Plenty of room!

 

Looks great! Thank you so much - this is what decided to do. Ill post photos of my finished product when I can

 

Another way If you don't have a top box yet. Just lay it flat on the back part of the seat (bottom of the pack against your back) and the top part of the pack will be on the rack. There may be a little extending over the back of the rack depending on the size of your pack. Strap it down to the rack and you are good to go. Having it sit standing up against a sissy bar will throw your center of gravity of the bike way off. It will make it top heavy.

 

Good point about the center of gravity. Hopefully a loaded top box wont do the same

 

I wear a medium sized camelback hydration pack(Mule) that has extra space for some items. I use it for jacket liners and extra gloves, snacks etc. I don't like extra weight hanging on me when riding because it causes low back pain. At least from my experience.

 

Yea i definitely dont want to wear the backpack (on the bike at least). I have some experience bicycling with one and that was enough to learn. Thank you!

 

I carry my ULA Circuit as well as panniers and a top case. Strap it down with bungees. Done over 2000 miles so far. No issues.

 

Awesome setup! This is what i decided to do. Thank you for the input!

 

Back pack or saddle bags make a great back rest/pillion 😉

 

Wow. That looks incredible. I might be underestimating what i can carry with my KLR….

 

Wtf are you guys carrying in all those bags. I have not made a trip yet but all i envision needing is water, tools, cellphone, garmin when i can afford one, tubes, and maybe some extra underwear and socks if i am travelling over a week. But i sleep on rented beds.

 

A backpack over the seat works, but it makes the bike very top heavy. My first ride to the arctic was with a 120l duffel strapped over the seat of a Dl1000. I can’t count how many low speed drops I had with all that weight up top. Do yourself a favor and get some cheap throw over saddle bags and pack all of your heavy kit in them. It makes a huge difference. But live and learn adds to the adventure.

 

I live about 200 miles from the coast and continue to try and find the cheapest way to get there with enough stuff to be happy (cold beer, shade, fishing gear and tent). There's an almost deserted barrier island with a pedestrian ferry to take you there. I leave the bike where you board the ferry and walk down the beach at the island. I've taken an external frame pack on my Gen 2. I had a tail box on it and just bungee corded it upright in front of the tail box. Yes the wind hit the top a bit, but my body blocked most of it. Worked okay, but I had to lug the backpack a ways down the beach. I had a backpack cooler that fit inside the external frame pack. I spent one night on the beach and the whole weekend cost about $40.

I then took it to the next level with my Gen 3. I invented a "cooler deck" prototype to carry a 30 quart ice chest where a passenger would sit. I also had a folding cart to lug my stuff down the beach. I did a 3 night stay for about $60. Gas mileage got down to around 25 MPG at 75 MPH with a strong headwind on the way down, so that kind of defeated the purpose. A few scares in the wind as well. Biggest mistake was forgetting to crank up the rear shock before loading. All kind of an experiment, but I now know I can do it.