I'm thinking of substituting soft bags for the Suzuki branded SW Motech hard cases on my 2012 V-Strom 650. The motivation for this is that the hard case arrangement is very wide (it exceeds the width of the handlebars) and I have to be, annoyingly, very aware of this fact in close quarters.

I'd leave the racks in place but would hang more compact soft bags on them which would then result in a narrower luggage system. Even if the reduction in width was small, I'd worry less about accidental contact with a soft piece of luggage.

But here's the issue. Because of the single muffler, the rack on that side necessarily protrudes out further that the rack on the other side. The hard cases compensate for this by being different sizes (i.e different widths). The right one holds 37 litres and the left one holds 45 litres. The overall result is that the hard luggage system sticks out the same distance on both sides.

All the soft bag systems I've been able to find online include 2 equal sized side bags. Hanging them on the existing racks would result in a lopsided arrangement.

Anyone ever come across a asymmetrical set of soft bags, or at the very least, different sized bags of the same decent brand available as singles?

Fabricating an extension to the rack on one side is not a desirable solution because I'd then lose carrying capacity. I'd be forced to use smaller bags on both sides. Asymmetrically sized bags would allow me to use a larger one on the left side.

You can do that with the Moskomoto soft bags. They have 35 and 25s and you can mix and match so you could get one 35 and one 25 if you'd want.

Getting two different sized soft bags could work ... but I would simply get rid of your racks. You don't need big, heavy, oversized racks to support soft bags.
Soft bags are much lighter than hard, your racks should match the load.

Get rid of those racks and get something small and light that tucks in very tight to the bike ... or maybe use no rack at all.

Try "throw over" type soft bags. With Throw Over bags the seat takes most of the weight and shock from the road as the connecting strap goes over the seat. The racks (if any) are only there to keep soft bag off hot pipe and from flopping around on a rough road.

Sometimes a simple heat shield will do that job of a rack. I prefer a close fitting rack like this:


Having bags in close means better mass centralization and not too wide if proper bags are chosen.

With this system, less weight, narrower, better mass centralization, bike handles better.

Very tight fit, no fires, easy to split lanes! (top rack is ongoing project!)

My old Givi throw over soft bags have expansion zips so they can be two different sizes. Just expand the bag where there is no exhaust and this should give you what you want.

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Thanks for the useful suggestions.