One of the only problems with my brand new Triumph Sprint ST is it’s plastic fuel tank, now this is not that much of a problem, except for the fact that about 4 months before I purchased my Triumph, my lovely wife bought me a brand new Oxford Ultra Sports tank bag, this is a wonderful MAGNETIC tank bag and I was not pleased to find that my wonderful Oxford bag would not stay in place, so I was in the market for a new tank bag, one that could be attached to a plastic tank. (I know that I could of used bungee straps through the D-ring clips on my Oxford bag, but I was worried about marking my tank.)
I know that Triumph makes a tank bag for the ST, but I think that it’s very ugly, and awkward to fit both the foam base and the bag, so I had to look further a field. A few friends had Baglux bags, and they had been very happy with them.
Now to fit a Baglux tank bag, you also need a to purchase a Baglux tank cover, these are available in many different colours, and come in many different patterns, all specifically designed to fit your particular bikes fuel tank. You can even get one that matches the colour scheme of your bike. So I purchased a cover in red to match my Triumph’s colour (If you look at some of the pictures of my bike with my cover attached, you may notice that mine has the TRIUMPH logo on each side, they don’t come like this, I just purchased a sticker set to make it look better), an added advantage of fitting the cover is that it protects the entire tank perfectly, (the underside of the cover has a very soft foam like surface so that it doesn’t scratch or mark your tank). Once you have purchased your cover you then just need to get the actual tank bag, now Baglux has quite a large range of bags, all of different sizes, number of pockets, expandable, storm covers etc, the most popular is the ALPHA bag, this is a 20 litre bag that expands up to 30 litres, has a map pocket, carrying strap and a storm cover. This is one I chose.
I decided to get a black Alpha bag, mainly because it can moved from bike to bike without clashing with the paint scheme, so if I sold my Triumph all I needed to do was get a replacement cover and I can carry on using the same bag.
Fitting the cover to the bike only takes about five minutes (although this may vary on different bikes). Using a strap around the headstock, one around the base of the tank, and a clip either side of the tank. Once fitted it covers the entire tank, is held nice and secure and can be left in place permanently.
To use the tank bag, you simply attach the bag to the cover at the front via two D-Clips and then the bottom is locked into place using two buckles, the design is very elegant, and doesn’t cause a problem when filling up with fuel, as you simply press each buckle and the bag hinges up on the D-Clips allowing access the fuel cap.
Overall this is a very well made product and I’m very happy with it, the only drawback is the cost of having to purchase the cover as well as the tank bag.
I must just say thank you to my wife. 1. For not killing me when I told her that lovely new tank bag she bought couldn’t be used on my Triumph and 2. for buying me a replacement tank bag.