[RookieGuy]

I commuted daily on two wheels from Towson to Fells Point when I was in college. Didn’t own a car for almost 4 years and rode just about every day. I miss the great roads in Baltimore County and Frederick County.

Small world. My bike commutes from Catonsville to Parkville. If it helps, nobody touched those great Baltimore Co roads since you left. Falls Rd is still a very nice pleasant ride, but it got a whole lot bumpier.

[Robot camera]

This is my present bike. You can see the camera bag in the open pannier. It has 16mm of camping mat foam (2 layers) on the sides, and 40mm on the bottom. There's also 24mm in the bottom of the pannier, as many of the roads round here are in very poor repair; there wasn't enough room to put more padding in the bag and still get the camera in.

I carry a K3 or K20D with lenses, the 16 to 50mm and/or various primes and sometimes a flashgun. My Sony A6000 sometimes travels in the bag, in the pannier. I've not had any problems so far. I used to have 25mm of anti vibration foam on the bottom and sides of the bag until it disintegrated through age. Before the K20D, I carried a Minolta X700 and lenses, again with no problems.

I have used the same bag for at least twenty five years, on the following bikes: Kawasaki Z1-R, Kawasaki Z400, MZ TS250/1 (Supa 5) Yamaha XV750, and now the bike in the photo, a Yamaha XJ750. All but the XJ750 had the anti vibration foam lining before I changed it for the camping mat foam.

Regarding vibration from the bike, I once firmly lashed the K20D to the rack on the present bike, to take photos of a bike with the camera on the interval timer. The shutter was set to 1/500th, the shake reduction was on, but many shots were still spoiled by vibration. Yet in the bag that's in the pannier attached to the same rack, the camera suffers no damage that I can detect. the bag is a British Army respirator bag.

I hope this helps.

[Wingincamera]

I have carried my camera in a shoulder bag while riding, but keep in mind that if you have a unplanned get off the camera will be very uncomfortable to land on.

[skierd]

Small world. My bike commutes from Catonsville to Parkville. If it helps, nobody touched those great Baltimore Co roads since you left. Falls Rd is still a very nice pleasant ride, but it got a whole lot bumpier.

Hence riding a dual sport over a Harley. It wasn’t smooth when I left 6 years ago either!

Back on topic, I don’t like riding with anything on my body except maybe my wallet or at least some form of ID. Everything that can poke or break that normally goes in my pockets goes in the tank bag where it’s safer and I’m safer in the event I go for an unplanned excursion.

[kyukyu]

Hi,

I have ridden Guzzi Nevada, California and now Griso. I often carry my camera with me, before the K20, now the K1.
I usually choose to carry 1 lens directly attached to the camera, but sometimes I have also carried more lenses (wrapped in socks or in their soft case).
I have carried a bit of everything: the 16/50, the 50/135, the 21, the 43 and the 77.
Sometimes I stored the camera directly in the tank bag, other times I put it in its bag (which is flexible but hard outside and soft inside) and I put the bag in the side pannier or in the back pannier. Once I directly fitted the camera bag on the back rack of the bike.
The bottom line is I have never had any sort of problem. The solution in the tank bag is comfortable because you can stop and take out the camera without leaving the bike.


I have also tried carrying the camera bag directly on me with a double strap (shoulder + waist), but it is not so comfortable on the long run and can be very dangerous for you if you should happen to fall, because you may fall with your back on the bag, or the bag might get clinched in an obstacle while you are still moving...

[zippythezip]

Zippy, how long has you're rig been riding with you like that? Sweet ride, btw. Loving the dual sports! I really wish I had one whenever I turn off the road into a mountainside winery with the gravel and rut driveway as I'm trying to convince my 750 pound chrome and steel behemoth to stay upright. Keep the rubber side down, friend, and consider yourself biker waved at from me.

I got this bike new in 2015, the camera has been on board since day one. Dont take my K-01 cameras any more as I dont want to break them, more from dropping bike then anything, and I have not that yet. I take the K-70 on quite a few trips. I find cameras like my Oly EM10/2 fit the trip better being a lot smaller. I travel a lot of dirt and find I dont get many dust bunnies.
The bike is small engine wise, but it was the only this or XT250 that I can touch the ground on, others being so high in the saddle. I have a 2003 Suzuki 650 road bike and have never rode it since.

Wave right back at you my friend and stay safe.

[RookieGuy]

Awesome! Thanks Zippy. That's very good to know about the camera. I really feel much better hearing that. Well I guess that just means I need to on another ride with the camera and take pics of what I missed last time.

I'm trying to find a way to justify a small mirrorless system. Like a Pen or Panny's little rangefinder looking job. Paired with a step up from kit zoom, I should have a nice little pocketable system. Or even better, a grii. But someone who will remain nameless spent all his fun money on a bike.

Not sure how dual sports are geared, but my little 250 learner bike, that could do everything my behemoth does only not as long. And cornered better. Plus (don't tell Mrs. Rookie this) I really miss just winding the everloving mess out of it. Feels fun, like some sort of Valentino Rossi despite doing a blistering 45 mph into the curve.

And I just caught that 650 in your garage. I would have had to get rid of it before it became a project (hello, old school raked to heck and back chopper!).

[87Duckfan]

Just curious if anyone has any updated ideas on this topic? Planning a trip next week and want to bring the K70 and a couple lenses. Thoughts?

BTW, riding a 2006 Vstrom DL1000 primarily on pavement, but might see a small amount of fire roads, dirt, etc. But more than likely, all pavement.

[abruzzi]

My bikes almost always have a tail bag on them which I use for storing the camera. The tank bag is for things I access while riding—maps, waterbladder, snacks, and I can’t photograph on the bike. I also hate having something on my back or shoulder while riding. A hard tail bag protects the camera and is easy to access once I dismount. I generally have the camera and lens in shoulder bag that can be stuffed in there, though I have stuffed a large format camera and lenses in the tail bag directly, with each wrapped in padding. I don’t have a Harley, but I do have a Buell Ulysses with a 1200 sportster engine that vibrates a lot at idle, but honestly that’s smooth compared to my mobile pain shaker—a KTM 640 adventure. I was originally very paranoid about vibrations, but I’ve ridden with a modern digital Pentax (K3ii) a 90s medium format SLR (Bronica ETRSi) and lots of other cameras, and have never had an issue.

[abruzzi]

My bikes almost always have a tail bag on them which I use for storing the camera. The tank bag is for things I access while riding—maps, waterbladder, snacks, and I can’t photograph on the bike. I also hate having something on my back or shoulder while riding. A hard tail bag protects the camera and is easy to access once I dismount. I generally have the camera and lens in shoulder bag that can be stuffed in there, though I have stuffed a large format camera and lenses in the tail bag directly, with each wrapped in padding. I don’t have a Harley, but I do have a Buell Ulysses with a 1200 sportster engine that vibrates a lot at idle, but honestly that’s smooth compared to my mobile pain shaker—a KTM 640 adventure (as a Vstrom rider, you’ve probably heard the legends about how much that bike shakes…). I was originally very paranoid about vibrations, but I’ve ridden with a modern digital Pentax (K3ii) a 90s medium format SLR (Bronica ETRSi) and lots of other cameras, and have never had an issue.