Luggage.... which kind?

I am looking to get some sort of luggage. The two that I am looking at are hard cases by say:

http://www.happy-trail.com/Yamaha-WR250R/Aluminum-Panniers-Teton-WR250R.aspx

OR to go soft stuff like say this:

http://www.wolfmanluggage.com/Racks/index_Side_Racks.html

with say this:

http://www.wolfmanluggage.com/Expedition/expd_dry_saddle_bags.html

I have hard bags on my FJR and I like them but off road I'm not 100% sure off hard bags. I know I have seen them on the big adventure bikes like the BMWGS1200 say.

So which do you have and why did you pick that?

Tail rack with a nice big tail bag works best IMHO on a dual sport.

I used to have a BMW F650GS with hard luggage and it was really nice to be able to lock stuff when commuting or on trips. I haven't put any luggage other than a small pelican tail box on the WRR. I really like the Wolfman stuff, I hear it can take a lot of abuse. I guess it just depends on what type of riding you think you want to do.

Lots of posts in the luggage section on this site, have you checked that out?

If all you will do is gravel roads and easy forest service roads, hard cases are fine. If you get in to some rougher terrain. you will enjoy stayting lighter with water proof soft bags. Aluminum cases weigh 10 lbs each at least. That is 20 to 25 extra lbs you have to carrry and pick up if you drop the bike.

I have the Wolf Man luggage racks and use water proof duffle bags strapped to them, 30 liters each. Wolf Man yellow tail bag on top, 30 to 40 liters. This works fine. But the Wolf Man soft side bags (20 to 25 liters each) are set up to allow you to access the bags while still strapped to the luggage rack. THis can be nice.

This photo is from a 2600 mile trip I finished in July. Taken in the big empty area of Wyoming. I was glad I stayed light on this trip. We got into some pretty rough stuff. We camped 10 of the 13 nights during this ride. I had pleanty of storage space. The 20 to 25 liter Wold MAn side bags would have been fine.





This photo is from Big Bend NAtional PArk. The yellow side bags on the one WRR are the Wolf MAn side bags.

The biggest advantage of soft luggage is less weight and less likely to cause serious injury in a crash, especially while riding off road. When I owned a KLR, I outfitted it with HT racks (front and rear) and Pelican side cases. The additional weight was not helpful. For the WRR, I went with the Wolfman setup. I'm impressed with the build quality of the racks and the bags, plus it hasn't damaged the off road capability.

Here's my WRR with the Wolfman setup.




The downside of soft luggage is that it's not nearly as secure, but the Wolfman bags are quick to remove. Quicker than the HT with Pelicans, even.

I have the Mojavi mounted on my WR250R. Excellent fit and easy to take on and off. They say it's only good for day trips. I don't quite fill them, but it's probably not good for much more than a weekend if you use a pack and possibly a tank bag.

http://www.giantloopmoto.com/products/mojavitm-saddlebag

OP - state what you plan to do so we can make useful suggestions. Type of riding, amount of gear.

Aside from what has been posted already re: weight, potential damage when you fall, note that soft luggage is usually a lot cheaper.

jon_l wrote:

OP - state what you plan to do so we can make useful suggestions. Type of riding, amount of gear.

Aside from what has been posted already re: weight, potential damage when you fall, note that soft luggage is usually a lot cheaper.

Only downside I can see to soft luggage is security if used for commuting. I'm just trying to decide if I'm going with wolfman panniers or giant loop coyote.

i went with GL coyote. I zip tie the coyote to my bike and pad locked the zippers. I also use a bike cover when parking overnight.

do note that Coyote is not water proof ( some water do get in from the zips), please pack your stuff in water proof innner bags.

I also hava 2 krieger to expand my storage if i need to.

photos can be seen in the tire thread for D603.

A lot depends on the riding you want to do. I have a combo of hard top case and soft side bags. My top case is 33 L, side bags are I think 46 L expandable to about 60 L.

I have had custom mounts made by a local welder. For about 150 Euro I got a pretty good deal. Very nicely done, very sturdy. All removable within 15 minutes with a couple bolts (no holes through fender or anything like that).






For primarily road usage, it's a very good combo. it's still ok for some light duty off roading / fire roads. if I plan some more serious off road, I go without hard top. it's too far up and behind the bike that it affects handling too much. In that case I only use the side bags (they hang low and close to the COG so they don't affect the handling too much when the going gets tough. if the bags aren't enough, I strap some things to the seat or light things onto the rear rack. but no top case. I don't like how it handles off road with it, but that may be because I am a pretty crappy off road rider