[sharon]

Dear Friends,
Please your good advice for the right type of saddlebags for my bike.
We often drive 2 on the bike so it must be comfortable for the 2nd passenger!
We use NO leather products!
THANKS
Sharon

 

[JustPlainBill0]

Assuming you aren't planning long tours on the Desert Sled, I would recommend medium size (15-20 liter per side) soft "throw over" fabric saddlebags such as made by Neson Rigg, Cortech, Givi, etc. They will hold enough provisions --water, food, extra garments, tools, etc. for a typical day ride. If needed, soft bags with more capacity are available. Mounting straps on most such bags will fit over, and sometimes under the seat. Position the bags behind the passenger's knees so his legs clear them when riding. Put items affected by heat in the left side bag; away from the exhaust. You and the passenger will find mounting and dismounting from the bike somewhat awkward with the bags on but you get used to it. One very important suggestion: fit some kind of stay or brace to prevent the bags from rubbing on the rear tire. There doesn't seem to be any Ducati specific accessory for that purpose, so you will likely have to either fabricate something or find a "universal" part and adapt it (as an example: eBay bracket $28 ).

 

[surfguy]

Hi,

in my opinion each saddle bag or luggage rack as well as tank bag destroys the nice look of our scramblers - 800 and 1100. But if you like to go further then to the next cafe you have to start making compromises......

I would recommend you the installation of a luggage carrier (black color = invisible) e.g. of H&B and use the mounting plate of GIVI and the MAXIA 55l topcase. With that you have a waterproof luggage solution and you can remove the ugly topcase once you have reached your destination. You can also put a Ortlieb Rack Pack or similar on it - works fine as well (we have 50l and a 70l one, both tested already).

For me any saddle bags for the Ducati 800 modells (all of them incl. your desert sled) do not fit to the nice look. At my 1100er Sport I have the Legend Gear LC2 at both sides and there they fit also optically as the bike is longer and bigger - but at this a topcase looks terrible. I had a luggage rack on it and disassembled it after 1 hour again.

Have a look how our bikes look ....

 

[Rewild]

I agree that most luggage compromises the look of the bike and also consideration needs to be made for the heat from the exhaust. A tank bag is handy and I've fitted triangular shaped textile saddlebags that were originally a Triumph fitment. I bought cheap metal offset plates from China to strap them to, these are easily removed just leaving small brackets showing. Here's a few images.

 

[surfguy]

Hi "Rewild", do you also have a photo WITH the bags mounted?

 

[Rewild]

Here's the rest.

 

[surfguy]

Wow - these bags are huge. But they are a design-compromise - and they do not follow the cool "old style scrambler" look. Good thing: they can "disappear" once you have reached your destination.
Nevertheless as I said before already: best is a naked bike - but hopefully most riders go further than just to the next coffee shop....

Have a great weekend!

 

[danketchpel]

This is the setup I'm planing to use. There's little doubt that any luggage on a Scrambler mucks up the clean styling, but I don't see adding luggage as permanent, but rather for the mission at hand.

These are Wolfman Enduro Dry bags that I use on some other bikes also. They seem to fit rather well. This setup would be for camping off the bike hence the tent and camp chair. I have a 1 gal rotopax mounted on the tail rack in this setup.

 

[ScramblerKen]

Nice set up.
Flat across the top which allows for easier mounting of the motorcycle.

I agree, bags on a bike take away from the character but sometimes we just gotta have them.