Install a Ventura Bike Pack System on a Norton

Reader Contribution by Mc Staff
Published on February 12, 2013
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The Ventura Bike Pack System installed on a 1974 Norton 850 Commando.

We’ve wanted to check out a Ventura Bike Pack System ever since we first heard about it a few years ago. While the majority of riders do their motorcycle touring on newer machines, there are still plenty of owners and riders of vintage bikes who relish piling on the miles. Editor Backus makes at least one 750-plus-mile run on his Laverda every year, and we have a few close friends who regularly take their Nortons and airhead Beemers for weekend runs to Colorado or Arkansas, where the roads are just a bit curvier than they around here.

Ventura Motorcycle Accessories has a selection of racks and bags available to fit a variety of vintage bikes, including Norton, Triumph, Honda, Moto Guzzi, BMW, Vincent and more, and they agreed to send us a complete system with their 51-liter Aero-Spada VII bag to install on Motorcycle Classics‘ tech Q & A guy Keith Fellenstein’s 1974 Norton 850 Commando.

We came away with two important impressions from this install. First, on the Norton the installation couldn’t have been easier. It didn’t take much more than 15 minutes to bolt on the custom L-brackets that hold the Ventura racks. Second, the quality of our system was top-shelf. Once the L-brackets are installed the racks (Ventura sent us three; the full-size Pack-Rack, the smaller Sport-Rack and the Grab-Handle for those times you don’t want any rack at all) can be installed and removed in less than a minute. There’s nothing hinky about this system; it’s good stuff built to work exactly as promised. The Aero-Spada VII bag with L-brackets and a Pack-Rack runs $449. A Sport-Rack is $75 and the Grab-Handle $29.

Here’s our system as received, including L-brackets and mounting hardware, a Pack-Rack, a Sport-Rack and a Grab-Handle.

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