thanks for the details dale.
i guess it all come down to how you fall like you said.
if you fall with your feet on the pegs, hard bags can keep up the bike and protect you....if you fall when try to make a foot dab move or something like that and your leg is whipped back then yeah the bag can land on your leg.
soft vrs hard is a never answered debate...kinda like which oil to use.
i proposed a new concept of both on post 12
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=729632
do you have any clue where your wife's bike is now?
i know disco bought it, but then latter he changed over to a wr250r.