Okay, it’s that time of year and we’re pumped. Nothing is more exciting than the ride to Deadwood. It’s the mecca of the custom motorcycle industry. It’s the Wild West Escape Run from the bills, the jobs, the traffic, the population, the ol’ lady, the kids, you name it. This is the time to feel the freedom of the open road. For most of us it’s the mandatory run of the year.
Here it is https://www.vikingbags.com/viking-tank-bag-for-harley-street-500
I suppose it represents all I dream of, the open road, the packing light, and the outlaw in all of us.
Just the other day someone commented about my Indian. “You don’t have a windshield? Do you wear a mask?”
Last year, riding back from Sturgis on the Indian for the first time, I packed only my bedroll. The night before I left the Badlands a brother piled on some cold weather gear. I had to wear most of it. I couldn’t pack it. Not enough room.
This year a tad more thought and experience will go into my packing process. Still, I’m only packing my Bandit’s bedroll, which acts as a short windbreak, but then something surfaced.
A company reached out to me regarding their Viking product line. Ania offered to send me a tank bag to mount and test. I’m also testing a Motherwell fender rack. A good tank back is the shit, especially for carrying maps. Think about that for a second. Who carries a printed map anymore? That business is perhaps toast, but I still have a bunch of printed maps. I like the overview a map can give me.
The Viking cordora tank bag, originally designed for metric cruisers arrived and it fit the Indian dash configuration like a champ. I could read all my gauges. Here are the tips from Viking:
Viking Tank Bag for Harley Street 500.
Viking Tank Bag for Harley Street 500 is specifically designed to sit flawlessly on top of your Harley (or Indian) Street Bike. Equipped with high quality straps and magnets, the bag sits firmly on your tank top and provides with plenty of secure storage space.
Reinforced body to maintain shape.
Touch Friendly transparent pouch to enable device use through the pouch.
Headphone port to allow use while securing device in the bag.
2 x Mesh pouches.
Easy access Top pouch.
Quick Release clips to allow quick disconnect.
Rain Cover included for free
Hang on as we mount this puppy and test it to Sturgis and back.
I removed the seat with a couple of metric Allens and checked the infrastructure for potential mounting spots. I had a few. I wanted to mount the clip as close to the nose of the seat as possible. Ultimately I ran a tie-wrap around a massive wire loom and through the magnetized pad strap. I was virtually finished with the rear mounting.
I replaced the seat and clipped the rear plastic snap into place. Then I strung out the front straps along side the dash and over the front of the tank. Viking even devised leather like pads to protect my paint from tight straps. They also included bolt-on strap landings to be mounted under fasteners.
Again, with one tie-wrap and one clip fastened to a brake line I was basically good to go. I adjusted the strap lengths and went for a test ride. During the ride I discovered if I wore a beanie helmet I could stash it in the tank bag while riding in free states and still carry a camera and a few odds and ends.
Here are the official instructions:
We are also testing the Motherwell fender rack specifically designed for Indians.
