Carry Bass on a Motorcycle

[steve_rolfeca]

That pic of the chopper with a bass mounted low and angled back like a sissy bar, looks to be just the ticket.

If you had hard saddlebags, you could remove a lid, stuff your gig bag down into the saddlebag, and bungee it in place. The weight and wind resistance are down low, and mounted solidly to the frame. Plus, the bass is less of a sail, since it's carried skinny-side-on...

 

[viper4000]

One of my bass playing friends has only had a motorcycle for the last 20 years. He bought and fixed up an old wrecked motorcycle trailer. You know the kind you see out on the highway behind the big Goldwings. Anyway, he modded it so that he can carry a 410 cab, amp, and two basses in an miniature enclosed trailer. It's actually pretty cool. Heck, you could probably modify a side-car to hold a bass and combo.

Good luck!

 

[hdracer]

Here you go, just listed for sale, (not me)
This is the bag I use.
The straps are stronger than you can hold onto the bike. Water resistant too.
I have over a thousand miles using this bag with no problems.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f129/body-glove-gig-bag-772182/

 

[McHaven]

Tried it once as a backpack/hanging to the side. I felt like I was a ship with a big mast and sail.

My only thought while doing it was "Man, this would be easier with a sidecar."

 

[T-Bird]

Hi.

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

Yep, feet first, armpits well ventilated.

Always been and always will be my preferred way over the crotch-rocket style .

Regards
Sam

 

[GrapeApe]

Straplocks.

 

[Stilettoprefer]

i tried riding my bicycle to a buddy's house once with my bass in a gig bag on my back. scary as hell. felt like my bass and i were gonna go tumbling on a pavement hill with a 30lb hunk of steel bouncing around us. had my dad pick me up because i refused to ride back like that.

 

[Hawkbone]

Yep, feet first, armpits well ventilated.

hehe, good description! Opposite for me, I don't feel in control riding with my feet in front.

 

[jay tay]

Link Removed

A pic from my friends recent trip to Hong Kong, This is an actual delivery rider, ...I bet he would handle transporting a bass!

 

[nocontrols]

OP - Do you live somewhere where it's hot and sunny all the time? Because unless you want to play a very dangerous game that I don't recommend, you shouldn't be riding a motorcycle in snow or rain anyway. My car recently died The Big Death and I've been riding the bus for over a month now because I'm not in a position to buy or begin financing a new car. If you live in the city, it's not so bad. People bring babies and groceries and everything else on a bus, you will be OK with a bass, I guarantee you. Heck, if you played a solid body short scale, a fitted hardshell case wouldn't be that much larger than an acoustic guitar case. I like toting my axe through the city because I think it looks cool. It's certainly easier and more low-maintenance than riding a motorcycle in less than desirable conditions (and I consider strapping a massive bass to the bike to be "less than desirable")

Good luck.

 

[Downunderwonder]

You might be able to rig it on the tank so it points forward over the handlebars and not catch toooooo much wind.

 

[tedsalt]

A Kramer Duke short scale headless bass might be the way to go. They're fun to play. I had one back in the day ...

 

[Tunaman]

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)

So my car battery died today & in a panic of being late to work & then practice I threw my bass in a crappy acoustic bass bag on my back on the bike. Gotta keep the speeds low but it wasn't too bad. Nothing I want to do frequently

 

[FretNoMore]

I've transported the bass on my bike a few times. What I did was strap it to the side of the bike behind me, resting on the passenger foot peg and with multiple straps around the bass in a gig bag. Not ideal but it worked OK.

I don't recommend wearing anything on your back when riding a bike, especially not something as large as a bass, it's dangerous. Were you to be in an accident you could be hurt badly both by landing on the bass or if the bag catches on something.

 

[jazzsoul]

 

[joebar]

they don't leak oil anymore-
same go for Harleys too

 

[Feral Feline]

This ^ is exactly what I envisioned from the OP's post
Yeah, I was midway through the thread when I realised I was on the wrong side of TB, picturing a DB upside down in backpack mode while straddling a motorcycle I thought for sure the scroll would hit the ground.

When I realised it's the BG side of TB, I thought "Wimps! Bill Crow used to ride around to gigs in NY on a scooter in winter with his DB strapped to the back."

Here's a summer pic, on a Lambretta, West 4th Street, Greenwich Village, New York City, 1958.

Joe King aside, here's the cover of BC's book with him sensibly walking the bass across Times Square, '58.

It's a great book, BTW, [Invalid or Expired Link Removed].


Keep the motorcycle, but get this sidecar...

It fits a coffin, so it'll fit your bass (even a doublebass), amp, cab, pedalboard.

Don't like the "Hearse" look?

Sunbeam with Gemini twin-seater sidecar.

Panther 100 Redwing c'36 with child/adult sidecar. I don't know the make of the sidecar and the website I gleebed the pics from doesn't say, but there's some more great pics with some two-seater adult sidecars.

Busmar Astral (foreground) – quite fetching, really. Keep all your music gear out of the elements...

I've always wanted a Busmar Astral! Awesome.

 

[repoman]

Ride a motorcycle with a bass...ppffsstt..try it with a set of golf clubs (true story).

 

[FretNoMore]

Oh shoot, might as well go really big then. No space problems here.

 

[Feral Feline]