Has anyone come up with an idea for some sort of organizer for small items? I had the liners for my FJR,  it they were useless for anything other than removal to carry as they had to be removed for access.

Thanks,

Tim

Edited March 10, 2021 by Just-Tim

[whisperquiet]

Locally, I run only a tank bag and tail trunk.  On a trip, I run the saddlebags which are filled with clothes and other items rarely accessed to the end of the riding day.  The items like you mention are carried in the tank bag and tail trunk......lighter and easily accessible.

[Just-Tim]

Yep, I’ve used tail and tank bags, but to me they’re too easily accessed by other folks like when you stop for lunch. Though if small enough they could be locked in the side cases.

[Wintersdark]

1 hour ago, Just-Tim said:

Yep, I’ve used tail and tank bags, but to me they’re too easily accessed by other folks like when you stop for lunch. Though if small enough they could be locked in the side cases.

YMMV, but I've literally never - in 25+ years of riding - had anyone poke through my bags when stopped for lunch etc.  I wouldn't leave them overnight unsecured, though.  That said, we all live in different places, different situations, right?  

Anyways, my method of dealing with this has always been really simple: 

It's just a crappy little luggage lock that could be defeated by anyone with, well, anything really. But it's enough of a deterrent that someone has to really *want* to get in there (at which point a pocket knife would work on the bag itself anyways).  The point is to be a deterrent for those opportunistic sketchy folks.

That's worked for me for hundreds of thousands of kilometers over decades on all sorts of bags, all over North America.  

 

[TomTracer]

I've never had anything stolen off my bike when stopped for any reason over 60 yrs of riding. Actually, same goes for any campsite isolated or at a rally with 700+ attendees/campers. Awful long time to just be lucky. As for hauling bev samples I have seen milk crates lashed on tail rack. 🤭

[Wintersdark]

Yeah.  I dunno - and I get the whole murphy's law thing here - I've heard a lot of people really worried about stuff being stolen off bikes, but it's not something I can ever really recall at all.  I mean, I've had people say you shouldn't use a helmet lock on your bike to hold your helmet there because people will just cut the strap... but who's going to cut a helmet strap just to get a helmet?  Helmets can be had used super-cheap, so there's very little resale value for an intact helmet.  One with a cut strap?!

It's just not something that happens much at all, at least in my experience.  Never had a farkle stolen, never had a bag opened, basically, nobody touches people's bikes much at all.  

Of course, that's with the caveat that I'm not parking it downtown in a city almost ever, so YMMV there.  But mine's parked on the street in an industrial area of Calgary for 12 hours a day/night (yay shift work), and I've been doing that with bikes continuously for nearly a decade so people have had lots of time to adapt to schedules. 

Of course, it's all well insured, too, so it's pretty easy to be relaxed about it.  And my tailbag has nothing of real value in it - some snacks, some oil for the autooiler, helmet cleaning stuff, charging cables, bungies, and my tool roll which is arguably the most expensive to replace, but ultimately not worth anything at all.

But all that said, I totally get people being cautious about it.  I don't know anyone else's circumstances, or their ability to replace stuff, so everyone's got their own tolerance for risk.  To each their own.

For me, though, like I said a small super cheap luggage lock (which conveniently has a very tiny key that doesn't clutter my bike's keychain) is deterrent from potential opportunistic thieves and much more likely pranky feeling fellow riders.

[whisperquiet]

I don’t keep anything critical to my life in my unlocked soft tank and tail bags.  I did have a helmet stolen off my motorcycle about 45 years ago......it was hanging on my my mirror if I recall.  I do lock my helmet to my bike with a gun cable lock to prevent casual, opportunistic theft.

[Ride365]

Nobody has ever messed with my bike in all my travels, but yeah I will either lock up in the panniers or take into the hotel with me anything of value.

[knyte]

There's always webbing

[rustyshackles]

Pack-It Gear: Protective Organizers | Eagle Creek

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Your gear deserves the best. Protect it with our Pack-It Gear line...

Someone will scream these are too expensive but this is just one option for organizing items inside a larger bag.  There are many brands, sizes, levels or protection, durability etc.  of similar products.  Beats plastic grocery store bags.

[knyte]

Yaasss...packing cubes - worth every penny.

[fddriver2]

I will echo what others have said. I've had very few problems with stuff being taken of my bike. I've been to Daytona 4 times. Leesburg 2 times. Literally 1,000's of people at those events. And every weekend or 2 I go to a "biker" bar that can have 200+ bikes there. Nothing was ever taken. I even forgot my Samsung s10+ (a$1,000 phone at the time) on the seat and it was still there about 20 minutes later when I figured it out. 

I have had people go through my soft bags out in public (public being where "Joe Citizen" is) and a couple weird things taken, a couple of $5 cigars and a cigar lighter, a beer koozie. Who the hell steals a beer koozie🤷‍♂️

Long story short I went from a nice Givi tailbag to an inexpensive pelican style small hard case when I got my expensive Garmin Zumo. I do miss the Givi though it held a ton of crap.

 

[fddriver2]

8 hours ago, knyte said:

Yaasss...packing cubes - worth every penny.

👆 This. I don't use packing cubes but I do use small camping style stuff sacks to keep things separated. A trick I learned backpacking and long distance canoe camping. And now for traveling by motorcycle.

[sirepair]

In my tank bags, I cut down various plastic containers, like quart oil bottles (cleaned with brake parts cleaner) and staple them together to make compartments. One for first aid/meds, one for candy and gum, one for cleaning wipes, etc.

Cardboard or corrugated plastic sheets (yard signs) can easily be cut and shaped to make compartments for your panniers or top box.

There is a write up here of what I've done: 

The Frugal Farkler strikes again - Tankbag Customization | Luggage / Fairings | ST-Owners.com

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[pilninggas]

I sometimes lock my helmet to my bike with a cable lock - always though the front aperture and not using the strap. Not a huge fan though - im aware of people having helmets vandalised here in the UK - even of someone having a helmet pissed in....