RCinNC
Well-Known Member
Hello all, just finished the last of the wintertime projects, so I’m posting it here. I like having crash bar bags on a bike; that’s usually where I keep my and my passenger’s rain gear, so it doesn’t take up storage space in the cases. Back when I had a DL650, I found these M40/M42 gas mask carriers in a surplus store for, if I remember correctly, six bucks apiece. They were made from a really heavy duty nylon. They looked perfect for crash bar bags, so I modified them by cutting off the straps and repositioning them, adding Velcro to them, and making the cut off straps into attachment straps. The bags worked really well, but when I got the Super Tenere, the green looked awful up next to the blue of the bike. I cut the old straps off, and painted the bags with Krylon Fusion spray paint. It adheres remarkably well to nylon; not as permanent as a dye job, but not nearly as labor intensive and expensive, either. I added a piece of upholstery leather to the rear of each bag (the leather was a leftover from a backrest I made for a Harley years ago), along with double-sided velcro straps to use as attachment straps, and some new nylon webbing straps and quick release buckles. The nylon webbing and double-sided Velcro all came from Seattle Fabrics, an excellent source for things like nylon cloth, webbing, etc. As a final touch, I bought a pair of reflective Tuareg Man patches from a vendor on ADV Rider and sewed them onto the flaps on the bags.
I don’t have a sewing machine, so all the sewing was done old school, with either a needle and thread or with a hand sewing awl (the kind used to sew heavy leather together).
These bags seem pretty available; I see them a lot on surplus websites. The old canvas M17 gas mask carriers would probably work just as well, with a little reengineering.
Hope you enjoy!
I don’t have a sewing machine, so all the sewing was done old school, with either a needle and thread or with a hand sewing awl (the kind used to sew heavy leather together).
These bags seem pretty available; I see them a lot on surplus websites. The old canvas M17 gas mask carriers would probably work just as well, with a little reengineering.
Hope you enjoy!
