After investigating several choices of hard luggage, I decided upon Jesse Safari luggage. What interested me was the new mounting technique and relocating the exhaust. Here are some of my experiences.
Ordering: Once I got the folks at Jesse Luggage on the phone, I mentioned they don't have a great reputation for delivering on time. The guy there told me he could comfortably ship the bags in 10 days, which was acceptable to me. Maybe because I questioned them I got pushed to the top of the priority stack but I received the luggage in just 4 days. Everything was packed well and no shipping damage occured.
According to their website the luggage will be available in three different widths: 11.5 inches, 10 inches and 8 inches. Only the widest version is initially available and that's what I wanted.
Installation: These are quite simply some of the most terse instructions I've ever seen. It reminds me of reading UNIX MAN pages. All the information you need, just barely enough info and every word counts. The pictures were small and not very clear. After struggling a little while, I figured out how to get everything mounted. The instructions say things like: mount the left side S bracket on the left side of the bike. Assemble and mount the rear subframe assembly. The turn signals need to be relocated but the instructions don't explicitly tell you that. I had to take my muffler to a muffler shop and have the inside of the inlet pipe expanded to get the aluminium adapter piece to fit. No one's problem, the initial fit was simply too tight for me to comfortably align things. After getting the muffler pipe expanded slightly the assembly worked very well.
Opinions of finished product: The bags are well made, the mounts work wonderfully and the bags fit great. I like the lowered muffler. I've taken some good natured teasing from my friends about having such wide bags but in truth the Jesse bags are only slightly wider than the BMW factory luggage in the narrowest configuration.
When picking up my bike from the dealership following the run-in service, I got lots of comments from other GS owners and some of the mechanics. Everyone liked the bags and commented that they wish they had purchased Jesse Safari bags rather than the BMW factory bags.
