Ducati Monster Forum

In preparation for an upcoming 3 day tour of Yosemite and the Sierras, I picked up this Cortech Tourmaster tail bag at Cycle Gear for $90.   I already have an RKA tank bag (http://www.rka-luggage.com/A01%20Products/prod.html) that’s great, but for a 3 day trip I wanted to have more luggage space, so a tail bag seemed like a better choice than my jumbo messenger bag on my back for that long of a trip.
(http://www.barnold.com/img/ducati/tail-bag-cortech-01.jpg)

(This was on an S2R 800, with fully chopped tail)
I searched for quite a while and for some reason at first I assumed a hard mount type option would be the only choice that would work with my full tail chop and lack of hand rails, passenger pegs, sissy bar, or something else to attach a bag to.  I’d come across one hard mount option, a  Ventura rack (http://www.cycleventure.com/fitments/display.asp?manufacturer_id=5), but I couldn’t confirm where exactly it mounted and if it would work with my chopped tail, but ended up looking at the Cortech bag while browsing at Cycle Gear. 

In the end I think I prefer the Cortech bag, bungee style mount actually.  The pic below shows I was able to mount it with enough clearance for the tail light and small turn signals, and even though it looks like the bag sticks into the seat area when full, it actually barely touched me while riding.
(http://www.barnold.com/img/ducati/tail-bag-cortech-02.jpg)
 
Here you can see how the two bungee cords with hooks were mounted.  One on the left was hooked under the seat cowel .  The other actually went between the seat cowel and then hooked to the mounting bracket for the exhaust.  The bungee cords each had a nice plastic hook which seemed better than a metal one (less likely to scratch), and they were thick and sturdy and you can tie knots in the cords to shorten/tighten as needed.
(http://www.barnold.com/img/ducati/tail-bag-cortech-03.jpg)
 
Here’s a shot from underneath to show how the cords stick out from under the rubber no slip/no scratch pad.  Not sure why, but you can see the zipper which unzips the layer that the pad is attached to and it unzips to expose what is seen in the the next photo.
(http://www.barnold.com/img/ducati/tail-bag-cortech-04.jpg)
 
Not sure why this is constructed this way, but it didn’t matter for me. 
(http://www.barnold.com/img/ducati/tail-bag-cortech-06.jpg)

Note the disease of mod’ing was present within minutes of purchasing the bag and I’d already cut the corners of the pad so they didn’t stick out on the tail.
(http://www.barnold.com/img/ducati/tail-bag-cortech-05.jpg)
 
Here on the bottom you can also see the strap that’s tucked in on each corner that has an attachment (next photo)
(http://www.barnold.com/img/ducati/tail-bag-cortech-07.jpg)
 
For hooking up a saddle bag on each side. I didn’t try these yet, but since I have carbon fiber pipes I could probably get away with doing so, even with high mount pipes.
(http://www.barnold.com/img/ducati/tail-bag-cortech-08.jpg)
 
Overall, I was surprised at how well the bungee cords held it tightly in place. No slipping, no problems at high speed or in turns, etc. Rock solid and holds just the right amount for a couple days travel or more if you’re good at packing light. Nice side and top compartments with zippered pocket inside. Came with a rain cover  and a shoulder strap too. Great bag. Worth the $$.

After I hooked it up, I went for an all day ride from Concord, CA along the Delta to Sacramento, then to Folsom and all around the foothills on highway 49, 193, etc. All in all about 400+ miles round trip and no problems.  [thumbsup]

great review [popcorn]

carefully as that non-skid/ no scratch pad will rub the clear coat off the seat cowl over long repeated use (at least on non-dark models).

Q

I've been thinking about buying a big tailbag for traveling.  I'm worried though about putting it on top of the seat cowl, that I could tighten it down too much and crack the cowl.  Is this possible to do or am I being paranoid?

I can only speak to my limited experience with my own so far, about 600 miles worth of riding with a full bag, but it didn't seem to me like that was possible.  My cowel seems to fit fairly close to the seat, and I've pushed down pretty hard on it before, when I was adjusting and re-working the fitment on the full tail chop I did a while back.  It seems to take a pretty good amount of pressure and flexed a bit but didn't seem like it would crack.  Your mileage may vary as they say though...

yeah, don't sweat the cowl cracking. it's pretty flexy and you'd have to crank it to like...11 to do any damage.
I put a tiny swatch of mirco fiber under the anti skid to prevent marring at the peak of the cowl. and let the anti skid stuff do it's job every where else.

I've given my tailbag a good tug and it is still rock steady. And has taken 8 long trips with nary a hiccup.

DarkDucati,

Thanks for the great review. I'm currently in the market for a tail bag. I think i'll buy this one.  [thumbsup]

Question for you.
Why didn't you remove the cowl 1st and install without to limit it(cowl) from the any chance of scratches and such?

Thanks again for the review.

 [roll]      Good question...    [roll]

I've always found removing he cowl a bit of a pain, and since the tail bag has pretty good padding under it, and since I don't really care if I get a few scratches, I just left it on.  Also, the way I attached the bungees, the cowl helped to secure them with good tension, so it all seemed to work well.  I'll probably get some rub marks over time, but I'm OK with my bike showing signs of use/wear.