Trunk luggage

ultrafxr

1250+ Posts
Gold Member
Aug 21, 2017
1,494
1,457
Lakeland, TN
Name
Jerry
Being new to trikes and the Tri-Glide I wondering what most folks use in the way of luggage in the trunk and how best to pack it. I see that Harley, Saddleman and maybe some others make bags especially for the Tri-Glide. Not in a big hurry but want to make the best choice.
 
When Kevin from DK products see this, he will answer you, when him and his wife travel, I can't believe where he puts all of it, he has some pics and it is really hard to believe what he packs in his triglide for him and his wife when traveling.

All for now Trampas
 
Being new to trikes and the Tri-Glide I wondering what most folks use in the way of luggage in the trunk and how best to pack it. I see that Harley, Saddleman and maybe some others make bags especially for the Tri-Glide. Not in a big hurry but want to make the best choice.

Both my T/G's came with a bag [Duffel] with the Harley logo on them, But i never used them.. I just lay stuff in the top box and or the trunk :Shrug:...That said i only go on trips solo...When i sometimes need to separate clothes, i.e.; Clean from Dirty i use matching luggage from my friends at Shop-rite... :)
 
Both my T/G's came with a bag [Duffel] with the Harley logo on them, But i never used them.. I just lay stuff in the top box and or the trunk :Shrug:...That said i only go on trips solo...When i sometimes need to separate clothes, i.e.; Clean from Dirty i use matching luggage from my friends at Shop-rite... :)
:good:
 
Being new to trikes and the Tri-Glide I wondering what most folks use in the way of luggage in the trunk and how best to pack it. I see that Harley, Saddleman and maybe some others make bags especially for the Tri-Glide. Not in a big hurry but want to make the best choice.

Ultra,

I purchased the HD twin bag set for the trunk. I don't use a tour pack bag. I purchased 2 of the expandable HD bags for up top. In the twins, I use HD collapsible bags (you squeeze the air out) and they hold a lot. I bought the HD collapsible bags because they have a life time warranty. I can also put extra stuff in the trunk around the twins. I put immediate access stuff in the tour pack. I use one expandable for rain gear and put it on the tour pack luggage rack. I use the other expandable for one night stands and put it behind me riding solo. I carried enough for a 2 week trip to Sturgis without needing to do laundry and still had enough room for bringing home souvenirs. Kevin
 
I use the soft sided Harley bag that came with my first TG (09). It was made to fit perfectly into the TG trunk, as long as I don't pack it (the wife says I pack 10 days of clothes for a 3 day trip...).

Bubba
 
I have a set of the Saddlemen twin trunk bags and I find them too small to be useful. We just use the biggest duffel bag we can fit in the trunk and then stuff other stuff around it. We use the HD tour pac bag in the tour pac and then we have another bag that goes on top of the Air wing luggage rack.
 
After more than a few long trips (2 weeks or more), I've found that the best advice I've ever been given about packing is this....

"Bring half the amount of clothes you think you need and twice as much money."

If you can do wash every 4 or 5 days, why pack more? I put my tools, heated gear, chaps, rain gear and first aid kit in the trunk. I don't think the bags would work for me, but maybe they will for you. That leaves a little room for a spare jacket if it warms up enough to ditch the leather one and either spare boots or a pair of cooler / casual shoes when off the trike and space to store dirty clothes. I try to keep the tourpak as empty as I can (never quite works out like that though) and have an H-D suitcase that sits on the tourpak.

I have to admit I just recently splurged and spent about $2.99 for a real laundry bag for the dirty clothes instead of plastic bags.
 
I have these in my Tour Pack:

Saddleman Pic.JPG

And this on top of the Tour Pack on the luggage rack for the wife:

suitcase pic.JPG

In the trunk I have a First Aid Kit, tool bag and rain suits. Seems to work for me. I like that both of them have side pockets that you put stuff you may need while riding. All bought from Amazon.

Being new to trikes and the Tri-Glide I wondering what most folks use in the way of luggage in the trunk and how best to pack it. I see that Harley, Saddleman and maybe some others make bags especially for the Tri-Glide. Not in a big hurry but want to make the best choice.
 
Havent taken a long trip on the trike as of yet other than three days,but will be going to Daytona in about 3 weeks.We use the two saddle bag liners from HD and put them in the trunk along with rain suits,bag of assorted meds aspirn, Alieve ect. And we have a bag that goes on the luggage rack.With both of still working and two large dogs its tough for us to take more than 1 week long trip a year.Several 3 days a summer are better for us.
 
Tac 5.11 makes a great backpack, I think it's the 72 hour model. It packs nicely and, fully loaded, slides right into the tour pack without much slop. It has a lot of pockets, and I keep flashlights and stuff in easy reach. I have a 24 hour pack I take to work every day, it fits in the tour pack with room left over for lots of other stuff. I have the issue HD pack for the bottom trunk, all my laundry, etc goes in that for the return trip.
 
I found traveling light

In 2008, I went to Colorado from the East Coast. I spent 12 days and traveled 5800 miles. I never wore the same thing for more than 1 day and had everything I needed (rain gear, snacks, tools, emergency stuff). When I arrived in Great Falls, MT, I went to the UPS store and picked up a pre-delivered package containing 6 days of clothing and replaced the new clothes with my dirty laundry and sent them back home. I didn't want nor did I have the desire to wash clothes on my trip. Unfortunately, my laundry arrived after I got home and I did have to do my laundry. When I visit my mother in Florida for a week, I send my clothes UPS and can travel real light within a day.cardboard box.jpg
 
Being new to trikes and the Tri-Glide I wondering what most folks use in the way of luggage in the trunk and how best to pack it. I see that Harley, Saddleman and maybe some others make bags especially for the Tri-Glide. Not in a big hurry but want to make the best choice.

I use a standard carry on bag that fits in the trunk. I have to angle it in and once I have it in, I can put some leathers and some other items on the side. It leaves my tourpack free to carry an extra helmet, wet weather gear, and other items I usually carry.

For extended trips, I have a HD luggage that is on wheels I strap to the luggage rack.
 
Well, here's my story about travel and luggage. I go to Sturgis every year, (since 1999.) I rode my 2003 Anniversary Ultra (2 wheeler) out. I packed both saddle bags full, filled my tour pak with a nice duffle type bag. I had a tour pak rack on it, I put a nice HD Expandable bag on the rack. Had plenty of storage. Well I traded my Ultra in on a new 2017 Tri-Glide out in Rapid City, SD. So when I came home I had some extra stuff and not enough space to put it. Since Tri-Glide's don't come with the tour pak rack. As other's have said, I sent clothing and any other things I didn't need through UPS. Done that for years. When I get home It's usually sitting on my front porch. One of the first things I did with my trike was to install a tour-pak rack. Got my storage back. Just a side note. When installing the rack, I use Fender washers on the inside of the tour pak to distribute the stress of the mounting screw. Have never had any issues at all. Jerry.
 
Being new to trikes and the Tri-Glide I wondering what most folks use in the way of luggage in the trunk and how best to pack it. I see that Harley, Saddleman and maybe some others make bags especially for the Tri-Glide. Not in a big hurry but want to make the best choice.

We tried using a variety of different bags, some made especially for the Tri-Glide.

If you are wanting to take a lot of stuff, like on a long trip where you may need cold weather and warm weather gear, etc., there are a few drawbacks to using pre-made bags:

1. They can be unwieldy

2. We ended up having to go thru a lot of stuff in the big bag to find the one little thing we wanted

3. This is the biggest, most important reason we found them not useful- The opening to the trunk is MUCH SMALLER than the HUGE amount of space in the trunk. There is a LOT of space above the opening in the trunk...A LOT! There is also a good amount of space to the left and right of the opening in the trunk.

So we use a variety of smaller bags (stuff sacks). These give us a few useful advantages:

1. We are able to divide up different types of items into different bags. allowing us to only pull what we need for a stop. This also makes it very easy to find what we are looking for when in the motel room, or at a stop on the road.

2. Stuff that we are not going to need for days at a time (like cold weather gear when we are in warm weather) can be packed first into the trunk, and never removed for days at a time.

3. Most importantly, it allows us to pack into the areas on either side of the trunk door, and above the trunk door, which is simply not possible with one or two large bags.

Following couple of pics show a typical morning outside the motel room.

This is what it looked like outside the TG.

The Tour-Pak is already full.

Tools are already in the trunk.

The black stuff sack and the cooler (on the right) go on the TP rack, all the rest goes in the trunk.

Packing1_zps9lcgbnjb.jpg


All in with plenty of room to spare!

Packing2_zpsl4wuqjw6.jpg


Of course, if you are not needing to carry much stuff, and you don't need to use all available space, then a typical rolling luggage bag with a retractable handle can be very handy so that you don't need to carry a bag(s).

Kevin
 
For those of us who don't carry a passenger on a Gold Wing, I wish they would make a rain proof bag that would exactly fit into the curve of the Gold Wing back seat and could be secured on the passenger grab rails. I've tried several bags there and none work out perfectly.

Of course once you do get a bag secured there then opening the top trunk to any height is pretty limited since the top trunk opens over into the back seat. Harley has the better design on that top trunk opening. Honda .. you just have to pack such that you won't be needing anything more out of the top trunk than what you can squeeze your hand in to grab for while at a rest stop on the road.

A waist-secured pack works well for those small, must-have, quick-grab items that might normally be kept in the top trunk.
 
Good suggestions and thanks for all the replies. I've got luggage/soft bags, etc., for the tour pak and the tour pak rack - well after I install the rack I just bought. Jeez I do not understand why the moco puts a rack on the other touring bikes but not the Tri-Glide. Profit enhancement I guess.

But packing the trunk will definitely be different than packing the two saddlebags which is what I am used to. So I imagine I'll experiment with the suggestions posted here to find what works best for us. :)
 
Good suggestions and thanks for all the replies. I've got luggage/soft bags, etc., for the tour pak and the tour pak rack - well after I install the rack I just bought. Jeez I do not understand why the moco puts a rack on the other touring bikes but not the Tri-Glide. Profit enhancement I guess.

But packing the trunk will definitely be different than packing the two saddlebags which is what I am used to. So I imagine I'll experiment with the suggestions posted here to find what works best for us. :)

Trial and error...you'll figure out what works best for you.

At least our Tri-Glides have a lot of room and we don't need to pack them like this...

SportyPostOffice_zps098e7464.jpg


...or this.

TiresSporty_zpsbd99bebd.jpg


:laugh::laugh::laugh:

Kevin
 
When we go on a longer trip (1 week +) we use a standard airline roller bag strapped to the tour pack luggage rack (which is the first thing I said I needed the dealer to install when we bought the 17 TG: I put one on our 14) with a bungee cargo net. We use the HD tour pack bag for a lot of stuff, the add tools, etc. there. I pack the trunk like Kevin, with more tools, rain gear, bike cover, etc., all packed in smaller bags so it fits in easily. We always end up with enough room to bring home souvenirs. One of these days I will have to take pictures, as Kevin did, with it fully packed, and what we got in there. I learned a lot from Kevin!
 
Packing

Wife has the standard Harley trike bags/I have the Saddleman trike bags, both work fine on/in our Street Glide trikes - don't need any stink'n TOUR PAK or rack!:laugh:
 
Wife has the standard Harley trike bags/I have the Saddleman trike bags, both work fine on/in our Street Glide trikes - don't need any stink'n TOUR PAK or rack!:laugh:

Yea, But can you put a whole Pizza (Pizza) in your trunk like i can in my Tri-Glide's...Tour-Pac..:laugh::laugh:
 

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