I hope I do not hijack this thread - I had planned this for next spring - but maybe this is the right occasion.
That summer (1980) we were to go on a six weeks journey to France, Italy and Greece and I needed a rack. Two blocks from where I lived, was a motorcycle store. Behind the counter against the wall I spotted a rack. CB500/CB750 its tag said. The shopkeeper would not let me have it, unless I would buy the cases as well. Two days later when he was not in, his daughter sold me the rack. I didn't want the cases for in a motor magazine I had read a test of solid cases and the results had been disappointing: not one, not even the German brands Krauser, Shuh and Hepco & Becker, had proved watertight. Also, a friend had just donated me two sturdy leather bags in a quality those years only found in countries behind the Iron Curtain, like Czechoslovakia. He and his wife had quit riding their Jawa 350. The bags had served on all their trips to as far as the North Cape. In those years Norway still had dirt roads and in a curve they had slipped in the gravel. They had come away with minor injuries and the leather bag had proved its worth: it had absorbed the impact saving rack and bike. After readjusting a mirror they were able to continue. Now, 41 years later, I still use their bags. Also on our trips, bike has been down a few times. After a day riding and when nature was inviting, we used to go off road to look for a nice spot to camp. Due to my clumsy parking, the bike has fallen over numerous times, without damage however. To upright my bike, I didn't need to remove the luggage and I concluded I would never want a bike weighing over 200 kgs. IIRC it's even law in Japan: you're only allowed riding such a bike you can upright by yourself.
Also I have had two accidents, one in Italy and one in Greece. Although the bike had suffered some cosmetic damage - the repair of which could be postponed till after the holiday - there was none in the rear. Like with my friends in Norway, the bags had absorbed the impact and protected rack and mufflers.
Now my leather bags aren't watertight. No real problem as long as you have everything in plastic bags. BTW, just the other day I've learned that even today's hard cases come with extra bags against rain... I find that telling. I have always saved clear plastic bags, so on a journey I can quickly find whatever I need.
I don't like hard cases: too bulky, too vulnerable which will lead to extra costs eventually. My leather bags are some 50 years old now and the only cost so far, have been one or two leather straps that needed to be replaced. If the bags would ever need repair, it can be fixed in every Greek or Turkish hamlet by someone who will resolutely refuse to accept money on condition I will do him the favour of having a raki with him afterwards.
My bags have always been one with the rack and have never moved an inch, giving the bike a solid feel. Isn't there anything negative about them? Well, no. Those locks are a joke ofcourse. I don't even bother to use them; I prefer the three straps that are also there. Am I not afraid something gets stolen then? No. Apart from a quart of oil, a wrench and clothing, there's nothing of value in them. Why worry?
