Quick Gear Review: Ogio No Drag Mach 1 backpack

First off let me say that Ogio is up to Mach 5 on their No Drag backpack series, so this review is slightly out of date because I bought something on clearance. Really there isn't much difference other than a wider base on the newer ones, the straps and the inside are pretty much the same.

The shell of the pack is molded foam covered in nylon fabric. The straps are fairly standard backpack straps positioned to lower the pack on your bag with a sternum strap and an off-center belly strap to keep it in position. My only complaint is that the shoulder straps don't have an easier keeper for slack when you tighten them down, so the slack whips around in the wind (not really a big deal, minor annoyance).

Like most motorcycle specific backpacks the No-Drag loads from the inside so that your zipper is not exposed to the wind. Inside you'll find a laptop compartment, some smaller pouches, and a main compartment. Its important not to overload. If you load so that the zippered hatch stretches beyond the shell, it'll get really uncomfortable really fast.

Internally its big enough for a visor, shoes, and some other misc.

Fit-wise I have no complaints. Its a little awkward to wear with an aero-hump on your jacket, but you can fix that by lowering it on your back. With a normal street jacket you'll forget its there (unless you put something heavy in it, then you'll remember when you lean into a corner and it leans with you). I've taken it on 4 hour rides without any issue.
Pics (sorry about potato camera)

My experience with Corbin (so far)

Just because I ride a sportbike doesn't mean I like being uncomfortable. Adapting a bike ergonomically to the rider makes the trip more enjoyable, safer, and contributes to better control.

After doing a 750 mile weekend I decided my CBR needed a better saddle. I shopped around and read reviews. There aren't a lot of companies making good aftermarket saddles for sportbikes. I settled on Corbin after reading some good reviews and placed my order (July 16).

Then waited for a week. I hadn't received anything beyond the initial sales receipt and they hadn't responded to my emails (emailed them on July 23 and used their online form several times). So I called them (August 1st) and asked what the hold up was. As it turns out they had "lost" my order. There had been a problem processing credit cards the day I ordered it and my order hadn't processed. Instead of calling or emailing me they'd just ignored the issue.

OK, fine, so the order is processed and they're going to work on it. My seat shipped on August 20th, and arrived on August 22nd.

It was a beautiful seat that arrived. I tried to install it that night.

It was the wrong seat. The bolt holes didn't line up and the tongue wouldn't fit under the bracket. So again I called and emailed them (emails go unanswered by the way). The first tech I talked to was thoroughly unhelpful. Finally on my third call (August 27th) I talked to someone who actually looked at my order and realized they'd shipped me the wrong seat. Then he blamed me for ordering a seat for the wrong year (they shipped me the 2004 seat). See screenshot of my order. As you can see, I ordered the correct year.

They said if I shipped them the wrong seat, they'd make and send me the right one. So that's where I'm at. Seat is in transit, hopefully I'll get the right one someday.

Thus far my experience with Corbin has been a bad one and I would not recommend dealing with them.

Quick Gear Review: Coretech Tailbag 2.0

Sometimes you want to be able to actually carry stuff with you on a sportbike. I know, its unfathomable that you'd want to carry more than what you can shove into the meager pockets in your leathers, but its TRUE!

Lets say you want to carry: spare visor, visor cleaning stuff, rain liner for your jacket, a water bottle, and a better tool kit than what can fit in your under-seat. Thats more than you can fit in your pockets, and bigger stuff than you want/can fit in a tank bag (I don't know about you, but anything bigger than a "small" tank bag is too big for my liking, and my CBR doesn't have a metallic tank to magnet to).

I bought the Coretech 2.0 tail bag. It has more than enough storage for the items I mentioned, and could hold enough spare underwear and socks to last a weekend of riding. It comes with a rain cover, has the usual assortment of pockets, and can expand via two accordion zipper areas.

As usual with Coretech its build sturdy and looks like it'll take use well. I'll need to get the matching saddle bags for my trip to MotoGP next year.

The only complaint I have with the tail bag is the mounting system blows. It is four straps with fastex buckles on one end and a loop on the other. You have to noose them around whatever on your bike you can reach them to and hope they stay. Some kind of system that mounts firmly to the pillion seat would be much better and easier to grab and go (without leaving straps dangling on your bike).

Pics or it didn't happen: