I havent tried either. For those of you that have one or have tried it before, what are your experiences for magnetic mounts vs suction cup mounts. Specifically, I'm looking at the nelson rigg ones.

I've had two magnetic tank bags and one suction type bag. The magnetic holders really do a great job of keeping stuff in place. Even at high speeds, er I mean following the speed limits diligently :p, there are no issues with stuff shifting around. I always felt very secure with wallet, keys, in the magnetic bags.

With the suction mount bag (some off brand, I think Rapid Transit?) I felt much less secure, and had to use straps in conjunction or I was paranoid it was going to fly off. Also, I had to keep the suction cups clean to keep from grinding grit into the paint and keeping the suction good. It was a comparatively sucky (haha) system. Magnetic is WAY better.

But . . . be careful what you buy. I had an Icon Urban tank bag I used on my old Kawi, and in 2 years of use, its magnetic connectors treated my tank well, not a single scratch. It was gentle, held firm, etc. A good bag.
But now I have the Joe Rocket Manta bag, and I hate it with a fiery passion. The magnetic mounts combined with whatever crap grippy material they use just scratches the hell out of my tank. Leaves a black mess (from the material) that at first wiped off, but over time has just completely messed up my tank with black marks and scratches. I should have used something to protect the tank from the beginning but didn't do it until too late.

I don't know about the Nelson Riggs and whether they'd risk the paint with magnetic -- I'd bet not, they are a good product. And with the right product, magnetic is great.

I've had two magnetic tank bags and one suction type bag. The magnetic holders really do a great job of keeping stuff in place. Even at high speeds, er I mean following the speed limits diligently :p, there are no issues with stuff shifting around. I always felt very secure with wallet, keys, in the magnetic bags.

With the suction mount bag (some off brand, I think Rapid Transit?) I felt much less secure, and had to use straps in conjunction or I was paranoid it was going to fly off. Also, I had to keep the suction cups clean to keep from grinding grit into the paint and keeping the suction good. It was a comparatively sucky (haha) system. Magnetic is WAY better.

But . . . be careful what you buy. I had an Icon Urban tank bag I used on my old Kawi, and in 2 years of use, its magnetic connectors treated my tank well, not a single scratch. It was gentle, held firm, etc. A good bag.
But now I have the Joe Rocket Manta bag, and I hate it with a fiery passion. The magnetic mounts combined with whatever crap grippy material they use just scratches the hell out of my tank. Leaves a black mess (from the material) that at first wiped off, but over time has just completely messed up my tank with black marks and scratches. I should have used something to protect the tank from the beginning but didn't do it until too late.

I don't know about the Nelson Riggs and whether they'd risk the paint with magnetic -- I'd bet not, they are a good product. And with the right product, magnetic is great.

Thanks, exactly the type of advice i was looking for. Magnetic it is then.

Thanks, exactly the type of advice i was looking for. Magnetic it is then.

I have a magnetic recon transit tank bag and it does hold on very well. It has a magnet in the front of the bag, two on the sides that fold out and another on a tail piece that folds out also acting as a cushiony tank guard/pad. I've had this bag up to 95mph and it never gave a hint it would come loose, I love it. Now I don't need to carry around my backpack for just a few small necessities.

http://images.motorcycle-superstore.com/ProductImages/300/632984160229207591659-5001.jpg

I think I posted this on another thread but I've run magnetic and strap mount tank bags for years on other motorcycles (have mag bag on my 250 now). For tank protection I cut out a section of tool drawer liner (the rubber mesh stuff) that matches the bottom of the tank bag. I've never had any serious scratches on the tank using that method. When I sold my '97 Nighthawk 750 to a co-worker last year I used the tool drawer mesh between the tank bag and tank for 13 years and 65K+ miles and the black tank still looked new.

Never heard of or saw suction-cup mounts but magnetic has worked great for me the past three years.

I have a Chase Harper CR2 Tank bag which uses magnets.. It hasn't given me any issues even at not-so-legal speeds. It helps, though, that the windscreen and fairings are there, as there is not an awful lot of wind rolling in the tank area. Regardless, though, it comes with a safety strap to tie to the frame in front of the tank, but I haven't gotten around to putting it on.

Sweet. Yea the tank is a tricky thing because I always hear about scratching this and scratching that... so it's nice to see others using it without trouble. Has anybody had issues with the magnets and electronics in the tank bag?

If you've got a phone that changes mode with a magnet (like a Droid, for example) it will put itself in Car mode (or Dock mode, depending on the polarity) if it's anywhere near the magnets that are used for these bags. Well, only if it's parallel to the magnet. I managed to put my phone between my spare shield/lens and the side of the bag so it sits perpendicular ("on it's side") to the magnets and it doesn't change its mode. Otherwise, no problems with any electronics. The only thing I'd really maybe worry about is a credit-card. But even then, if it's in a wallet.. Not a real problem.

I carry wallet (with credit cards), blackberry and watch in the magnetic tank bag every day on my commute. Dunno if it is good for them, but I haven't noticed any problem. Did it for 2 years with the Icon Urban, and about 8 months so far with the Joe Rocket Manta. No issues.

I have a magnetic recon transit tank bag and it does hold on very well. It has a magnet in the front of the bag, two on the sides that fold out and another on a tail piece that folds out also acting as a cushiony tank guard/pad. I've had this bag up to 95mph and it never gave a hint it would come loose, I love it. Now I don't need to carry around my backpack for just a few small necessities.

http://images.motorcycle-superstore.com/ProductImages/300/632984160229207591659-5001.jpg

I have this bag also, and it is by far the best bag for the ninja 250r in my opinion. It also has a internal bag for a camelbak, which you can route the hose out the provided hole, and the hose clips to the side of the bag. absolutely fantastic for hydration while riding. It has pockets for everything...change pockets, quick change pockets for tollbooths, a pocket for headphones or a wallet, phone pocket(which will let you operate a touch screen phone through the cover, map pocket, gps pocket, included rain cover...and so on. It also comes with detachable backpack straps for taking it with you.

The magnets are excellent, and have rubber padding to keep them from scratching the tank.

If you are looking for a tank bag, this on is THE one to get!

Oh, and i have tested the rain cover in absolutely horrible weather. Everything stays dry. The last trip i took with it, i had a full camelbak in it, and my very expensive nikon DSLR, GPS, and a iphone...rode up the interstate at 70mph in a torrential rainstorm for over an hour, and everything stayed dry.

I seriously cannot recommend the rapid transit bag enough. Its awesome.

It was clearly designed for motorcyclists, by motorcyclists. Rapid Transit has a customer for life here.

I have this bag also, and it is by far the best bag for the ninja 250r in my opinion. It also has a internal bag for a camelbak, which you can route the hose out the provided hole, and the hose clips to the side of the bag. absolutely fantastic for hydration while riding. It has pockets for everything...change pockets, quick change pockets for tollbooths, a pocket for headphones or a wallet, phone pocket(which will let you operate a touch screen phone through the cover, map pocket, gps pocket, included rain cover...and so on. It also comes with detachable backpack straps for taking it with you.

The magnets are excellent, and have rubber padding to keep them from scratching the tank.

If you are looking for a tank bag, this on is THE one to get!

Oh, and i have tested the rain cover in absolutely horrible weather. Everything stays dry. The last trip i took with it, i had a full camelbak in it, and my very expensive nikon DSLR, GPS, and a iphone...rode up the interstate at 70mph in a torrential rainstorm for over an hour, and everything stayed dry.

I seriously cannot recommend the rapid transit bag enough. Its awesome.

It was clearly designed for motorcyclists, by motorcyclists. Rapid Transit has a customer for life here.

I have to say that I also really love this tank bag and recommend it to anyone. I actually just bought a camelback bag today and it seems like it fits really well; I can't wait to try it out. It also comes with a single shoulder strap if you don't wanna deal with both backpack straps. BTW, all the straps fit me very well, I have very broad shoulders and I'm 6'2' but these straps are long enough to fit comfortably. It fits on the tank very well and I was surprised that the rear magnet / tank guard actually improve comfort a bit. One other thing I tested was, when the magnets are folded inside the bag, their magnetic field doesn't seem to penetrate the inside of the bag which was a huge plus for me. I carry electronics in my bag all the time and to have such powerful magnets on the bag scared me at first, but rest assured it doesn't affect them at all. Also, the cell phone pocket doesn't fit my htc evo 4g, but it does fit my ipod classic. If i need to use my phone I put it in the map pocket (which is too small for any map I've seen, 1 downside) which allows me to use my touchscreen as well.

Great. My list of accessories ever since I bought the bike a couple years ago have been getting longer and longer. Doubt i'll ever be able to get everything I want. Fantastic insight guys... answers exactly what I was wondering and more.

I bought a Joe Rocket Manta tank bag several months ago and noticed slight pitting in the clearcoat finish due to the strong magnetic force. I will mostly likely buff it out with my PC and add some clear bra material around that area.

I'm planning to buy a magnetic tankbag tomorrow, but I have an extra question. You're saying it doesn't do anything to creditcards and phones etc, but what would happen if you put a laptop in there? (not exactly basic electronics) I'm afraid it might affect my harddrives and thus scr°w up my computer. experiences anyone?

I'm planning to buy a magnetic tankbag tomorrow, but I have an extra question. You're saying it doesn't do anything to creditcards and phones etc, but what would happen if you put a laptop in there? (not exactly basic electronics) I'm afraid it might affect my harddrives and thus scr°w up my computer. experiences anyone?

I asked this question and everyone told me "nothing" as long as the HDD is off and the heads are parked. I used my Alienware M11x in there for over a year with no issue, though I planned to upgrade to an SSD to be on the safe side. Instead, I just upgraded to an M11x r3. :)

I have that Joe Rocket tank bag from post #2.

I'm not sure if it's to blame for sure, but a few flaws in paint have shown since I've been using it. There are lots of warning on the bag mentioning that it might damage some paint jobs as well.

Either way, the flaws are extremely small and un-noticeable. I love the bag and would totally buy another.

I have this bag also, and it is by far the best bag for the ninja 250r in my opinion. It also has a internal bag for a camelbak, which you can route the hose out the provided hole, and the hose clips to the side of the bag. absolutely fantastic for hydration while riding. It has pockets for everything...change pockets, quick change pockets for tollbooths, a pocket for headphones or a wallet, phone pocket(which will let you operate a touch screen phone through the cover, map pocket, gps pocket, included rain cover...and so on. It also comes with detachable backpack straps for taking it with you.

The magnets are excellent, and have rubber padding to keep them from scratching the tank.

If you are looking for a tank bag, this on is THE one to get!
can you recommend a good place to get this bag?

I havent tried either. For those of you that have one or have tried it before, what are your experiences for magnetic mounts vs suction cup mounts. Specifically, I'm looking at the nelson rigg ones.

I have the Nelson-Rigg CL-1030 tank bag (fairly large tank bag for a Ninja 250) and chose the suction cup mounting system after using another brand tank bag with magnets in flap sections (a system I did not like).

The suction cups work very well and are easy to position on the tank or in my case, both on the tank (rear cups) and attached to the plastic fairing (front cups). They come off as easily as they go on; by peeling an edge of the cup or they can be left in place and the quick release buckles connecting them to the bag can be disconnected.

They do not slide around (even in wet weather) but the front cup(s) got unattached once while driving over a section of rough road I was driving on recently. It wasn't a safety concern because I was able to detect the bag shifting a little then reached down and reattach the cups. On normal street or highway driving I haven't experienced any problems with them losing suction.

I have not used the suction cups to secure my N-R tail bag because I'm not 100% confident they would hold their grip if I hit a pot hole or bump on the road so opted for their strap system instead.

What I like about the suction cups is you don't need a metal tank surface to use them and they are easy to put on and take off. They also won't attract ferrous metal that may scratch your tank like a magnet would if it picked up a piece of metal and unknowingly placed on your tank. I still wipe the cups off before using them. The N-R system is very versatile allowing the cups (or magnets) to be positioned in a number of different ways.

I think I will purchase N-R's magnet system in the future just to compare them with the suction cups but for now I like the current set up I have.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-fXarpmklyCo/Twu3Oqk6rxI/AAAAAAAACzM/EYkWnVlTRBw/s512/IMG_0447.JPGhttps://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-GKPY7NnYZEY/TwvF7jgWd1I/AAAAAAAACzQ/KxRHBZgCcTs/s640/IMG_0457.JPG

Just don't try to use a magnetic bad on a Buell and it'll be fine. Also, don't set your magnetic bad down on a workbench where you have a lot of screws and nails, and then plop it on your bike .and slide it around to adjust the position without looking...
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I got a magnetic tank bag....^^^ and I always check them before putting them on :D

I gently lay them down, because if you just plop them down you might actually get some dents.

Anyone every try putting something like Saran wrap over the tank to to prevent scratches or abrasion from the magnetic tank bags?

Anyone every try putting something like Saran wrap over the tank to to prevent scratches or abrasion from the magnetic tank bags?

Not a bad idea^^^

oh, it seems like I've never responded :)
well, I've been using my magnetic tank bag for quiet a while now. I paid a lot of attention to keep it clean at all times and... It works perfectly, no scratches, even after multiple 22kg loads.

Oh, one other thing. A good alternative to a rain cover for us whose magnetic bags do not have them.. fold/roll/stuff a trashbag in your bag. It will come in handy if it rains.