Thanks for the Kriega lead, I'll 'scope' them out.
Hello Mark,
No touring, at least not of the long 'expeditionary' kind. I'm really looking for something to carry various items of (mainly soft) kit and which I can also use as an occasional upper-torso support. My last longish non-stop stint (along A & B) roads took it's toll on my shoulders and wrists - mainly because of the frequently enforced need to maintain station within lines of other ('slow') vehicles. A few injuries over (many!) years gone by have taken their toll on the old bones and joints.
No, not cushions, alternative ridding 'clobber' - and a few other 'odds and sods' should suffice; though now you come to mention it (and so having encouraged a bit more thought) cushions do sound like rather a good idea!
Anyway, older... wiser... and in need of cushions? A former colleague of mine, P.F.M. Davies, was "one of the (very young) few" who flew with (56 Sqdn) in 1940, and he gave me... guess what... his very own inflatable 'Hurricane bum' cushion. Now putting that in my tank bag for comfort and ease I certainly believe I could do, legitimately and without fear of reproach, especially with so many ‘combative’ BM's and Mercs on the roads these days!!
And hello to you too Dave. Bar risers indeed! Now why would I do that when I could convert my '45 into a trike?... With obligatory armchair seating of course!
Yes Dave, the Scottoiler... If it wasn't for that thing flinging oil everywhere I wouldn't be slithering all over the bike - and I might not need a tank bag to stabilise me a bit. Mind you, I reckon that from a distance it must look something like I'm trying to get my shoulder down, just like a genuine Moto GP jock!
Quite right Dave, I do find myself scrubbing the rear tyre side wall clean after each ride, but only to get rid of the odd narrow, thin, oil stripe - thankfully no oil finds its way onto the treaded portion of the tyre; presumably the (actually) quite small quantity of excess oil is flung off at the side wall ridge as the wheel rotates... So I still rate the Scottoiler; but, as always, each to their own.
I must say you've got a point about bar risers, they might indeed help. But the real problem, for me, is specifically the bar rake (down slope from horizontal), most particularly at the left bar. Many years ago I was 'T'd by a Ford Anglia van (well I did say "many years") the major medical result was a 'wrecked' left fore-arm which (now more than ever) causes problems after any kind of long riding stint. So, I thought, 'kill two birds with one stone'... a tank bag to carry stuff in and also to rest on from time to time. 'Prangs' and old age, eh, a powerfully negative combination!