Ya that's brown rice falling out. These bags were supposedly designed for sport bikes with upright facing exhausts and apparently are specially lined to be heat resistant and able to sit in front of the exhaust.

Came home from a grocery run to find that my frozen salmon fillets were fully thawed, my sweet potatoes transformed into baked potatoes, my cinnamon sticks became charcoal, and my rice bag melted 🙃

I've done groceries maybe a dozen times with these bags without issue but I guess the bag got a little too close to the exhaust. I spent all day today scraping dried molten plastic off my exhaust pipes and trying to pull rice out of my exhaust baffles (only got 2 grains out 😣).

Well that sucks. I'm trying to remember where my saddlebags drape, but they're definitely not in any possible line with the exhaust vent, nor are touching. I think my actual panniers made for the bike have a metal shield that sits between the exhaust and the pannier sort of hovers over and to the side of the exhaust.

Maybe your exhaust is just super special in how much heat it throws out.

Maybe it was misfiring today

It's a stock Honda 500cc so I wouldn't consider it super special

That looks like it was sitting on the exhaust?

Those looks like factory exhaust pipes. That bike is quiet.

Lol the saddle bag melting should be the least of your worries. You're coating the bag and everything inside of it with cancer causing chemicals. Even if it didnt melt you'd be eating straight cancer for dinner

Every sport bike I have ever owned has been quiter than a car or SUV with a V6. Do you even go outside?

I have an NX500 myself, to be honest I went with some hard mounts that replace the passenger grab bars and hard boxes from Ali express, even with tarrifs (I’m in the US) the total was sub $500 for two boxes and a rack. Super worth it, I put it through hell and high water and they’re great. Definitely something I’d recommend.

It wasn't when I left the grocery store 😅 but I guess it sagged over the course of the half hour ride back home.

Serves you right for having such a loud and obnoxious bike -GraveyardOrbit

Interesting observation haha. I didn't think a stock Honda CB500f would be considered loud to some. It idles at 55dB which makes it significantly quieter than any lawnmower (including electric).

What, you're telling me that exhaust flavoured food might have health concerns???

I tossed everything in that bag. Not very interested in some specially seasoned salmon, sweet potato, and rice 😁

Here's the sweet potato:

Ayy the adventure version of my bike! Love the white and black combo. Those cases look awesome. Something on rails like yours is what I'll have to get if I want saddle bags. I might just look into a tail bag in the interim. Does the bottom of the right box ever get warm?

Doesn't matter. Any bike that is not silent should be banned. -GraveyardOrbit

I'm laughing at the idea of you going into a motorcycle community and saying that they're all loud and should be banned haha. You're on a roll today!

It's a year old lol it better not be.

I wanna wrap it in something like baby blue personally lol. And yeah, I’d recommend the cheap ones on Aliexpress personally, it’s like a quarter of anything else price wise. It doesn’t line up perfectly but I’m a function over form person lol. And I’m sure it does but I’ll have to check next long ride, but I’ve never had issues with anything melting or anything getting too warm

Baby blue would look cool too! My bikes boring and matte black. Are the mounts from AliExpress too?

Matte black still looks great in my opinion!

And Yep! Hopefully links are allowed but these are what I got

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256809352147110.html

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256809352650569.html

Seeing one of the reviews did remind me you’ll need someone with a 3d printer. The plastic spacer bit the bracket came with may as well have been made from tissue paper, but after printing new spacers they’ve been rock solid for me.

Oh excellent! I have a nice 3D printer so not a problem here. Thanks for the links and info!

For sure! Keep the rubber side down amigo. The Honda 500s are phenomenal bikes, definitely sucks about the melted bag though lol.

I don't think any bag can tolerate the heat of exhaust.

When moving on the road, it gets pretty hot - even rigid bags would sag

Misfiring generally produces lower temps as fuel isn't fully combusted.

Even then, those temps will still melt nylon that's pretty close.

I suspect the manufacturer's claims are bogus, or at least poorly written and they actually mean they can tolerate the heat radiating from the muffler, not the direct exhaust.

Anything in line of the exhaust will melt over time from the long duration of exposure.

After finally being able to watch the video, I'd never expect a material bag to tolerate that - it's directly in-line with the exhaust and even slightly above it.

Even if the bottom of the bag were an aluminum plate, I think that plate would simply transfer heat into the bag.

It would require something like a lower plate, an air gap, and another plate, to ensure a heat break.

Or a plate on the exhaust directing the output more horizontally for the length of the bag.

Also, sorry this happened, that's a bunch of crap from the manufacturer.

Done the things in your box get quite hot here on the right hand side?

You'll have to go with a tail bag I suspect.

We run two of these: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008933844155.html
Not explicitly that link, but that "model" - you'll see a bunch with different logos, some without. I also managed to pick one up for really cheap off Amazon so it was cheaper and got delivered faster than my AliExpress one. It does expand a bit and I was able to squeeze a Shoei Neotec III medium inside (!). Approximate capacity is 11-15L.

I've just ordered this one from AliExpress: https://rhinowalk.com/products/23l-35l-abs-hard-shell-tail-bag-with-expandable
Will have to see how it fits on the bikes at home, but 23L will absolutely be able to fit groceries.

If it does I haven’t noticed it. I just took a 3 hour ride and popped the box off no problem, unless it cooled within the few minutes. I did also have wet clothes in that bag during the ride and they’re still wet, so if there’s any extra heat hitting it it’s a negligible amount.