Good news for those who prefer seat bags to top cases! MOTO FIZZ will be releasing a riser base that stabilizes touring bags.

TANAX, which develops the MOTO FIZZ brand, exhibited at the 52nd Tokyo Motorcycle Show, held at Tokyo Big Sight from March 28th to 30th. Among the various new products on display, we discovered an item that caught our eye. The “riser base” is a plate that is placed between the seat bag and the pillion seat, and just having this makes it super easy to attach the bag.

Many riders attach top cases to their motorcycles to carry luggage. They’re convenient because they protect against wind and rain, and you can even keep small items and rainwear inside. While many understand this, many are opposed to cases, citing the need for a separate, larger carrier for sports bikes, fears that they’ll ruin the shape of their beloved bike, or that they’ll spoil the ride. I’m a firm fan of seat bags myself, but sports bikes with small pillion seats can only accommodate smaller seat bags, and bikes with uneven seats often have the bag slip off while riding. Finding a seat bag that fits your bike perfectly can be surprisingly difficult. That’s where the “riser base” comes in handy.

The “riser base” exhibited as a reference is a base plate that is attached to the seat in advance. The base is attached with a belt, just like a seat bag, but there are several mounting holes so it can accommodate a variety of seat shapes. By attaching a seat bag to this base, a wide seat surface can be secured even on vehicles with smaller tandem seats, allowing the seat bag to be attached stably and reducing the risk of it slipping off while riding. There are several belt holes on the periphery of the base, so touring bags of various sizes can be attached, and it seems that it can also be used to carry things other than bags. It will be available in a vertical narrow version and a horizontal wide version, and is scheduled to go on sale around October. The price has not yet been decided, but it is expected to be around 3,000 to 4,000 yen.

Also on display was a new model from the popular “Shell Seat Bag” series, which uses a semi-hard shell that keeps the bag’s shape. The shell is made of glossy polycarbonate, and the belt that secures the bag to the seat has been changed to fasten it from the inside of the bag, so the belt is no longer exposed, giving the bag a sleeker appearance and eliminating the worry of it coming off while parked. The two sizes other than the SS also feature a new pocket for a wire lock. This model is scheduled to go on sale around August.