Okay, let me walk you through my whole adventure trying to find the absolute best storage box for my Honda Navi. Man, figuring this out wasn’t as simple as I hoped!
So, first things first, I love my little Navi. It’s so much fun zipping around town. But honestly, that tiny under-seat storage? Total joke. Forget putting anything useful in there besides maybe a thin rain jacket folded up super tight. Trying to squeeze in my wallet, a phone charger, maybe a snack for a ride? Forget it. Stuff ended up shoved in my pockets or awkwardly riding on the floorboard. Super annoying, right? And kinda messy-looking too.
I started looking online and found a whole mess of aftermarket storage boxes all claiming they were the best fit. Prices were all over the place, pictures sometimes looked sketchy, and figuring out how they actually fit or mounted was confusing. That’s when I knew I needed to dig deeper and actually test a few out. I decided to go for the names I saw popping up most on Navi forums.
Here’s how my testing went down with the top 5 contenders I could get my hands on:
- The “G” Brand Universal Jobbie: Got this one first ’cause it was cheap, like, really cheap. Lesson learned fast. Felt like brittle plastic. When I tried fitting it behind the seat where folks said it could go… nope. Didn’t line up right. Tried rigging it with zip ties. Looked awful, wobbled like crazy, and honestly, I was scared it’d snap just looking at it hard. Scratched that off the list real quick.
- The Tall “S” Tube: This one looked like a big water bottle holder. Mounting was okay-ish – bolted onto the side where the grab bar usually is. Easy enough. Capacity? Honestly pretty good, vertically deep. But man, the shape! Trying to get a rectangular tool roll or a flat first-aid kit into a round tube? Nightmare. Plus, wind whistling around it was kinda loud at speed.
- The “K” Sidekick: Okay, price jumped here. But the mounting seemed smarter, bolting solidly to the frame near the tail light. Looked sleek, like it almost belonged. Super sturdy plastic too. Here was the trade-off: Size. Because it tucked in so tight, you lose a lot of that depth. Could fit small tools, registration papers, maybe sunglasses… but that was pushing it. Felt premium, just… smaller than I hoped.
- The “T” Top Box Mount: This route needed extra cash. It was just the rack system, not the box itself. Pretty easy install, bolted onto the seat hinge points felt secure. The big win here? I got one of those universal-fit plastic top boxes. Huge capacity! Threw my spare gloves, a water bottle, rain pants, big cable lock – all in there. Downside? Changed the whole look of the Navi. Went from cute mini-moto to looking kinda… utilitarian. Took it off when I just wanted the clean look.
- The “T-H” Tail Bag Special: The last one I tried. This one strapped directly onto the rear seat/trunk area using heavy-duty buckles and fabric straps. Absolutely the biggest capacity of the non-top box options. Collapsible when empty too. Super easy to install/remove. Material felt thick and waterproof-ish. Only real gripes? When fully packed, it did sag a tiny bit onto the rear fender unless I really cinched the straps tight. And because it sits kinda high, makes it slightly harder to swing a leg over (especially with short legs like mine!).
After wrestling with all of these over a few weekends, here’s where I landed. Honestly, none were perfect. But I found myself reaching for two main setups:
- For daily rides & style: I keep the compact “K” box bolted on. Holds the essentials without messing up the lines. Simple.
- For errands or longer trips: The big “T-H” tail bag comes out. Yeah, it looks a bit puffy, but dang, the space is unbeatable without going full top box. Strapping it on takes maybe 30 seconds.
Would I love a magical box that’s huge, affordable, bolts on solid, and keeps the Navi looking cool? Of course! But till that unicorn exists, mixing these two feels like the best solution I’ve found after wasting cash on the cheap stuff and dealing with the compromises of the others. At least now my phone and snacks aren’t trying to escape while I ride!
