In terms of saddlebags, there are many questions. The first big dilemma of those approaching for the first time (but also later, every time you change bikes or types of bikes) when buying the panniers, it's about which side to stand on. On the one hand, the obvious practicality of rigid bags and on the other, the cheapness and ease of soft bags. But then the questions multiply!
When to choose the rigid plastic and when i case the panniers in aluminum?
When it is better to fit floppy bags and when to prefer waterproof bags?
And so on, there is to go on for hours.
Always looking for the maximum possible synthesis, I tried to dig into the topic in this sort of “definitive guide on the side bags“; it is a theme that, especially if you use the motorcycle for tourism, it is not secondary at all. I excluded from this discussion the bauletto or top case as you like and the evergreen tank bag: I have already mentioned the trunk in this other article and the tank bag and how to best organize your luggage I will talk shortly in other posts.
The most complete article on the choice of side bags. here it is!
Here I speak of borse laterali and – not to brag about it – but you are about to read the most complete article on the subject, so focus (and maybe show me that you appreciate the effort by sharing the post!).
If enemy a thousand years ago, at the time of my first excursions, if I had found an article like this I would have certainly saved some money and above all disappointments.
Therefore… You are leaving for a trip? OK, then make sure you need bags, you can't think of doing everything with a backpack.
Maybe it's the first real vacation you do on a motorcycle, better not to do like the time you went to the lake with your high school backpack and you lost your costume and the Havaianas on the highway while you were going to throttle. I swear, it happened to me!
Or you just bought the bike and, like many, you are undecided: I mount practices but cumbersome (and usually unsightly) rigid or small suitcases, light and ridiculous soft bags in which my toothbrush is hardly?Now I'm taking it too far, but let's face it we all wondered. I always wonder when I prepare my luggage for a trip. This is the point, travel, not the bike. But we get there later.
Rigid, flower the… waterproof. Complicated choice?
When it comes to panniers, there are always those who declare that they cannot give up the large trunks and those who could never accept something heavier than fabric bags. Negli ultimi tempi, and then, added who is enthusiastic about the latest arrivals, or the bags 100% waterproof that for some years have become if not the first, the second choice by virtue of weight and economy.
But soft panniers in fabric or nice side cases in plastic are better? E poi, because maxi enduros are always equipped with bulky metal panniers? They really do?
So let's start with a rather trivial consideration: there is no type of bag that is perfect for any type of motorcycle and for any type of use. Then, put your heart in peace, there is no absolute BEST and WORST. We have products with different characteristics that prove precious in some cases or in others.
Much certainly depends on the bike on which they will be installed, but even more from how this bike will be used. In the ideal hypothesis we should have every type of bag at home and be able to choose which one to mount as appropriate, but we know that it is almost never possible. So I try to give you the elements to be able choose the right bag for your purpose.
Trendy bags: l’evoluzione
Thirty years ago using metal suitcases simply appeared nonsense or eccentricity. Only a few globe trotters had the courage to deface the line of their bike with bulky homemade aluminum boxes. For everyone else the motorcycle bags were the soft bags that, however,, they were not of great quality.
Plastic suitcases began to spread so quickly, a brilliant solution that lacked only the aesthetic appeal. For long years, comunque, that were soft or stiff, the side bags were considered an aesthetic massacre.
I remember such expressions: “but how do you ruin a motorcycle like that!?” aimed at those who simply assembled a structure with cases. Fashions are fickle and soft bags for sports bikes began to spread. They liked and solved the problem. Until the motorcyclist finds out that traveling with a sports car is not all that comfortable, to be cool and trendy, you must have a travel bike. For the rigid it is a boom e, to surprise, spread i case in square aluminum. Precisely those who were considered the maximum of bad aesthetic taste.
Even now, the imagination wants the real traveler to have metal suitcases, although the trend is changing with the growth of interest in off-roading: l’endurista, in fact, necessarily choose soft suitcases. The drama is therefore underway: what panniers I need to have?
Soft side bags: pregi e difetti
Generally soft bags represent the first purchase, at least for all those who have a naked or sports bike. Often, however, it also happens for those who have purchased a dual purpose or an endurona. This is because some advantages of the soft or limp side bags that you want, are immediately evident: they represent the least invasive and demanding choice in economic terms, aesthetic and weight. They also have other less obvious but no less important advantages: do not represent a danger to the pilot or passenger in the event of a fall, they tend to absorb any blows and can be patched in the event of a tear. Di contro… they can be torn, either accidentally or voluntarily. They also typically have a lot of hinges and, if you don't know you will learn it, more hinges means more possibilities to break or allow water to pass. Below I have summarized the strengths and weaknesses of the soft side bags.
| SOFT IN FABRIC | |
|---|---|
| PREGI | DIFETTI |
| Low weight Prezzo They require small luggage racks and can often be fixed without They do not transmit vibrations to the content In the event of a fall, they tend to cushion the blow by avoiding bending the frame In case of laceration they can usually be patched In the event of a disastrous fall or accident they represent a lower risk for the legs Wide availability of sizes and shapes Side space content | Generally reduced capacity They are almost never waterproof and in case of rain they require to stop to be covered with headphones The fabric absorbs and it is not always easy to clean them They can tear They can deform They can catch fire or spoil with heat They typically have various zippers: more hinges means greater chance of breaking You cannot lock them and in any case they can be cut by attackers They are not suitable for fragile content Always require additional elastics and fixing points To be assembled they often require some familiarity with various elastic bands and in any case they require more time to be fixed and removed When I unplug them from the bike to take them to my room they are dirty |
Hard plastic side bags: pregi e difetti
The second step “evolutionary” of the side bags is represented by the rigid plastic, the so-called trunks. They represent an intermediate solution that satisfies a little’ all for practicality and for the versatility that makes them suitable for most uses. They are therefore the perfect bags? Not exactly. Even the plastic sides are not without weaknesses.
| RIGID IN PLASTIC | |
|---|---|
| PREGI | DIFETTI |
| Impermeabili Non si ammaccano e non si deformano Sono disponibili in molte capienze e forme Hanno manici per essere trasportate a mano I profili sono arrotondati Resistono ai maltrattamenti Facili da pulire Facili da installare e da rimuovere They have a lock and can have the same key Alcune sono garantite a vita | They cannot be adapted to the content They require specific bulky and unsightly frames that you will always leave on the bike In the event of a fall, they break or can bend the frame They weigh Subiscono le vibrazioni (meglio non averle in fuoristrada!) I cardini di apertura prima o poi diventano il punto debole Non si possono riparare L’aspetto può deteriorarsi col tempo è consigliabile avere delle sacche interne e dei separatori per mantenere ordine Side space requirement |
Rigid metal side bags: pregi e difetti
Rigid metal suitcases – generally aluminum – they represent the most choice “hardcore”, that of those who love to spend a lot of time on a motorbike and for this reason use bags that they will detach very rarely. Precisely because it is more convenient to have them installed rather than putting and removing them repeatedly. You want for weight, you want because they are generally very bulky. The fashion for adventure travel and maxi enduros has brought rigid metal to be associated, in the collective imagination, to the choice of the great traveler and therefore to the perfect solution. This is because in the beginning it was the travelers themselves who built themselves metal boxes to carry anything. Subsequently some manufacturers started to make them and to build them always with higher quality. Today you can find very expensive and high quality panniers as cheaper imitations. In any case, these are the most expensive side bags, if it is true that travelers choose them for long journeys, it is also true that many of them then went back to more solutions “purist” with minimal luggage tied to the saddle. This is because the rigid metal are generally capacious and at the same time they become bulky and heavy. After a while’ of time traveling with a motorcycle so heavy, it is normal to want to throw everything overboard and return to the bare minimum. In addition to, on the contrary of how often one is led to imagine, the rigid metal hate the off-road. Not as much as the rigid plastic ones, but they hate it.
| RIGID IN METAL | |
|---|---|
| PREGI | DIFETTI |
| Impermeabili Robust In the event of a dent, they are able to straighten (almost always) Practices to be filled thanks to the regular shape and the opening from above They have no weak points such as lightning or hinges They can be personalized with colors and stickers Resistono ai maltrattamenti Facili da pulire Facili da installare e da rimuovere They have a lock and can have the same key They can become a camping seat They can become “accidentally” good bumpers | They cannot be adapted to the content They love off-roading less than they create: transfer all vibrations They require specific bulky frames that you will always leave on the bike In the event of a fall they are damaged The edges, especially if damaged, they can become dangerous They require other bags and internal separators to maintain order and cleanliness Sometimes excessive lateral dimensions |
What are internal bags? They really do?
The cinderella of the side bags is represented by the internal bags. What are they?
In short, they are a way to solve two defects of rigid bags, be they plastic or metal, or the disorder e la cleaning with the merits of the soft bag: lightness and ease of carrying it.
When you arrive at your destination, maybe tired after death 18 hours in the saddle, you certainly do not want to unpack the soft bags making you run away with an elastic band in the face for tiredness and you do not even want to start looking for your panties in the dark in the chaotic well of your aluminum suitcase.
Likewise, I doubt you'll want to bring a messy plastic suitcase of dust to your room, mud and maybe greasy. Ecco, the internal bags avoid all this.
They are light material bags that fill the inside of your rigid bag. That, when you arrive at your destination, all you have to do is open the lock of the suitcase and take out your nice clean purse, precise precise like a princess.
The major bag manufacturers produce them with the correct shape and capacity for their suitcases. Perfect solution then? Of course not! Here too there are limits. First of all the inevitable capacity reduction of your suitcase e, secondly, the additional cost. These are not astronomical figures, for charity, but still of a salty price for a bag that appears rather delicate and not as robust as one would like. For the GiVi Trekkers that I mounted on my KTM I had purchased the internal bag that you see in the photo, paying about it 40 euro one, to give you an order of magnitude.
A cheaper solution that I have practiced for years is to use plastic or nylon or fabric bags, and that's what I still do when I use test bikes for travel and I can't count on my own equipment.
Forget about biodegradable supermarket bags, by nylon bags I mean those that some fashion stores give you to protect clothes or very light and cheap small bags and backpacks that are found in department stores to store clothes in the closet.
With this simple ploy, you save and keep order, you can also keep your clothes separate and take only what you really need with you (if you can do it) leave the rest on the bike. Di contro, optimizing the interior space of the suitcase is difficult and you will always forget something useful on the bike.
The evolution of this method is to use bags “save space” that you can find among the articles dedicated to trekking (if you don't know, in those departments you will find a lot of useful things for your motorcycle trips). The most sophisticated ones have a system to expel the air, make a sort of void, and really save space. In addition, often even if not completely waterproof, they can repair from a few drops of water.
Above all, I always recommend having internal bags, whether they are perfect for the suitcase or more improvised. For example, in metal pannier a gym bag or a backpack can fit very well and I bet you already have one at home. The important thing is to have internal soft containers that allow you to organize the space. You will live much better, trustworthy.
Borse waterproof in PVC: the intermediate solution?
Until recently, the choice was limited to soft bags or rigid bags. Now we are fortunate to have a third way: le borse waterproof in PVC. In all respects they belong to the category of soft bags, tuttavia, by virtue of their very robust material, light and waterproof, they have characteristics that make them a sort of interesting intermediate route. They do not have the advantages due to rigidity, but neither the disadvantages, they are generally very cheap but also laborious to attach to the bike.
| MORBIDE PVC WATERPROOF | |
|---|---|
| PREGI | DIFETTI |
| Impermeabili They adapt better to the content They are available in various shapes and volumes Low weight Prezzo They require small luggage racks and can often be fixed without They do not transmit vibrations In the event of a fall, they tend to cushion the blow by avoiding bending the frame In the event of a disastrous fall or accident they do not pose a risk to the legs Facili da pulire Reduced lateral dimensions | Generally reduced capacity They can tear and cannot be stitched They can be damaged by heat They have zippers that get damaged over time The availability of shapes and volumes is yes varied but still limited You cannot lock them and in any case they can be cut by attackers They are not suitable for fragile content They almost always require additional elastics and fixing points To be assembled they often require some familiarity with various elastic bands and in any case they require more time to be fixed and removed When I unplug them from the bike to take them to my room they are dirty |
The frames
So far I have talked about saddlebags as only they existed, ma non è così. When evaluating the purchase of side bags to travel by motorbike, be they plastic or aluminum, the least noble and pleasant part of the purchase must also be considered, or the frames.
I say this to avoid misunderstandings, since I have often been asked: the frames are not the same for all motorcycles. There may be bikes from the same manufacturer that use the same frame, I do not doubt, but I think they are more unique than rare cases. The manufacturers of side bags make specific frames for the most popular motorcycle models, simply because it cannot be otherwise. The bikes have different attachment points.
So if you buy used side cases, eg, take into account that you must also buy the frames. They are also sold separately and are… fundamental in the case of rigid bags and highly recommended in the case of soft or waterproof ones.
Let's say that among the advantages of soft is that it is not essential to have a frame, but if you try it you will find that it is much more comfortable to have it.
Then… which side bags to buy?
At this point you should be a real pannier expert by now. At least I hope you can get some ideas’ brighter. Of course, some doubts remain and you are still wondering which one is right for you. After seeing what are the strengths and weaknesses of the objects, you have to make one last effort and think about the type of trip you are going to do with your bike.
If there will be a strong off-road use, eg, you can already discard the hypothesis of plastic suitcases and you will be more oriented towards soft. In this case I would start with waterproofs which usually also require a lower investment. But if your trip is more adventure and you need a large load capacity you will inevitably end up choosing the rigid aluminum.
Always thinking about the various cases, if I plan to travel for a long time on asphalt, the rigid plastic bags recover their own revenge: it is no coincidence that the great tourers already mount them as standard, do not you think?
In short, as you will have understood by now, there is no better or worse saddlebag for everyone, but every type of motorcycle trip has the most suitable choice. I hope with this short guide to have provided you with some more elements to be able to choose with awareness.
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If you need some before leaving inspiration, here are a few:
- Verdon Gorge in motion
- Passo dello Stelvio in motion
- Passo Gavia in motion
- Sardinia by motorbike
- Vietnam in moto
- Corsica in moto
- Mongolia
- Provence and the Camargue
- Romantic street
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