Carry Bass on a Motorcycle

[drgasturias]

Hi people!

I had to sell my car, so now I only got my bike (a Harley Davidson forty eight). Yesterday I needed to carry the bass a gig. I used a gigbag with backstraps... and I don't want to do that never again.

Does anybody knows a good way to carry the bass on a Motorcyle?

[mophead]

I would start with a tall sissy bar and strap to that, or use a backpack style gig bag, say a Mono or similar setup, although it will ride high and impede your ability to control the bike. Maybe a small trailer behind?
No easy way to do this without disturbing the center of gravity on the bike. Sissy bar style will catch mucho wind as will backpack style.

Be sure you have a nice bag to keep the bass protected from leaking oil and nuts and bolts flying off the Harley.

[trevcda]

Ha! I tried that once too. Rode about two hours to a rehearsal thinking that a) it was a great day for a ride and b) how friggin' cool would I look? That was one of the most miserable rides ever! I'm sure it's not financially feasable for you right now, but my solution was to buy an inexpensive rehearsal bass and leave at rehearsal. Maybe you have a beater hanging around that would work?

[steve_rolfeca]

Originally Posted by trevcda

Maybe you have a beater hanging around that would work?

+1

One of my dad's guitar students was riding to his lesson on the freeway, on an old Triumph. His early 60's Gibson SG was crossways on a rack, in a hardshell case, when a gust of wind dumped him off the bike at 70mph.

The road was wet (!!!!), and he slid for quite a ways without much in the way of visible damage to himself or his stuff. Relieved, he picked himself up, and continued to his lesson.

You can't even imagine the look on his face, when my dad opened the case, and found that the neck had snapped off, right at the heel.

Get a beater, even if it means riding the bus for a few weeks to afford it.

[rmkesler]

I am SOOO wanting a Duke or similar headless bass and gig bag to do this with. The truck gets 14 MPG and that gets pricey with gas being 4 dollars a gallon.

[chokeslam512]

I've tried this twice, with two different style gig bags, one backpack style and one diagonal style, neither were a good solution. Maybe there's a way you can strap it to the bike lengthwise so you straddle it?

[Bassdirty]

Originally Posted by steve_rolfeca

+1


You can't even imagine the look on his face, when my dad opened the case, and found that the neck had snapped off, right at the heel.

Get a beater, even if it means riding the bus for a few weeks to afford it.

++1



Personally, it seems tricky, but hey, It was good enought for Prince.

[Hawkbone]

Originally Posted by mophead

Be sure you have a nice bag to keep the bass protected from leaking oil and nuts and bolts flying off the Harley.

haha, good one!

Cool thread, with possible the coolest thread title I've seen. I've been pondering this one too. I wouldn't carry anything real valuable on bike, but to carry anything safely it has to be compact.

Maybe a headless would do the trick, or remove the neck from a bolt on. That would be a pain to do frequently, so I'm considering buying a used road worn or Squier P and installing machine thread inserts in the neck.

It may also be possible to use quick release fasteners on the body and neck. Something similar to the Camloc 4002 series.

hawk

[SlingBass4]

You know the ol' joke - "SIT ON IT!"

[evilt70]

I used to do this alot with a bag with abckpack straps on. I didn't really have any problems with it that a little fatigue from the added wind resistance on the bass (the top of the bag stuck up over my head). Probably be doing it again soon now that I ahve another bike to beat gas prices.

[budman]

[hdracer]

I do it all the time.
You need a STRONG gig bag with sturdy straps. I use one made by Bodyglove. It is water resistant too.
I try and stay off of freeways, it gets hard to hang onto the bike after 65-70 mph because of the wind resistance.
Say on side streets, keep it below 50 mph and all is fine.
Riding with my Fender or Musicman scares me though. They are so tough that if I were to get in a accident I fear that they would break my back or neck (mine not the bass)

[Hawkbone]

Originally Posted by budman

sweet!

[nickbass79]

I had to do this same thing for a few weeks. When I was riding, I found that the wind put a lot of stress on the neck. Only thing I could do to get around this was ask someone to bring the bass to practice. Sorry I don't have a better remedy.

[tehbassist]

Originally Posted by steve_rolfeca

+1

One of my dad's guitar students was riding to his lesson on the freeway, on an old Triumph. His early 60's Gibson SG was crossways on a rack, in a hardshell case, when a gust of wind dumped him off the bike at 70mph.

The road was wet (!!!!), and he slid for quite a ways without much in the way of visible damage to himself or his stuff. Relieved, he picked himself up, and continued to his lesson.

You can't even imagine the look on his face, when my dad opened the case, and found that the neck had snapped off, right at the heel.

Get a beater, even if it means riding the bus for a few weeks to afford it.

Well at least he was riding a Triumph

Seriously though I think the only (remotely) safe way to do this is to have your bass parallel to the bike. Whether that means sitting on it or having it strapped to the side of your bike I don't know.

That being said, taking the neck off or having some kind of folding bass would be cool too!

[drgasturias]

Originally Posted by tehbassist

Well at least he was riding a Triumph

Seriously though I think the only (remotely) safe way to do this is to have your bass parallel to the bike. Whether that means sitting on it or having it strapped to the side of your bike I don't know.

That being said, taking the neck off or having some kind of folding bass would be cool too!

I think the same as you. As I said, I rode once with it in my back (a good gigbag of course), but the wind was really a problem. I felt like in any moment, I could fell of the bike, and I was riding slow...

So I was thinking about somthing like that, an accesory to put the hardcase maby in a side of the bike, paralell to the road. Something like the picture posted, or similar. Anybody used that thing?

Also, I think I remember an episode of Orange County Choppers when they did something to carry a guitar... or it was a keyboard? I dunno, I'm starting to think that I'll have to use the bus

[Jimi Cleek]

I've done it a few times. I didn't have to get on the highways, so I didn't. Backpack style gig bag. It's not to bad as long as you don't go over 40, still not a ton of fun. Gig bag will still act like a sail and pull you around a bit but if you are an experienced rider and are mentally prepared for this it's not terrible. I keep thinking about a small bike trailer to haul my little amp and bass in. They are not cheap either.

Jimi

[T-Bird]

Hi.

Guys, You're thinking about it backwards.

The times I've rode my bike to the rehearsals, I've strapped on the back-pack style gig bag so the neck points down to either side of the bike, not up.

Sure there's still some wind resistance, but otherwise it's pretty good up to 100km/h or so. With the apes it's not fun to ride any faster anyway.

Unless You're on a really low bike, doing knee-scrapes alá Barry Sheene, the neck will not hit the pavement either .

Regards
Sam

[kesslari]

If you can afford an HD48, you can afford a car.
I stopped riding bikes (Triumph Bonneville at the time) when I could only afford a scoot or a car, had my bass on my back and it started to rain, and I realized that if I went down, I would take a major hit on my two only possessions of any value (the bike and the bass).

[Hawkbone]

Originally Posted by T-Bird

Hi.
Unless You're on a really low bike, doing knee-scrapes alá Barry Sheene, the neck will not hit the pavement either .

Regards
Sam

you mean there's another way to ride??!?