Wearing a backpack while riding?

[Mikkel]

Grow a brain buddy....wearing a backpack on a bike is downright STUPID!

Debateable! So is, whether riding a motorcycle in the first place is downright STUPID!...

Apart from falling off and breaking your neck.1)ts so much harder on the wrists under brakes due to the weight of the pack being increased by G force,
2) it weighs on ya shoulders and is a general pain in the arse compared to riding without one
3)Its like having ya missus ON YA BACK...and who wants that?
There ya go, 3 good reasons!

That very much comes down to weight - and I sure as hell hope your missus doesn't weigh less than 20 kgs!

Seems to me that people who are happy to wear a pack on there back are just TOO TIGHT to shell out for proper luggage or packrack and bags. I use a ventura system on my bike and I commute it so its real handy for throwing shit in.

Not always about being tight - you can only fit panniers, luggage and packracks to cruisers, adventure sportstouring and touring bikes.
That leaves some of us without the option of anything besides tank bag and backpack. (unless we choose to compromise and/or scratch our paintjobs...

[ZeroIndex]

How exactly is wearing a backpack while you ride a bad thing? If you're so concerned about landing on your back, wear a backpack filled with bubblewrap and voila, safety gear...

I wear my backpack if I need to carry any books / small things. It's an Oxtar (boot brand) backpack and it has cool reflector piping on it... if anything, it makes my back feel safer, it also has the chest strap, so it doesn't flap around

[Irontusk]

I havn't started riding yet (this weekend maybe, just gotta sit the theory test and go tell the shop to deliver my bike ) but this was one of the first issues I thought of when thinking how I'd get things to work. I decided right away that I didn't want to fall off and land on a bottle of coke or bulky work shoes. I might of thought about this mainly cause of my back though (which I'm about to search for or make a thread about), it's bad
So I don't know how a bag effects riding, but if I was to wear a bag it would have to be VERY slim, very well fitting and having nothing hard in it (maybe a hyrdration pack??)

[Dakara]

I havn't started riding yet (this weekend maybe, just gotta sit the theory test and go tell the shop to deliver my bike ) but this was one of the first issues I thought of when thinking how I'd get things to work. I decided right away that I didn't want to fall off and land on a bottle of coke or bulky work shoes. I might of thought about this mainly cause of my back though (which I'm about to search for or make a thread about), it's bad
So I don't know how a bag effects riding, but if I was to wear a bag it would have to be VERY slim, very well fitting and having nothing hard in it (maybe a hyrdration pack??)

The possible dangers with packs are sharp objects (even pens) stabbing you if you land on them or if the bag is large that if you land on your back, your head is so far above the road that you break your neck.

All the other arguments about weight/fatigue etc are more personal preference. Some people find their own safety gear too heavy, others could carry a few doz brewskies and not break a sweat

I stopped riding with a pack as I had too much shit to carry, it weighed a tonne and would of broken my neck if I landed on it. A bottle of coke and a pair of shoes should be sweet as, especially if your jacket has some back armor, but you can always go to repco, grab some bungies and strap your bag to the Pillion seat

[Irontusk]

A bottle of coke and a pair of shoes should be sweet as, especially if your jacket has some back armor, but you can always go to repco, grab some bungies and strap your bag to the Pillion seat

More hard objects to land on can't be good As for the pillion seat.. I'm taking that off! The VL250 has a fairly big storage space under the seat, but it's not big enough..

[Insanity_rules]

Seen heaps of people do this, and I do myself from time to time with the work gear in, laptop etc..

Just came to me today (one of those bring moments where something pops into the head out of nowhere..!), that if you came off and landed on your back with any force, this would be pretty dangerous I suspect..

Is it a no no to wear one? and strap the luggage to the pillion seat instead?

Anyone got any tales to tell or wisdom to offer here?

I hate wearing one, I always strap mine to the seat.

[Big Dave]

I wear a back pack occasionally. I ain't afeared.

[fatzx10r]

i just use a tank bag to carry shit around in, they are bloody great things

[DarkLord]

I nearly always carry a little one, for you never know when you might need to pick something up and bring it back with you. It has come in handy many times.

I've done some long trips with a big backpack on before and I wouldn't advise that as your back starts to hurt after a while. Good to get yourself a packrack if you plan on doing some long rides.

[RnB Fan]

I pretty much wear one all the time when riding and have had two offs while wearing a pack with no greater issue that it bloody well hurt hitting the road! Having said that I am riding to ChCh at Xmas and will definitely be getting a pack rack before then.

[vifferman]

I hate wearing one, I always strap mine to the seat.

Anyway... back to backpacks. Oh! I see ... you were talking about backpacks. Well, I've done several trips with a bag bungied onto the seat (like Roundabouta to Hawera multiple times, and Hamiltron to Chch and back), before I got a decent backpack, and frankly it suxes. You have to spend too much time checking what the frigging thing is up to. An ex-motorcyclist I know woke up in a badly mangled state, and was told that "Apparently your bag went into your back wheel at around 120km/h."

Anyway (Part II), I used to wear a backpack (once I actually had one) until I bought a bike that came with a Ventura rack and pack. It was so marvellous that every subsequent bike has had one. However a tankbag is better, as far as not affecting the handling of the bike and all that.
So... why don't I used one all the time? Well, the Ventura pack can be put on the bike with one hand, holds more, and doesn't scratch the paint.

[Irontusk]

and doesn't scratch the paint.

And THAT is what is important! I'm not putting anything on my tank.

[PrincessBandit]

My pack keeps my back warm; don't think I'd fancy coming off my bike though with my sax strapped across my back. Doesn't stop me from riding with it there from time to time though.

[Morcs]

Believe it or not, I while back I had a guy come into my shop asking for a hard backpack - as a few weeks earlier, he'd had a bad accident, and the hard backpack saved him from a broken back...

[Silage]

When commuting to work I always use a backpack - but it only has my lunch in it. Maybe it would be a good idea to eat jelly sandwiches to further soften a fall!! My jacket does have back armour so hopefully that saves me from having an apple break my back.

But on longer trips I have occasionally used a backpack for overflow clothes etc and find it a pain from the weight on the shoulders and do think it brings heightened risk of injury. I doubt that the weight is too significant (unless real heavy) as I have quite high centre of gravity and it is not all from my head.