Hard vs soft luggages for long trips

**Fred** · 11-14-2011, 03:02 AM

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 !

**ChinaV** · 11-14-2011, 03:17 AM

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

**Fred** · 11-14-2011, 03:22 AM

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.

**MotoKai** · 11-14-2011, 03:48 AM

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.

**fahni** · 11-14-2011, 03:59 AM

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

**Fred** · 11-14-2011, 06:16 AM

Originally Posted by fahni

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.

**fahni** · 11-14-2011, 06:34 AM

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.

**milton** · 11-16-2011, 12:05 AM

Originally Posted by Fred

...
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.

Hi Fred,

Apologize for this late reply to your PM. I actually had answered part of your question at this thread:
http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...ll=1#post34096

I might add a few things:
1. I have never taken any trip with a pillion. However, the GDW saddlebags sit quite flat on the backseat and look ok to sit on.
2. They are close to 100% waterproof if you keep all the covers on tight.
3. They are quite durable. Some grueling part of my trip and a getoff did not damage them a bit.
4. I still haven't figured out how to attach them firmly to my bike yet. I just threw them on and rely on their weight to keep them in place. If you remember the last part of my RR, they did come off and took me a while to recover them. However, this can be remedied by installing a top box on the back.
5. Although it's easy to take them on and off the bike, you do need to keep them in sight to avoid petty theft, which may not always be possible.

They are good saddlebags and can go the distance.

**Fred** · 11-16-2011, 01:13 AM

Thanks a lot Milton and others for your replies and comments.

I'd wish we could keep this thread alive with some reviews and comments from others.
I'm more convinced for the soft bags now. I could buy some good quality stuff in Europe when I go back for Christmas, but I don't wish to go "overkill" on the preparation of the trip. I'd like to take only what is necessary in terms of reliability, nothing more, and no go the "Ewan & Charley" way with support crews and jeeps.

So if anyone has another opinion and/or tested others saddlebags, please share your comments !

**euphonius** · 11-16-2011, 02:22 AM

Dear Fred,

Most important consideration BY FAR when choosing these soft bags is how they sit with respect to your muffler, and what they are made of. If your muffler rides up high, as on our Jialings, and the bags are made of any kind of synthetic fabric, there's a huge chance they'll melt or burn unless you can devise a reliable means of keeping distance between them. This will be complicated by your pillion due to seat compression and other forces that could push the fabric close to the hot pipe. Even a fabric bag (those GDWs look like oil-impregnated canvas) will be damaged by heat, and can burn. The waterproof coating will quickly fail. If the bags have stiffeners inside, these are usually made with nylon, which of course can melt, this defeating their function and putting your stuff at risk of cooking.

So the question is not only "which panniers are good?" but "which work best with my bike?"

Can you find them in the wild here in Shanghai, and see how they sit on your steed?

(Disclosure: I use hard panniers -- the pricy Tourfellas made by Du Rui in Yongkang, Zhejiang.)

cheers