Cut and contoured to stay out of your way, Won't sound the horn or try to start the bike while you do a U turn.
What's in the box?
1 x Andy Strapz Tank Bagz
1 x Universal-fit stretch harness
1 x Rain cover
4 x Webbing-encased stainless-steel strip to ensure optimal fit
2 x Soft loop webbing straps
”If you know you want a tank bag but are a bit bamboozled by all the available options, this one has all their good bits sewn into one.” — Andy
Initially designed for bikes with plastic and alloy tanks, it quickly became obvious that we had a pretty good all-round do-it-all tank bag. The bag itself is scalloped to reduce contact with both the horn and the starter button and the lid opens a true 180 degrees for a clear view of all your contents inside. This, combined with the good-sized zippers means I can just pull over, open the bag and take a photo — while still wearing gloves, helmet and all.
My design brief for this bag was fairly detailed; the tank bag must not interfere with the switch gear or my view to the instruments. It needed to use its space wisely without being cumbersome and encroaching on belly space, the zippers needed to be good quality, not rattle and be operable with cold, glove-laden hands, the bag itself needed to sit securely and not bounce around and the lid needed to open fully.
Once developed, my 20,000km shakedown test taught me I needed to add bit of colour to the inside base to ensure that my things don’t get lost in the great black tank bag void.
It also taught me refuelling needs to be able to happen really easily or else I’m going to opt for a rear-mounted seat bag instead. We’ve developed an innovative one-touch system to facilitate this, and one clip at the front has the entire bag rotating onto the rider’s seat. It’s got padded sides and a padded base to protect both the bag’s content and the bike’s tank and the whole thing converts to a handy backpack in seconds.
Our unique stretch harness will fit almost any bike — it is truly universal. it comes with four flat stainless steel strips enclosed in webbing to be bent to a shape to best fit your bike as well as two straps with loops at the end to slip over — well, just about anything — to give owners heaps of attachment options.
Andy Strapz Tank Bag I have used my Andy Strapz tank bag for 12 years and rate it as an excellent piece of equipment. It is well made, robust and thoughtfully designed. In my case, it has seen service on a Yamaha XJ 900 Diversion, a Yamaha FJR 1300, a Honda ST 1300 and a BMW R1200 RT indicating the versatility of this bag. It has travelled throughout Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada and has endured heatwaves, monsoonal rain and even sleet and snow and has always functioned perfectly and never leaked. A waterproof cover sits in a zippered pouch on the outside left of the bag and can be quickly and easily fitted. Like the bag itself, it has a clear top so you can see maps or directions in the compartment on the top of the bag. The reason that this is such a good bag is that Andy seems to have got the design sorted right from the start. The bag consists of two units – an adjustable harness base and the bag itself. The soft, elastic harness sits on the top of the tank and attaches by adjustable straps to the steering head area, tank and frame. Because of the H shape of this retainer, the fuel cap is accessible wherever it is on the tank. The bag then attaches to the harness base by one front and two rear quick release clips. Because there is Velcro on both the top of the harness and on the under-surface of the bag, the bag sits there quite securely even if you forget to do up the clips. When you are fuelling up, you can undo the rear two clips and rotate the bag forward or you can undo the front clip and rotate the bag back towards the seat. The bag is just the right size to carry a fair amount of gear but does not get in the way of the handlebars. On full lock, the end of the bar may hit the bag but because of its attachment, it just moves slightly out of the way. I will sometimes hit the horn button on left full lock when backing into a parking space, but this is rare. The bag is small enough not to impinge on the rider but large enough to carry tons of stuff including phones, a small camera, my wife’s hand bag and insulin pen containers etc. etc…. It’s a bottomless pit. Little things like the red base in the bag make it easy to spot black phones when you undo the robust zip and lift up the top of the bag. The top of the bag has a map compartment that is also a good place to store remote control garage door openers and e-tags. There is a smaller zippered pocket just in front of the rider on the outside of the bag that is perfect for sunglasses and pen knives. When away from the bike, the bag converts to a backpack with an included adjustable harness that attaches to the three attachments on the bag by quick-release clips. I tried a Bagster at one time for 6 months but sold it on Gumtree and went back to the Andy Strapz bag. It is good quality and Australian-made. Chris Daly
