Quote:
Originally Posted by fjmartin
I’ve not been a fan of tank bags. First, they cover the fuel cap so have to be removed to fill. Most have 4 clips or so to do that. Second, they hit my legs when riding off-road and I am standing up. Third, they block where I have my phone mounted. Finally, I don’t trust people as lots of stuff gets stolen and they don’t lock.
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I agree with all of the above. Additionally, a lot riders have these massive tank bags to hold extra luggage, and those just look awkward and intrusive to the ride- like it would cover the instrument panel and hit your chest when you lean forward. I'm sure you adapt to it so that eventually it feels normal, but I can't get passed the idea of it. So small bag or nada.
So I searched for the ideal bag and believe that I have found it in the Oxford X2 mini magnetic. It solves all of the above mentioned issues and then some. Sorry if this sounds like a sales pitch, but I really love this bag. The size and shape are well suited to the RX3, my blue bag matches my blue bike. Unfortunately I see on Amazon and Revzilla that it is out of stock and discontinued, I bought mine just over a year ago from a local shop, maybe you can still find it somewhere.
Its magnetic and the magnets are super strong- interstates, off-road, drops, it never moves. It has a big, beefy handle at the top, so you just peel it off at the fuel station, then stick it back on, takes all of 1 second. The handle works well to carry it around in a convenience store. Or its small enough that it can fit into my helmet, then I just carry the helmet around by the chin strap with bag inside. Either it comes with me, or I pull out all the valuables, so no worries about theft.
I usually keep in it: phone, charging cable, wallet, cap, sunglasses, GoCruise, chapstick, cleaning cloth, coins, receipts, etc. and when I pull my gloves off I shove them in there too. Much nicer than having your jacket pockets loaded down, then not knowing what is in which pocket. It also has a small expansion zipper, and sometimes I keep my mirrorless camera with large zoom lens in there so I can pull over and snap a quick shot.
I have a handlebar mount for my phone, but this leaves the phone exposed to the elements (sun, rain, dust), so I rarely use it- generally I just bluetooth navigation to my helmet and don't need to see the phone. My phone is terrible about overheating, so if its sitting in the sun, charging and nav running, and the outside temp is above 75F, my phone will warm up and deplete the battery or just shut itself off all together- not a good situation when traveling an unfamiliar country. To solve this I keep the phone inside the bag and leave the bag unzipped. At first I was nervous about stuff falling out, but the design of the bag ensures that stuff can't fall/bounce out- even on crazy, bumpy offroad stuff. The only time stuff has come out of the unzipped bag is when I dropped the bike.
Another big plus for me is that the bag is like 98% waterproof. Its not a drybag, but it will keep your stuff from getting wet. Twice on this trip I've ridden through rainstorms with sidewinds that literally blew me off the road, saturated through my rain gear, and seeped into my boots. Both times the inside of the tank bag was slightly moist, but my phone and wallet were safely dry.
Oh, and the zippers are strong and glove-friendly. With one hand and a thick glove on I can unzip it, pull stuff out, and zip it back, without needing to pull over.