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I'd like to open up a conversation with regards to soft luggage. I just ordered some production materials for my Chadwick luggage that will be sold by OffGrid Moto, so I'd really like some input regarding what you like and don't like. There are no rules, toss me your opinions!

I guess there is one rule. Please include what brand and model you're referring to.

Of course you can read what the public thinks ad nauseam over on AdvRider!

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=c ... vrider.com

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/h ... gs.377611/

My experience with hard luggage was a full set of big Givi plastic cases on my V-Strom. I REALLY liked that luggage. It actually held up to some relatively serious abuse. On one occasion, I caught the right one on a big stump in the weeds along the trail. It broke off the bike, but I was still able to hook it onto the rack and bungee it across the seat to the other case. I was very happy to discover that the latch was designed to be a weak point. It was a simple $15 replacement part and the case was back good as ever. I was surprised because I would have expected the plastic to have broken to pieces instead. Good design.

I never did the hard aluminum case thing, and clearly these are very popular. I have 2 big gripes with those--and not from personal experience so take this for what it's worth. 1) They survive wrecks, but it is very common for them to no longer be waterproof once you bend their shape--no amount of beating them back into shape can make them perfect again. 2) I wreck a lot. I have nightmares about those heavy, solid, sharp corners coming after me in a wreck. The Givi luggage was plastic and round---I'd much rather be beat to death by those Givi cases than hard aluminum cases with sharp corners. Either way I'm dead I guess, but with Givi, my corpse looks better during the open casket service.

My tendency to wreck combined with my fear of being torn up by luggage is why I'm a soft luggage man. I have used the way too expensive Great Basin bag from Giant Loop for years.

http://www.giantloopmoto.com/product/gr ... saddlebag/


Honestly? I have lots of reasons to hate it. 1) It's a pain in the ass to get in and out of. 2) It is not waterproof. I think it's supposed to be. It is not. I resort to putting stuff in individual dry bags inside the Big Basin....but this strategy is great for organization anyway.

On a plus side, the Big Basin absolutely does not move or come loose. It does a great job keeping the weight low. Of course hard cases do an even better job keeping the weight low...but add their own weight to the mix.

I note they have redesigned the Big Basin (or similar product) to have a big roll-top opening (basically a big dry bag) instead of the difficult zipper that is on my bag. The new version (and copy-cats) are probably a lot better solution than what I have.

I also have a big "motorcycle dry bag". It's just a big waterproof, heavy canvas dry bag. What makes it work is a set of heavy duty loops stitched all the way down that allow a ton of flexibility for using straps to tie it down. So I guess one important feature for soft luggage is lots of built in loops to run straps through. This is the dry bag I have. It holds all my camping gear:

http://amzn.to/2ohW3HT


As you can see, this is a common feature:
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_1?rh ... B06WGQ84PL

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Thanks Troy! ADV Rider is a great resource and will be tackled when I have my products in the market place. That is an animal that I will only face when I have the ammo, if you know what I mean

In the mean time, I think I will take some pictures of the prototypes and break down the current features of my Chadwick bag. That might help spark some conversations as well.

I hard aluminum boxes and Giant Loop's Big Basin. I really like the hard boxes for the ease of getting things in and out and how much can be stored in and on them. However, as troy stated once you go down they never seem to be watertight again. Right now I have one of the boxes at a body shop seeing if they can straighten it out for me.

My old set were so leaky I drilled holes in the bottom so water could get out and would pack everything in waterproof dry bags.

I have a newer model of the Big Basin (with the zipper), it came with waterproof bags to store items that you put in the big basin. Using that system my clothing has never gotten wet. The zipper is a pain and having almost identical small bags inside the big one, you never know where is in each bag. I use the Big Basin when I think my chances of going down increase. I would never have purchased the Big Basin because of the ridiculous high cost. It was a prize from the GS Giants.

Most of the storage bags I see are all overpriced. I think this system really has some merit. https://greenchileadv.com/products/gcag ... age-system Then you can strap on any cheap waterproof bag for $20 (or skip the system and strap the waterproof bags directly to the bike).

Ya my Beemer/Touratech aluminum luggage is all bent to hell. But even from day one it was never waterproof. I drilled a tiny hole in the bottom to let the water out. I got this one out with a hammer and patients. Also had to bend the box back to shape with the same method.