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[blake]

hey folks.

Thought I would relay a short story of what happened to me earlier this week in case it helps anyone else avoid the same fate.

I had what I thought was a good bag strapped onto the rear of the bike. It was a commercial bag made for such a purpose and it seemed to work well. But this particular day I had a bit too much in it perhaps. At any rate, on account of the odd shape of the back of the Zero (why they make a hump back there is beyond me), the bag rotated to around and got jammed in the rear wheel. It got shredded and spewed all my stuff across 3 lanes of traffic. Luckily I was not going too fast, and it rotated to the left rather than to the right (where it would have got caught in the belt drive where it would probably have locked up the rear wheel), and luckily it happened just before I got on the highway (rather than after, at much higher speed).  I lost a new disc lock and several other items, but escaped unharmed and luckily the bike doesn't seem to have been damaged either. So don't dink around with chintzy aftermarket bags that are not secure, even if they claim to be official tail-packs for motorcycles! The rear end of the Zero is much rounder and narrower than the back end/back seat of conventional motorcycles. Would hate to see this or worse happen to anyone else.

blake
2012 Zero S-9
Ontario, Canada

[CliC]

Wow. Glad you got out of that safely. I agree, the little tailpiece looks cool but is completely anti-functional.

I was gonna get a seat bag and put it on sideways as Richard230 has done, but the company owner convinced me to get a rack bag instead, because it was bigger and didn't take up seat space. He had good intentions, but unfortunately the bag doesn't sit on that tailpiece well, though. I tried turning it lengthwise and hooking the click straps to the sewn-on strap that is supposed to slide under a rack, and it is better, but not great. I only put light items in it that way, and I haven't used it like that than once or twice because it still doesn't feel all that solid (though I don't think it's coming off).

When I get time I'm going to try to build (or have built) a proper tail rack. Some pannier mounts (for bigger bags/cases) would be nice, too.

[dkw12002]

Glad you and the bike made it out OK. That could have caused a wreck for sure if the rear wheel locked up. Thanks for the heads up. Without a gas tank, you can't use one of those magnetic packs either. The bag Richard uses looks pretty stable, but I don't think I could get on and off my bike with anything on top of the seat. Think I'll stick with a fanny pack and backpack when I ride the Zero or take the Vespa if I need to carry stuff.

[Lipo423]

I'm glad you are ok.
It is a shame you lost all of these staff, but it is far better you end up fine...

[ed5000]

Thanks for the warning and I'm glad all is well for you and the bike.   I guess I'm staying with the backpack for a while longer.

[Richard230]

I have had things like that happen to me before. It usually results from me strapping items on my seat with bungee cords. I once lost a very heavy chain and lock when I hit a bump and its inertia overwhelmed the bungee cords and it flew off onto the freeway, never to be seen again. Another time I had some silk underwear strapped to my seat with a bungee net and after a hundred miles of riding it got pulled out of the net by wind buffeting. It then got caught up in my rear brake disc and caliper.  My K100RS slowed down a little, so I just gave it more gas. When I finally arrived at a parking lot to check out the view of Crater Lake, I couldn't push my bike around. The silk had melted into the caliper and completely gummed up the rear brake. I was able to clean it out, but it was a real mess.

So now I use the RKA seat bag, although it does reduce your seat room a bit.  It works really well and even when expanded to be about a foot high, I can carry a weeks worth of groceries, including canned goods and bottles of juice, without the bag moving around.  However, I can not swing my boot over the bag when it is expanded, so I stand on my left foot, hold my right foot with my hands and kind of carry it over the rider's portion of the seat.  Not very graceful, but it works and I haven't fallen over yet.