The only thing I've experienced in recent times to come close to matching the speed with this product whisked me from infatuation to disappointment was a spin round the Bays (back in Wellington) on Robbo's new GXR1000 K9 with 4 into 1 Yoshi pipe. 140kW on a bike no heavier, longer or larger than my GSXR-600 was sense-blistering, faster than a blink of an eye. Stupid fast, and utter disappointment I don't own one.
First sight of this Oxford sports tank bag had me salivating too. I go way back with tank bags (nearly 30 ears) - unable to afford one like my big brother on his RD400, I was reduced to occy-strapping a bin bag on the tank for a year or so - check it out!
There is a gadget under every zipper on this handsome bag - faux carbon fibre and titanium bits, magnets that stick to the tank with a very satisfying 'ker-dmp' sound, flaps that are scalloped to fit a typical modern sports bike's petrol tank, wet weather cover (would have been useful last weekend!), GPS and iPod suitable spots and map pockets. A fang in the Victorian countryside doesn't justify putting the Ventura rack pack on, and the Oxford looked just the ticket for camera, iPhone and wallet.
Just look what it does too!
Jamie's wry smile when he handed it over should have been a clue. He'd bought it to fit his VFR400 - the classic low seat, big tank sportster. "I'd need arms like a gorilla and a torso like an alien to fit round it" he'd lamented, looking hopefully at my 6'3 frame with XXL arms to match.One advantage of the VFR is that being slightly old school, it has a squarish metal petrol tank all the way to the handlebars. These days that space up front houses everything but a gas tank - on the gixxer it's a plastic cover sloping dramatically down to the triple clamp. Plastic... magnets... right.
Never mind though, because the side flaps were not compatible with any area of the tank apart from the knee scallops.
Now, you'd be forgiven for wondering why I rate this product so poorly.
Let's cut straight to the chase.
In low-rider mode, with the bag on the tank, I can barely reach the bars. Even without a bulky riding jacket, or the snazzy rear pocket in place on the bag (it unzips as fortune would have it). Let's try another shaped rider (remember, we've already eliminated 5'9 Jamie).
Fail.Happily enough, we found the Oxford's true place in the garage and retreated for Friday drinks.
If you've got a sportsbike, and you fancy a tank-bag, I'm afraid you should avoid the Oxford 'Sports' tank bag like a white line in a spring downpour. Try one of these instead. Oh, and watch out for a 1 owner, brand new Oxford OL630 on eBay sometime soon.
Review Score:
Function: 1/10 when attached to a Sports Bike. Maybe with a time machine I could go back to the RD400 for a proper fit?
Form: 10 (gadget heaven) - awesome design, shame no-one tried it on an actual sports bike. Mounts on a large mini-skip superbly.
Price: tbd - I didn't buy it, much to Jamie's disappointment.
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