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  1. #1 Hard vs soft luggages for long trips 
    C-Moto Guru Fred's Avatar
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    A call to the vastly experienced riders here !

    For a long trip in China (2 months), and in general what are your thoughts about the best type of saddlebags, irrelevant of the volume ?
    For the YBR 250, some examples :
    Hard luggages with racks : http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=2044956300
    Or soft luggages without racks to support them (GDW types) : http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=7576252868

    Being a complete noob about this (I only tested soft saddlebags, YDC company), what should I be careful about, what should I look for ?
    I'd go for the hard ones, because well, they seems solid and the racks help in case of a fall, but it's an uneducated guess for now, please help to make it an educated one !
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  2. #2 Re: Hard vs soft luggages for long trips 
    Life Is Good! ChinaV's Avatar
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    I covered some of the pros and cons of luggage in this post of my Galaxy thread.

    I have seen both of the bag set ups you linked to on Taobao. Here is some food for thought.

    The hard ones are made of brittle plastic and are really very small. You will see the same bags being used on lots of police bikes around China. They're pretty poorly made and mounted very high and wide. The price is good and might get you through a trip if you have a tight budget.

    The soft luggage is pretty average quality, I wouldn't count on it to keep your stuff dry, but you could easily pack your stuff in some plastic bags. You can cary a lot more than the hard bags and they are balanced a lot better.

    Are you going to ride 2 up or alone?

    Cheers!
    ChinaV
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  3. #3 Re: Hard vs soft luggages for long trips 
    C-Moto Guru Fred's Avatar
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    Thanks ChinaV !
    I'm going to ride 2-up, so the "middle part" of the GDW soft bags between the 2 bags could be a problem for the pillion (not really comfortable for a long trip), I already sent a PM to Milton to ask his detailed thoughts about those bags, as he used them for his last trip.
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  4. #4 Re: Hard vs soft luggages for long trips 
    C-Moto Guru MotoKai's Avatar
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    Hey Fred,

    For me SECURITY is a big factor in going with hard. I started with a Wandefu (Chinese version of the Pelican boxes) setup which you can see here. I briefly experimented with soft, but then quickly moved back to hard with the Tourfellas (expensive, but high quality).

    IMO - when you're out riding and you get off for stops (e.g. eating, sightseeing, etc.) there is a huge comfort factor that hard boxes offer. Your gear is locked and much more secure than soft (ask Milton who lost his bags WHILE RIDING - an amazing story!!). Especially if you'll be out for such a long trip, having the flexibility to leave gear locked on your bike when you're out and about doing stuff on 2 legs is very convenient.

    * Of course never leave anything too valuable in your locked boxes. I always keep the passport and camera with me when I leave the bike unattended.
    _____________________
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  5. #5 Re: Hard vs soft luggages for long trips 
    C-Moto Guru fahni's Avatar
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    Hi Fred, I used these ones for riding two-up and they performed fine and were not uncomfortable to sit on at all: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=10678959472
    ------------------------------
    JH-150GY-3
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  6. #6 Re: Hard vs soft luggages for long trips 
    C-Moto Guru Fred's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fahni View Post
    Hi Fred, I used these ones for riding two-up and they performed fine and were not uncomfortable to sit on at all: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=10678959472
    Fahni, I'm very interested by those, could you please tell me more ?
    Are they 100% waterproof ? Do they need some support, do they keep their shape even if heavily loaded ?
    What about the volume for each bag, normal and extended ? It seems that they have 2 sizes (17 and 24L or 34 and 48L), which ones do you have ?

    Could you please give me your thoughts about their durability over time ? Thanks in advance.
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  7. #7 Re: Hard vs soft luggages for long trips 
    C-Moto Guru fahni's Avatar
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    Ups, maybe I should have kept my mouth shut...

    I don't really know about the size I just found a link on another thread on MCM and they seemed a good choice so I ordered without being asked by the vendor about any specific size choices. I think, if extended, the combined capacity is 57 l which is a lot. We were riding for 4 days and did not even extend the bags. I think they are not 100% water proof but come with rain protection that can be put over them.

    They have some flexible plastic sheets that come with it and are fixed to the bottom interior which keeps them in really good shape.
    ------------------------------
    JH-150GY-3
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  8. #8 Re: Hard vs soft luggages for long trips 
    C-Moto Guru Fred's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fahni View Post
    Ups, maybe I should have kept my mouth shut...

    Hehe, not at all !

    I'm really interested about this option. I'm taking all pieces and bits of advice from everyone.
    I'm thinking that I'll go for soft luggages, as anyway I'd like to take them with me when I'll finally leave China, and use them on different bikes easily, which is maybe not the case with solid ones.

    Could I insist on asking your review about those Menat bags : do you think they could handle a long trip, are they convenient to use ? Did you just put them on the bike, or with support racks ?

    And finally, would it be possible for you to shoot some pictures of them, inside and outside with some kind of objects (pens, ruler, etc.) to be able to see how big they are and how they're built ?

    Thanks a lot if you could do that !

    Cheers,
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  9. #9 Re: Hard vs soft luggages for long trips 
    C-Moto Guru fahni's Avatar
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    HaHa,

    ok, here we go:
    No Racks needed. Just put them on the saddle (width adjustable)
    Very easy to take off
    I think, they should hold up fine on a really long trip but I will not be able to put this thesis to the test until next year summer.

    I will snap some pics and post 'em tomorrow

    My impression is that for this price, they are a steal!
    ------------------------------
    JH-150GY-3
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  10. #10 Re: Hard vs soft luggages for long trips 
    Senior C-Moto Guru zhu's Avatar
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    i have used those menat bags for 4000km and the top seam has split on one side where the crossover strap joins to the bag
    also one of the zips is starting to fail
    i think the gdw bags are the best available
    they are very popular with the locals also jeremy and lulu used them for 18000km with no trouble
    agree that they may not be ideal for a pillion but you could put a cushion over the strap
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