Tank bag lost- thank god for honest people

[rocketman1]

Would you believe it, I took my tank bag off my bike when refuelling at Haast and put it on the back off my bike only to take off .....I got to fox glacier before I realised it was missing, had Ipod, phone, camera , plus heaps of other personal stuff.
This lady rang me next day to say she found it on the roadside and sent it all back to me....Yeah i sent her a reward.
But worst feeling ever, lucky I always carry my wallet on me, so I had ID and money etc.

I will never put my tankbag on the back of my bike again, always on the seat, or handle bars. By the way, I will always have a tankbag ..so handy

[scumdog]

And keep you wallet on a chain - at leat it's hard to lose or leave behind

[DarkLord]

You are a lucky man. Lesson almost learned the hard way.

Good to know there are still honest, decent folk out there.

[Kickaha]

And keep you wallet on a chain - at least it's hard to lose or leave behind

He probably doesn't want to be mistaken for a Harley rider

[scumdog]

He probably doesn't want to be mistaken for a Harley rider

Huh!
He should be so lucky........

[rwh]

Handy losing something with means of identification in it - a couple of weeks ago I lost a sleeping bag that I'd tied to the front of my packrack, somewhere between Putaruru and Taupo. Short of DNA, there's nothing to identify me about it, IIRC :-(

I reported it to the police, but it seems their system can only cope with sending such a report to one police station - it went to Putaruru.

I must get round to ringing the others and see if it's been handed in ...

(Details: Macpac sleeping bag, and a pair of black shoes, in a Wellington Motorcycles carrier bag - just in case )

Richard

[slofox]

Three times, I have forgotten to clip the tail bag onto its cradle. Each time, I have managed to get it back.

The first time, it had my deposit book in it with about $300 in cash inside. The bag was still on the side of the road where it fell off. On the opposite side of the city...

The next time, I had gone all the way to Raglan before I noticed. My neighbour had found it just outside my driveway and had put it by the front door.

The third time I heard it hit the ground as I went round the first corner from home.

These days I am a little obsessive about clipping it up...

[notme]

I found that a very useful device for my bike(s) was an incredibly simple circuit (i.e. 3 or 4 parts) mounted under the tail of the bike which sounded a loud beeper (was a bright LED as well on one bike) if the ignition was in the ON position and the pack was not in place (pack needs a magnet stuck on the bottom of it).

Has a "shuddup" switch for when you purposely don't take the pack.

[slofox]

I found that a very useful device for my bike(s) was an incredibly simple circuit (i.e. 3 or 4 parts) mounted under the tail of the bike which sounded a loud beeper (was a bright LED as well on one bike) if the ignition was in the ON position and the pack was not in place (pack needs a magnet stuck on the bottom of it).

Has a "shuddup" switch for when you purposely don't take the pack.

A circuit diagram would be good..?

[notme]

A circuit diagram would be good..?

Well, only because it's christmas:



Circuit is very simple - a relay, a beeper or warning device of your choice, and 2 switches. 4 parts....OK make that 5 if you get a relay that needs a diode as shown in the schematic. Although you can omit the disable switch of you don't want it and bring it back down to 4 parts... :-)

The idea is that the magnet in or on your bag is close to the reed switch when the bag is on the bike.

When the ignition is on, the beeper will go off if the bag is not in place.

If you want to disable it you press the pushbutton, and it will be disabled until the next time you switch the ignition on and off, or put the bag on the bike. That's the important bit - the fact that you cannot forget to turn the circuit on.

As a hint - play with the placement of the magnet or put a couple on different areas of the bottom of the bag so that you don't have to faff around getting the bag in just the right spot when you put it on the bike.

If you don't want the disable switch as a seperate switch, just leave it out. Another way to disable is to stick a magnet to the bike next to the switch when your bag is not in place, but this is dangerous because you can forget the magnet is there and put your bag on, and then the circuit will not do it's job if you leave the bag off.

Also the beeper doesn't have to be particularly loud, if you just want a reminder that you are about to leave home/work/petrol station without your bag - it goes off when you switch the ignition on, before the engine is running. If you want something to warn you if the bag falls off in transit, you might need a screamer!

[sunhuntin]

would something similar to what people put on their radar detectors that feed into the helmet work?

my tank bag is a strap on [i know, i know!] but it means ive never left it behind.

[slofox]

Well, only because it's christmas:



Circuit is very simple - a relay, a beeper or warning device of your choice, and 2 switches. 4 parts....OK make that 5 if you get a relay that needs a diode as shown in the schematic. Although you can omit the disable switch of you don't want it and bring it back down to 4 parts... :-)

The idea is that the magnet in or on your bag is close to the reed switch when the bag is on the bike.

When the ignition is on, the beeper will go off if the bag is not in place.

If you want to disable it you press the pushbutton, and it will be disabled until the next time you switch the ignition on and off, or put the bag on the bike. That's the important bit - the fact that you cannot forget to turn the circuit on.

As a hint - play with the placement of the magnet or put a couple on different areas of the bottom of the bag so that you don't have to faff around getting the bag in just the right spot when you put it on the bike.

If you don't want the disable switch as a seperate switch, just leave it out. Another way to disable is to stick a magnet to the bike next to the switch when your bag is not in place, but this is dangerous because you can forget the magnet is there and put your bag on, and then the circuit will not do it's job if you leave the bag off.

Also the beeper doesn't have to be particularly loud, if you just want a reminder that you are about to leave home/work/petrol station without your bag - it goes off when you switch the ignition on, before the engine is running. If you want something to warn you if the bag falls off in transit, you might need a screamer!

Thanks

[notme]

would something similar to what people put on their radar detectors that feed into the helmet work?

yes, the warning device could be an extremely loud screamer, a quieter beeper, a feed to a helmet sounder or intercom system, a light, a vibration motor that goes under your seat, a fart machine, portable icecream maker.....anything you want really :-)

In my situation the need was for something to prevent the ride off while leaving the bag at the gas station/in the garage/at work etc so a normal volume beeper was easily heard when switching the ignition to ON.

Assuming I hadn't forgotten the bag, once it was on the bike it was locked on with straps and wouldn't just fall off.

[Madness]

my tank bag is a strap on [i know, i know!] but it means ive never left it behind.

It must be tricky stuffing a sleeping bag into that!

[sunhuntin]

It must be tricky stuffing a sleeping bag into that!

lol. trick i learned from glenn, who i lived with in canada... sleeping bag goes on the front forks, just resting on the fender and tied on well with bungy cords. tent goes on the backseat with more cords. ive done wangas to paeroa like that no worries and plan on doing the same next time i make it to the burt.
anything extra like socks goes in the saddle bags, and i take the backpack for extra storage. that can either sit on the tent or lie flat on the top box held down with mini cargo nets.

glenn taught me all the basics about loading a bike safely and securely. ive used his tips many times and expand on them quite often. i keep a variety of cords and nets on the bike at all times, so im never caught short.