SW-MOTECH (German company as is Hepco & Becker) just came out with their TRAX ADV TOP CASE...at $526.95 USD. Add some taxes and mounting system and both these top cases are budget busters.
"Secure?" With both, give a guy with a crow bar and a couple of minutes at most and he'll have what's inside, if not the whole top case.
Rule # 1 re: top cases - carry nothing in them you can not afford to lose, like passport, money, etc. The stories abound about travelers discovering their top case is MIA when they stop for gas or for the night. Local Thai travel expert, "German Joe Sauerborn," in Chiang Mai, Thailand has several MIA tales, including his own from Laos.
Rule # 2 This is the wrong place to carry weight on a motorcycle. Ok for a sleeping bag, or helmet storage. They (H & P above) say their new top case can be a substitute for side panniers in their News Release, but side panniers carry the weigh down low, thus lower the center of gravity.
Rule # 3 Do not forget there is a reason the doc's in emergency rooms call these "tough," sturdy metal top cases "back breakers."
Top cases are "convenient" but "near eye level" might better be described as simply adding to the "ADV LOOK..." and at nearly 18,000 THB plus shipping and import tax to some Asia countries, a convenient way to tax your ATM card :-)
Pics are from an imaginary "My Top Case is Bigger Than Your Top Case" contest.
"Dr. G," Chief of the World Adventure Affairs Desk, CITY BIKE Magazine
www.citybike.com researching adventurist affairs around the globe
Sole Sexual Survivor:
http://www.greataroundtheworldmotorc...nturerally.com
